FIG TARTLETS WITH HERBS + HONEY

Figs are on my mind.

A quick glance out our kitchen door and you see a massive fruit tree, our very happy fig. No matter how we trim it back, hack at it, attempt to tame its exuberance, the tree just grows, thrives and reaches for the sun. Early fall is its time of glory.

Our resident squirrel fights me for every fig that ripens on our tree. (I admit... I do a little cheer whenever I win the battle.)  Needing so much fruit for these tarts, I didn't have enough backyard figs on hand. Thankfully, Monterey Market's plenty came to my rescue with these delicious black mission beauties.

Today's fig tartlets are not quite sweet and not quite savory, living in a delicious realm in between. The cream cheese and crunch of cornmeal in the crust tease out the earthy quality of the figs, and a drizzle of honey heightens the fruit's juicy, natural sweetness.

I'm always a fan of recipes that work any time of day and these tartlets are wonderful for breakfast, tea, an appetizer, or a not-too-sweet dessert.

INGREDIENTS makes 4 medium tartlets (I think each tartlet could feed two to four for dessert or tea, though I wolfed down an entire tartlet for breakfast one day. No problem.)
printable recipe

Note: Be sure to give your dough at least an hour to chill before assembling your tarts.

DOUGH: adapted from Annie Somerville's recipe, via Janet Fletcher's lovely piece in Sunset Magazine's August 2013 issue

• 1/4 cup masa harina or corn meal
• 1 cup all purpose flour {GF folks: as per usual, I use Pamela's Bread Mix}
• generous pinch of sea salt
• 4 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
• 8 ounces cold cream cheese

TOPPINGS:

• 24 figs small-medium figs (1 1/4 pound)
• about 4 teaspoons honey
• about 4 teaspoons creamy goat cheese
• a dozen fresh thyme sprigs

In a food processor, mix together masa harina/corn meal, all purpose flour, and salt. Add the butter and blend until you have a coarse, crumbly texture. Finally, add the cream cheese in little chunks. Let the processor whir, until a ball of dough forms.

Lay four squares of plastic wrap on the counter next to your food processor. Divide the dough into 4 balls of the roughly the same size. Wrap each ball of dough in plastic and use the heel of your palm to flatten the dough into 4 round disks. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 3 days.

After your dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375.

On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each ball of dough into a 7 inch round. Transfer prepared crusts onto one or two parchment-lined baking sheets, and roll edges of the dough up and over, making a small border.

Trim stem ends from figs and slice the fruit vertically into 1/8 inch rounds. Lay the fig slices in an overlapping circular pattern on top of the prepared dough. Drizzle a little honey over the figs. Crumble on a bit of goat cheese. Tuck in a few sprigs of thyme.

Pop the tartlets into the hot oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets to ensure an even baking. Bake another 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the figs are soft and oozing with jammy goodness.

Eat warm or at room temp.

Enjoy!

LITTLE PEAR TARTS FOR KINFOLK

I mentioned last post that I am crazed about pears this time of year. Well, I couldn't resist another pear recipe for you....

Ever since we removed wheat from our kitchen four years ago, I've been making all sorts of almond shortbread. Almond meal and butter make such a delicious team - who needs wheat anyway. Now that it's pear season... an herbaceous pear tart with a buttery almond crust seems just the thing to satisfy, so this is just the recipe I though to share in the autumn issue of Kinfolk and I wanted to share with you too!

Using rosemary in the tart dough, and bay in the pear compote, we end up with a good hit of garden herbs. Keep in mind, that both the almond tart crust and the pear compote are wonderful eaten separately as well.

RUSTIC APPLE TART

Simple pleasures. This is what it's all about for me these days. When P, the kids, and I were on the road last year, slowness was our theme. Action and adventure does not describe our travel style - we had tons of family time and savored it deeply. I really believe the serenity of our time away added years back onto my life.

I am trying to figure out ways to integrate this attitude into our American lives. Lilah still finds great happiness in imaginary play and collecting twigs and flowers. Otis now goes to our local middle school and only gets in the car once in while.  Paul and I are trying to limit our commitments and spend lots of time at home enjoying our kids. Little things.

What does this have to do with food? In our family, where much of life revolves around eating, this means taking time to harvest blackberries and picking apples with friends on their bucolic land in West Sonoma County.

Rach and Justin invited a slew of us to spend the day with them. It was true Indian summer. The leaves had started falling, a bit of crispness cooled the air while still being warm enough for kids to swim, pluck juicy concord grapes from the vine, and pick apples... Life is good.

I like how uncomplicated this apple tart is - just apples on buttery pastry with a sprinkle of sugar. Simple pleasure. But I also enjoyed gussying this apple tart up a little bit with a drizzle with Homemade Caramel Sauce and voila .... Caramel Apple Tart, anyone?

INGREDIENTS adapted from David Tanis' Platter of Figs
(printable recipe)

• 1/2 recipe flaky pastry dough
• 2-3 pounds apples 
• 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar 
• Homemade Caramel Sauce (optional, but highly recommended)

Prepare your dough as per the instructions here. A couple of notes:

First, you only need half of the recipe for the pastry dough for this recipe. Have fun making a tart of your choice with the other half.

