Roasted Tomato Tarts

Last Saturday I joined artist Marjorie Brandon and several others to celebrate her 97th birthday. When I asked how she was that hot afternoon surrounded by the love of her friends, she said,'Well, I'm drinking champagne and I'm 97. That about says it all." I think of Marjorie as my role model for successful aging. She is still creating collage art and living independently in my neighborhood. We were asked to bring along an appetizer, so I pulled out some of this summer's roasted tomatoes out of the freezer, and made these easy tarts in a few minutes. They quickly disappeared off the buffet table! Enjoy.

Roasted Tomato Tarts
Serves 6

To roasted grape, Roma or large cherry tomatoes:
Wash and cut each tomato in half lengthwise.
If needed, scoop out the green or white stem section.
In a large bowl, toss with salt and pepper, 1+ Tbsp chopped blanched garlic, and olive oil, to cover but not drown.
Place them face up on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet.
Roast in 450° oven (or on a gas BBQ grill) until they have reduced in size and are beginning to brown about 20 minutes+
These freeze well and can be used on pizza and pasta.

To prepare the tarts:
1 sheet (about 10 by 12 in.) frozen puff pastry (14-oz. package), thawed in the frig overnight

1 ½ cups roasted tomatoes, see above

2 Tbsp+ fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out pastry to 16 by 18 in. Cut pastry in thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise. With a wide spatula, transfer the 6 rectangles to baking sheets.
4. Spread the roasted tomatoes in the center of each rectangle, leaving a 1 1/2-in. border bare.
5. Bake until pastries are richly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with fresh basil chiffonade, or fresh thyme. Serve tarts warm or cool.

Pain Perdu & fresh fruit al fresco

Last Saturday I was ambitious in preparing pain perdu, aka French toast, topped with sautéed fresh fruit. Doing a demonstration is a lot like cooking when you are camping but even more difficult, because you must bring water and all the equipment you need. Needless to say as I was driving to the market I realized I had forgotten 2 piece of essential equipment. But ‘all’s well that ends well’, and the results were well received. You can also top the toast with fresh fruit tossed with Triple Sec , grated orange peel and honey if needed to sweeten. The day old baguettes bread I used on Saturday were graciously donated by the master European baker at our market, Varouj Kachikian of Dolce Arte . Enjoy!

PAIN PERDU with SAUTEED SEASONAL FRUIT
known in America as French toast

SAUTEED FRUIT:
1+ Tbsp butter
4 cups seasonal fruit peeled and sliced (apples, pears, plums, peaches, berries etc)
grated nutmeg and cinnamon to taste
Grated orange peel
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the fruit
3. Sautee until the fruit softens.
4. Taste and add honey or sugar if needed
5. Add fresh grated nutmeg, cinnamon, orange peel or lemon peel
PAIN PERDU:
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons sugar
6 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup milk
Ten ½ inch-thick slices of day old baguette, brioche or challah
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1. In a shallow dish whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, then add milk.
2. Add the bread and turn to coat; let the bread soak for 10 minutes.
3. Add each slice to the skillet. Cook over moderate heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the bread slices and cook for 3 minutes longer.
4. Serve warm with the sautéed fruit on top.

Butternut Squash is Here

Butternut squash, the first of the ‘winter squash’, with it’s hard peel, is here. Although it is still very warm in the San Joaquin Valley, these yummy cool weather squash are ready to turn into soup, braise in fresh apple cider, stuff into fresh ravioli and make into traditional hand made gnocchi. I decide to try my hand at gnocchi and it was surprisingly is easy. You can do it alone but it was more fun in the classroom with several people to do the hand rolling. Do not be tempted to add more flour. Unlike other handmade pasta, this dough is wetter and softer. When they are all rolled, shaped and spread out on a floured pan, bring a BIG pot of water to boil. Cook them in two batches if your pot isn’t large enough to hold 3 times more water than gnocchi. Cooking is quick, so don’t start until the rest of the meal is ready. The ’sauce’ is fresh and traditional with the use of fresh minced sage.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi
From Sunset Magazine

Ingredients
Serves 8
1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs each
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour, plus more for shaping
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (or other hard cheese, such as Asaigo or pecorino), plus more at the table
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
1. With a ice pick or sharp knife, poke holes all over squash. Microwave it on high 10 minutes. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Halve squash lengthwise; scoop out and discard seeds. Flesh should be tender when scraped with a fork; if it isn't, microwave on high (cut side down) in 1-minute intervals until tender. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Scrape out flesh (discard peel) and mash until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine 2 cups mashed squash (save any extra for another use), 1/2 tsp. salt, the white pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a dough forms (it will pull away from inside of bowl).
3. Turn dough out on a generously floured work surface. With well-floured hands, knead dough 10 to 12 times.
4. Divide dough in half and cover 1 batch with plastic wrap. Roll other batch into a 3/4-in.-thick rope and cut into 1/2-in.-long pieces. Press with the backside of a table fork. Put pieces on a floured baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and set aside. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil gnocchi until they rise to the surface, about 4 minutes; cook 30 seconds longer and then lift with a slotted spoon, making sure water drains from gnocchi, and place in a large serving bowl.
6. Gently toss with butter, fresh sage, lemon zest and cheese and a sprinkling of black pepper. Serve hot and pass extra cheese at the table.

