Paul's Pie: Deconstructed BLT Tart

Deconstructed BLT Tart

Paul wanted a bacon crust. 

"Do you want bacon in the crust?" I asked.

"No," he answered.  "I want a crust that IS bacon."

I happily googled "bacon crust recipe" and discovered this very promising recipe.

"How about this?" I asked.

"No," Paul said.  "I want crust AND bacon crust."


Well!  I do like a culinary conundrum, but folks who know me know that I cook more comfortably from recipes.  Still, I wanted to satisfy Paul's quest for pie.  Since it's already June and a crust + bacon crust seems pretty heavy to me, I decided to fill the crust with seasonable vegetables rather than something quiche-like--and backing away from bacon and eggs led me to the BLT, which always tastes best with summer tomatoes.

What follows is my first effort to make a seasonal version of Paul's Pie, which cobbles together the recipe above and vamps on David Lebovitz's French Tomato Tart recipe, which I've made several times with stupendous results.  The bacon comes from Godfrey Bros. Meats, the arugula from my Sterling Farm CSA share on the advice of Jonathan Darby, and the tomatoes from Brogue Hydroponics, who manage to grow delicious tomatoes in early June!  The spinach and oregano were from my tiny shady garden.

Side view of a slice.

This recipe, like many, is pretty easy but takes both time and patience--and you have to trust your own cooking judgment, which I know from personal experience can be hard.  I'm sure you could use a store-bought pie crust instead of making your own tart or pie crust, but I encourage you to make your own.  Crusts are very easy to make, and the recipe below has always worked for me AND is big enough for the 10" spring-form pan.  I've taken lots of photos to guide the beginner.  Humidity really affects baking, since the more water there is in the air, the less you need to add to your recipe.  When I made this, it was so humid that 2 Tablespoons of water was almost too much!

Phyllo Feta Torte: Entertaining Menu Option

Guests are very often my kitchen guinea pigs, since I normally use them to debut new recipes that have captured my fancy. Thankfully, my choices are seldom failures--it's a bit risky to mix a new recipe and company. I've been a cooking fiend in recent weeks but got too busy to post. This is a catch-up with some truly must-try dishes that I've made recently.

When my friend Missi was here, I pulled out all the stops for a dinner I hosted for her. Not only did I make the Phyllo Feta Torte mentioned in the title, but I had her teach me how to grill by making Beef Andouille Burgers, and I did Epicurious's Lemon Curd Tart for dessert, which I highly recommend.

The Phyllo Feta Torte is one of my NYT finds. Apparently it's traditional fare at Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations. It's also the single easiest way to use phyllo dough that I have encountered (spanakopita is the hardest, baklava relatively easy). In fact, the whole recipe is a cinch to make, yet everyone gasps at its beauty when you unmold it. While it doesn't hit my cooking-for-myself trifecta of easy, healthy, and yummy, it more than meets my cooking-for-guests trifecta of easy, gorgeous, and yummy. This dish may well be the winningest I have.

When I made it the first time, I was delighted with how it tasted plain, but then I bravely tried the honey--yes, honey with feta and dill!--and ZOMG it was transcendent! A light to heavy drizzle of local honey really should be a requirement for this impressive and easy dish, and everyone who likes flaky pastry and a complex array of flavors should give this baby a go. 

Ikea's New Cookbook: Delightful, Delicious, Delovely

I am still swooning over the clever visuals in this cookbook. *want*  (h/t David Lebovitz)

A Tip and a Tool for Friday

It's been a busy week, so this one is gonna be fast.

TIP A good rule for buying most vegetables, especially tomatoes in winter, is to go for the ones that feel heavy for their size.  For onions, choose smooth, taut skins over wrinkly ones.  For melons, well, as Dave Dietz at Central Market said: "Melons are like people: only God knows what's inside."

TOOL The Diamond Fingers Knife Sharpener has made my kitchen a much happier place recently (thankfully, all connection to Rachel Ray vanishes with the packaging, in case that's a concern).  When I first discovered David Lebovitz and surfed his blog, I knew I had struck gold when I found this amazing blog post on knives a mere month before my friend Missi was due to arrive.  She: rabid about knife sharpening and preservation.  Me: not so much. In fact, I had never sharpened my knives.  So, I bought the Oxo chef's knife and Blade Savers as David recommended (a damn good deal), a paring knife that Cook's Illustrated liked, and the Furi Fingers.  Oh the difference to me and my cooking to have rescued my knives from their dull stupor!  I thank David Lebovitz for his great and helpful blogging, and Missi for pulling me up to her standards.

Chocolate + Sorbet, Two Ways

As summer gasps its last breaths here in South-Central PA, I find myself wanting one last round of the delicious machine-free Chocolate Sorbet that I've made twice this summer, once with vanilla extract and once with mint extract.  But I like options!  Here are two recipes that are amazing ways to get your chocolate fix in the summer and come highly recommended.

The Chocolate Sorbet recipe is a modified-for-handmade version of David Lebovitz's that I poached from King Arthur Flour's Baking Banter blog. The Rainbow Sorbet Torte is from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven--the only hitch with it is that you really need to make it in a springform pan to get the full visual effect. Any size will do.

I have made the sorbet once as written and once with mint extract and found both equally tasty.   Tomorrow's menu is Mexican, with Puerco Pibil in the starring role served with homemade corn tortillas, so this time I'm sticking to vanilla and adding cinnamon.  I may also add some Spanish smoked paprika--one of my guests cannot have spicy food, so chipotle and cayenne are out, alas.  Decisions, decisions!