Second, please don't roll the dough too thin or the edges get pretty charred before the apples can cook all the way. (Tanis suggests rolling the dough into a 16x11 inch rectangle. I had more success when I made a thicker 11x6 inch oval of dough.)

Place the rolled out dough (on a parchment-lined baking sheet) into the fridge while you prep your apples.

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel and core apples and slice them thin. Take the prepared dough from the fridge. Lay the apples on the dough in long layered rows. ( If you aren't going to serve your tart until later, Tanis suggests covering the prepared tart in the fridge for up to 8 hours.)

Sprinkle Turbinado sugar over the apples and pastry. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are tender.

We found the tart to be most delicious when served warm and drizzled with caramel sauce. When we ate the leftovers, we'd quickly warm up a slice in the oven before noshing.

Enjoy!

What else is cooking?

• Monika's awesome short film about making apple tart
• Emma's quince and apple pie
• Adrianna's spiced apple chips
• Caitlin's pear tart

Nectarine Galette

I am so happy with all the summer fruit! I scarf up blueberries, cherries, peaches, apricots, and nectarines with hedonistic abandon. In my zealousness, I bought way too many nectarines at Monterey Market; as they all became ripe at once, I tried to eat as many as I could.  I was daunted as my belly could take no more, yet I didn't want these lovelies to go to waste, so I quickly made up a batch of flaky pastry dough and this year's first summer galette was born.

Otis, the pickiest member of our family, was hesitant to even try the galette. He was convinced he wouldn't like it. At his request, I gave him the tiniest of slivers. He ended up coming back for seconds, thirds, and fourths.

This nectarine galette has very little added sugar and is really good served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe flaky tart dough
• 4 ripe nectarines
• 1/4 cup Turbinado sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• one egg yoke, lightly beaten

At least a couple of hours before you want to eat your galette, prepare dough according to this recipe.

Remove your chilled dough from the fridge. Let it warm up just enough so that you can roll it out. (I still like to roll my dough between two pieces of parchment to avoid too much sticking.) Dust disk of dough with a sprinkling of flour, sandwich between pieces of parchment, and roll out dough until it is about 1/8 thick.

Put rolled-out dough back in the fridge to chill while you prepare the galette filling.

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix cinnamon with the Turbinado sugar.

Slice Nectarines.

Remove chilled rolled-out dough from fridge. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar onto the dough before you arrange the nectarines. Arrange the nectarines in slightly overlapping pattern. Sprinkle 1-2 more tablespoons cinnamon sugar over the tops of the slices.

Fold up the dough around the fruit. With a galette, the edges can be rough and rustic. Brush the top of the crust with egg yoke. Sprinkle a bit more cinnamon sugar.

Cook the galette on a layer of parchment, supported by a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 40 minutes on the lower part of the oven until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving so that the fruit juices thicken a bit.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some sweetened whipped cream and enjoy!

Such a simple galette is really easy to make - give it a try.

Cherry Almond Tart

Soft cherries with kirsch and custard in a buttery almond cookie crust... can you resist?

Patricia Wells is a cooking goddess. Every time I cook one of her recipes, I'm awed by the flawless result. This cherry almond tart is no exception - it is so damned good! If you can get your hands on a pound of cherries, make this tart and you will not be disappointed.  At first glance, the recipe may look laborious, but it isn't hard. With the cookie crust, there is not need to chill and roll out dough - the most intimidating part of most tart recipes.

I never get sick of cherries. Their season so is short and sweet that I enjoy it fully. I don't even feel guilty indulging when Monterey Market has organic cherries from Twin Girl Farms for less than three dollars a pound. I know it is gauche to talk $$, but this deal is too good to deny.

 

We are eating at least a couple of pounds of cherries a week around here. Usually they are devoured before one can imagine eating them any way but raw. Yesterday we bought an extra pound just to make Patricia Wells' Cherry Almond Tart.

CHERRY ALMOND TART
from Patricia Wells' At Home in Provence


ALMOND COOKIE CRUST INGREDIENTS

•  8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons finely ground blanched almonds
• 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour (GF folks: use 1 1/4 cup Pamela's Bread and Flour mix)

CHERRY FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 5 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour ( GF: use Pamela's Bread and Flour mix)
• 2 tablespoons finely ground blanched almonds
• 1 tablespoon Kirsch

• 4 more tablespoons ground blanched almonds
• 1 pound fresh ripe cherries
• Optional: Confectioner's Sugar for garnish

Making the Crust:

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter sides and bottom of 9 inch fluted tart pan with removable sides.

(If you aren't able to buy finely ground blanched almonds and can only find blanched slivers, go ahead and grind all of your almonds now.)

In a medium sized bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, and 2 tablespoons ground almonds. Stir with a wooden spoon to blend. Slowly add enough flour to make a smooth soft dough (the consistency of soft cookie dough).  You may need less flour than the recipe calls for. Trust yourself.