Fabulous Fall Figs

Many of my students had never seen or tasted a fresh fig. This is because they are fragile, have a short shelf life and are hard to ship. This means few are ever seen in the grocery store except dried. Chuck and Mary Cornett picked about 20 fresh Mission figs and we made this amazing simple and gorgeous appetizer. We served it on a bed of fresh romaine lettuce and it was a 5 star dish. Let me know if you agree.

Grilled Wrapped Fig Appetizer
Wrap each fig with a slice of bacon or pancetta.
Alternate the figs with firm fresh peeled peach slices.
You may skewer them if needed with a toothpick or bamboos skewer that you soaked overnight.
Then roast/broil/grill until the bacon is brown and crisp. This is best done on a foil lined pan, to make clean up easy and to collect the yummy bacon-fig juices. It's a shame to do it on a grill and let the juices all drip down onto the flame. You can do it on the grill using a disposable pie pan.

I haven’t made this fig salsa yet but if I find figs at the Thursday night market or Saturday I will and of course I’ll get my camera out.
California Pepper Fig Salsa
Adapted from California the Fig Advisory Board
2 1/2 cups diced fresh California figs
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeño pepper; stemmed, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chopped or grated fresh ginger
Combine salsa ingredients in medium bowl and stir together. Cover and chill for several hours to blend flavors.

Rustic pear tarts

Last Saturday's seasonal table class meet, and after our trip to the Visalia Farmer’s Market, we brought back local Barlett pears from KMK Farms and Eversweet pears from O So Fresh Farms. With these beauties, we made 2 delicious pear desserts, a pear sherbet and these rustic pear tarts. They are easy, beautiful and yummy. You can also use the last of this summer’s fresh peaches instead. Or for a savory treat, replace the pears with some red cherry tomatoes roasted in olive oil and garlic, switch the orange marmalade out to basil chiffonade, and add fresh ground pepper and sea salt in place of the sugar.

Rustic Pear Tarts
From Sunset, SEPTEMBER 2008

Fresh pears and purchased puff pastry add up to an incredibly easy seasonal dessert.
serves 6

1 sheet (about 10 by 12 in.) frozen puff pastry (14-oz. package),thawed

2 or 3 firm-ripe pears, such as Bartlets, Bosc or Comice

About 1/3 cup orange marmalade

1 egg, beaten to blend

About 2 tbsp. raw sugar, (turbinado sugar)


1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.
3. On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out pastry to 16 by 18 in.
4. Cut pastry in thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise. With a wide spatula, transfer the 6 rectangles to baking sheets. Prick the centers with a fork to keep them flat during baking.
5. Core pears and cut into thin wedges. Arrange, slightly overlapping, on pastry rectangles, leaving a 1 1/2-in. border bare (angle slices if necessary).
6. Warm marmalade in a microwave oven to melt, then brush over pears.
7. Fold border over edge of pears, stretching slightly and pressing down to hold. Brush new edges with egg, then sprinkle turbinado sugar over tarts, especially pastry edges.
8. Bake until pastries are richly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve tarts warm or cool, with slightly sweetened fresh whipped cream.

Cooking with Fresh Grapes, II

Last year I planted a fence with root stock wine grapes, of Syrah and Counoise varieties from Tablas Creek Winery in Paso Robles. I like fresh grape leaves to stuff and make traditional dolmas. Because the vines were very young, I did not have grapes last year. But this year there were lots of succulent clusters under the big mature leaves.
Veraison, when the grapes turn from green to purple, was inconsistent, but regardless of the color, these small jewel-like grapes were delicious and very juicy. They inspired me to make what may become the first sign of fall, a rosemary flat bread studded with grapes, Gorgonzola, honey and fresh chives. You can use the fresh grape topping on a foccacia bread as I did or your favorite pizza dough recipe. The local honey from farmers Charlies and Mary Cornett, with my own home grown rosemary, grapes and chives made it a locavore specialty.

Rosemary flat bread studded with grapes, Gorgonzola, honey and fresh chives
ingredients

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 pound grapes (1 1/2 cups)
• Coarse sea salt
• 3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 1 tablespoon local honey
• 1 tablespoon snipped chives
directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the yeast and sugar with 1/4 cup of the flour.
2. Stir in 1/4 cup of the warm water and let stand until slightly foamy, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rosemary, fine salt, pepper and the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of water; stir until a dough forms.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a draft-free spot until billowy and doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°. Place a pizza stone in the bottom of the oven, and preheat for at least 30 minutes.
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press and stretch the dough into a 13-inch round, then transfer to a lightly floured pizza peel. Press the grapes into the dough and sprinkle with sea salt.
8. Slide the flatbread onto the hot stone and bake for about 12 minutes, until the crust is golden and the grapes have begun to release some of their juices.
9. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for about 2 minutes longer, until the cheese melts. Slide the flatbread onto a work surface and drizzle with the honey and sprinkle with the chives. Cut into wedges and serve.