Chocolate Sorbet
Use the Epicurious Recipe above if you plan to use an ice cream maker; this recipe includes ingredients and steps for making this sorbet by hand.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavored extract
2 tablespoons vodka
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until it's melted, then stir in the extract and the remaining 3/4 cup water. Transfer to a blender and blend for 15 seconds (I skip this step, actually). Place mixture in a 9" cake pan and freeze for 2 hours.

Pull pan from freezer. Mix the slush around with a fork or spoon, making sure to bring frozen edges to center (to make it all uniform). Smooth and repeat this process every hour, could be 4 or more. When uniformly icy, blend again to make it "creamier."

Yield: 1 quart


Rainbow Sorbet Torte
The first time I made this, I had to make my own chocolate wafers to avoid Nabisco and its evil HFCS and transfats. Now you can find chocolate wafers without those nefarious ingredients in the organic aisle. To crumble cookies: place in a big ziploc bag and roll gently with a rolling pin till uniformly crushed.

2 cups crumbled chocolate wafer cookies (about 30 cookies, or most of a 9 oz. package)
6 tablespoons melted butter (vegan substitute = fine)
3-5 pints assorted fruit sorbets (have an eye toward contrast!)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine crumbs and butter in medium-sized bowl, and press mixture firmly into bottom of 9x3" springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes, and then cool.

Let the sorbets soften for 30 minutes in the fridge or at room temperature for 10-15 minutes (depending on the weather). Spoon one pint of sorbet into the crust, and spread it evenly to the edges. Repeat creating layers with remaining sorbets. Press down firmly to eliminate air pockets, then cover the top with plastic wrap.

Freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. Let the torte stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes (or in the fridge about 30 minutes) before removing the rim of the pan. To serve, dip a sharp knife into hot water, and slice the torte in wedges.

Yield: 12-20 servings, depending on number of pints

French Tomato Tart: Vive la Tomate!

It seemed fitting yesterday to celebrate Labor Day by making David Lebovitz's fabu French Tomato Tart for my neighbor's potluck. Pinko commie cuisine never tasted so good, and tomatoes are at their best as summer cools into fall. Really best with home-grown or farm-fresh tomatoes, but if you must have an out-of-season fix, go for tomatoes that feel heavy for their size and ignore all other considerations such as color. That trick works for me all the time. And romas are typically the best tomatoes in winter.

This recipe is ideal picnic fare. The first time I made this, I served it to a friend hot from the oven, and we both swooned. Eight servings became 4. *blush* We took the remaining slices as picnic fare on a scenic day trip to Pittsburgh the next day (which included stops at the Flight 93 9/11 memorial site and her family's ancestral home in northwestern PA), which we ate upon arrival at our hotel in downtown Pittsburgh--and it was even better! The crust was even more tender, and the flavors had melded together. So, if you happen to have leftovers (!), be sure you have the time to savor each bite!

French Tomato Tart (adapted from David Lebovitz)
You can use a tart pan, removeable bottom or not, anywhere from 9-12 inches, though be sure you roll out the dough large enough to overalap the edges after you fit it in. I used a 10" ceramic tart pan for thicker dough and so I might make extra tartlets from any scraps (I got one, which meant my roommate got to try it even though she missed the potluck).

Be generous with the herbs (I have twice used oregano and thyme) and mustard. Consider slathering the mustard on the bottom of the unbaked crust as you would for a sandwich. The crust is a dream--it's considered a good beginner's recipe, and it really does go straight in the oven unbaked and topped with juicy tomatoes without becoming soggy (be sure the mustard layer dries out as specified to achieve this effect).

One possible tweak to this recipe that I want to try to move it west along the Mediterranean by subbing 8 oz of feta and using basil and oregano. Yum!

Tart Filling

One unbaked tart dough (see recipe, below)

Dijon or whole-grain mustard

2-3 large ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

two generous tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, chives, chervil, orgegano, or tarragon

8 ounces (250 g) fresh or slightly aged goat cheese, sliced into rounds

Optional: 1 1/2 tablespoons flavorful honey

Tart Dough

1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
4 1/2 ounces (125 g) (9 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons ice water

1. Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and use your hands, or a pastry blender, to break in the butter until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture. If you use your hands (which I prefer), make sure the butter cubes have chilled in the fridge and that you use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture as quickly as possible without letting it become pasty (which means it's too hot). Some people's hands are too hot to do this.

2. Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of the water. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the beaten egg mixture, stirring the mixture until the dough holds together. If it's not coming together easily, add the additional tablespoon of ice water. I worked the dough a little to get it to come together and sprinkled more water as necessary, both with a very light hand to keep the dough from becoming tough.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. I suggest that you get King Arthur's amazing silicone rolling mat if you plan to roll out tart or pie dough, naan, tortillas, or other things with any regularity--it provides an instant clean surface AND allows you to roll your dough to the right size with ease.

4. Once the dough is large enough so that it will cover the bottom of the pan and go up the sides, roll the dough around the rolling pin then unroll it over the tart pan. (You can also carefully fold the bottom half up over the top half and lift it into the pan, making sure the crease is in the middle.) "Dock" the bottom of the pastry firmly with your fingertips a few times, pressing in to make indentations.

5. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC).

6. Spread an even layer of mustard over the bottom of the tart dough and let it sit a few minutes to dry out.

7. Slice the tomatoes and arrange them over the mustard in a single, even layer. Drizzle the olive oil over the top.

8. Sprinkle with some chopped fresh herbs, then arrange the slices of goat cheese on top. Add some more fresh herbs, then drizzle with some honey, if using.

(If baking a free-form tart, gather the edges when you're done, to envelope the filling.)

9. Bake the tart for 30 minutes or so, until the dough is cooked, the tomatoes are tender, and the cheese on top is nicely browned. Depending on the heat of your oven, if the cheese doesn't brown as much as you'd like it, you might want to pass it under the broiler until it's just right.

Bon Appétit!