Place the dough in the center of the buttered tart pan. Using your fingertips, slowly spread our the dough until it covered the bottom and sides of pan. ( No need to weight or prick the dough.)

Bake in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes. The crust should be a very pale golden brown. Set aside to cool. Leave the oven on.



Making the filling:

Pit the cherries. I am not big into kitchen gadgets and didn't own a cherry/olive pitter for years. I finally bought one and it makes recipes like these possible. Go ahead get out your pitter or go buy one. It is a nice tool to have around.

 Combine cream, egg, almond and vanilla extracts in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Then add in sugar, flour, 2 tablespoons ground almonds, and Kirsch. Stir to blend.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ground almonds over the bottom of the tart shell to help the crust from becoming soggy.

Arrange pitted cherries in the tart pan in a single layer. Pour filling around the cherries and sprinkle the top with the final 2 tablespoons of ground almonds.

Bake assembled tart in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes. When done, the custard filling should be firm and the crust a nice deep golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Wells suggests sprinkling powdered sugar over the top just before serving, but I found the tart to be perfect without.

I can't imagine why this recipe isn't famous. This is one of the best desserts I have ever made. Thank you Patricia Wells!

Serves 8

Pear Tart Tatin

Pears and caramel.... yummmmmmm.


For Valentine's Day, I made a pear tart tatin for my mom and P. They loved it but I wasn't satisfied with the consistency of the caramel (too runny). I scratched that recipe and rethought the sugar/butter ratio and out came a rich, deep, sticky caramel, tender pears, and a dreamy, flaky crust. I am not exaggerating when I say... I think this is the best thing I've ever made.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 4 medium pears, peeled and sliced  
• 1/2 flaky pastry dough recipe (frozen puff pastry would also work well here)

Preheat oven to 400.

Roll out dough into a large circle about 11 inches in diameter. Put back in fridge to keep chilled.

In a 9 inch cast iron skillet, heat sugar and butter over med high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until caramel thickens and becomes rich amber color. Take off heat and let cool.

Peel and slice pears, then arrange in a circular pattern over the top of the caramel.

Lay pastry dough over top of pears. Trim and tuck under excess dough. Slice a few vents into the dough to let the steam release during baking.

Bake 30-40 minutes until pastry is golden brown.

Let cool for 10 minutes. Then use a knife to make sure that the dough is not stuck to the sides of the pan. Place a plate over the top of the pan. Flip the tart onto the plate. If any pear slices remain in the pan or are misplaced during the flip, just rearrange them while the tart is warm. Serve warm or at room temperature with a generous serving of whipped cream.

Meyer Lemon Tart with Lemon Pastry

Meyer Lemons are probably my favorite ingredient. Luckily, Amy and Doug have a tree that grows more lemons than they can eat. So when Doug came for dinner recently, I unabashedly asked for some of his bounty. He wasn't messing around when he brought 100 lemons. Yipee!

Amy, Doug, Paul and I kicked off the holidays with afternoon of cooking with lemons (and drinking tequila). We made Meyer Lemon Marmalade and gave Patricia Wells' "Lemon Lovers Tart" recipe a try. As we quickly devoured the entire freshly-made tart and licked our fingers clean, we declared the tart yet another winner from Patricia Wells At Home in Provence. I am sure this recipe would be delicious with any good organic lemons, but I cannot imagine a better celebration of my favorite Meyers.

We are going to make this tart again to serve for dessert after our traditional Christmas Eve crab fest. I can't wait.


LEMON PASTRY SHELL

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• Grated zest of 1 lemon, blanched and refreshed
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour (Gluten-Free folks, I used 1 - 1 1/4 cup Pamela's Bread and Flour mix)
• pinch of sea salt (not necessary when using Pamela's)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a nine inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom.

Stir butter, vanilla and almond extracts, lemon zest, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly add flour to mixture until you have a nice soft dough (the texture should resemble a soft cookie dough). Place dough in greased tart pan and use your fingertips to slowly press the dough around until it covers the bottom and sides of pan.



Bake crust in oven until golden brown - about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool. Do not remove from pan.



While crust is baking, start to make your filling....

(FYI, the recipe for this crust can be used to make delicious lemon shortbread)


MEYER LEMON TART FILLING

• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 large egg yokes, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1 tablespoon slabs
• Zest of 2 lemons, grated, blanched and refreshed
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Get out your double boiler (or nestle a sauce pan above another pan with simmering water). The upper pan should not be touching the simmering water, but should hover over it. Combine eggs, yokes and sugar in upper pan. Whisk until the curd has thickened and is a pale lemon color, 8-10 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of softened butter to curd. Keep whisking until melted. Then add another tablespoon of butter, following this pattern until each tablespoon of butter is melted and incorporated. Add zest and lemon juice. Keep whisking until the filling is thick and custard-like and the first bubbles are appearing on the surface. Do not boil. Immediately pour custard filling into cooled tart shell. Smooth with a spatula. Let custard set for 30 minutes.




We topped each slice with plenty of whipped cream. YUM!

Merry Christmas!

Serves 8

Other desserts you might like: Pear Almond Galette or Fig Galette