Lemon Tart

Simplest Leek and Potato Soup

It starts with soup. The simplest of soups. Humble potatoes, a pot, a couple of minutes with a knife, a meditative simmer. Simplicity, comfort, elegance boiled into one.

Hello! Its been awhile,eh?  I'm still cooking, eating, and drinking, of course! And so with a container of peeled potatoes, a bag of tender leeks, and the best exercise in cooking with what you have, my comeback presented itself. And where I was least looking for it. No grand preparations, no obscure recipes or tales from another land, but rather with this simplest of soups made on a rainy day in Vancouver. With this pale, un-photogenic bowl of "potage" I arrive back to this space quietly with little fanfare but all of the promises of before: to document, to advise, to cook, to eat, but mostly to share.

Also known as Vichyssoise, when chilled, this dish is a regular in our household in summer, whether made in honour of a special friend or added to a picnic basket.  If you can peel a potato, or find someone to do it for you, if you can boil water and slice an onion, you can make this. And all in the span of the time it takes you to to change into your jammies and surf the PVR for something to watch on TV tonight. While its bubbling, you'll slice a few slices of hearty country bread, put out a chunk of gouda or cheddar, drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice on some greens and pour a glass of Chardonnay. Today's recipe is for all of you who think homemade soup isn't worth your time or beyond your skill-set. And for those of you seasoned cooks, this is for you too, to remind all of us of the beauty of a meal that is comprised of a couple of ingredients, a little time, and almost no work.

Until next time,  eat soup!

 

Seed Saving: Fresh Fruit Syrups

Who knew something as humble and simple as fruit syrups could be the thing to finally get me out of my blogging slump? Sometimes its the simple things that enthuse me the most and a technique like this is one that represents my approach to food and produce specifically : Buy it beautiful, eat it fresh and don't waste any of the good stuff when its plentiful in season. That means pits, scraps and anything remaining of the fruit itself.

I've been making these fresh fruit syrups for years inspired by a raspberry syrup in one of my most formative cookbooks, Alice Waters', Chez Panisse: Fruit. With frequent forays into sorbets, ice creams and fruit purees I often find myself with leftover seeds and pulp heaped in my strainer, my forearm aching from pushing the bright purees through the fine mesh sieve. What is left is not very desirable but still has lots of its fruit flavour. An apartment dweller I cannot brag of my overgrown raspberry bushes of which I am unable to keep up with picking, so the prized berries I get my hands on are treated with the utmost respect.

The technique here is a simple one. Boil fruit scraps in water to extract flavour, strain, add sugar, boil again and store. What you are left with is a beautiful flavourful nectar that can be combined with sparkling or still water for a refreshing drink but beyond that are a multitude of uses:

• Make extra special lemonade by mixing equal parts lemon juice, syrup and water.
• Top with sparkling water for your own fruit spritzers.
• Make Champagne cocktails by topping a splash with sparkling wine.
• As a topping pancakes and waffles. 
• Over vanilla ice cream
• Add to your favourite cocktails, especially good to customize mojitos.
• As a sweetener for iced tea.

2011: The Year in Food

Yes, I'm aware 2 months of 2012 have already passed, so it might seem a bit late for a retrospective. But I don't think there's ever a statute of limitations on memories and a day like today seems to perfect day for looking back.

An original salad that never made the blog.

Looking back at 2011, I've eaten truffles in southern Oregon and Bone Marrow in London, and sampled the finest oysters from Northern France to Seattle, Washington. Back home I've eaten more of those ribs I long for, sticky and covered in bourbon and brown sugar and dry spice encrusted ones, oh so tender from hours of slow cooking all thanks to some kitchen savvy friends. I started my first vegetable garden and with my tiny plot of land enjoyed my first homegrown French Breakfast radish, and marveled at green beans eaten right off the plant, remembering my Gramma and the bushels of beans in her garden. I fell in love, once again, with Paris and its patisseries, markets and historic streets, and fully understood the passion so many have for that great city of London. My wine glass was full of Oregon Pinot Noir and simple Portuguese Vinho Verde (so underrated!), and my oven cranked out buttery Breton cakes and I finally mastered the Levain Bread I've been striving for all these years of baking bread. And these highlights too:

 

A Grand Dinner Party

Le Menu

My birthday falls 8 days after Christmas, which is not the ideal time of year to yearn for a big party. Everyone is just over their New Years hangovers and is already starting their January cleanse. I took matters into my own hands and threw myself a party. My Grand Dinner Party, as I termed it, included an intimate gathering of 8 and 9 courses cooked by myself and my hardworking sous chef, DG.

 

La Table

As "It's my party, and I'll "dine" if I want to...", I set the stage for my dream dinner party. I went old school, snail mailing  invitations, instilled a dress code, bought the loveliest linen napkins with blue silk embroidery, pretty handblown candle holders, brought out my Florence menu stationary and personally selected all the wine pairings. We dined past midnight. It was just as I had envisioned. My single greatest joy is feeding friends, especially in a special occasion kind of way. This evening was a memorable way to bring in the new year.

 

 Field Trips

Restaurant in Portland

We ventured to Portland and Seattle for food filled long weekends. 3 nights, 3 days and you'd be amazed the assortment of dining experiences we can pack in. In PDX we fell further in love with the cocktail, as this city can really mix it up, drinking in such establishments as Teardrop Lounge, surely a bartenders dream, and Clyde Common where I had my first wood aged cocktails, a revelation of a technique involving charred planks of wood, a mason jar, some booze and time.

 

In Seattle we finally dined at Canlis with the ghosts of Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire. A mid century architecture dream overlooking Lake Union, a family business for over 50 years, this American fine dining superstar certainly comes with expectations, all of which were met. There are few places like this anywhere. A gem.

Happy Valentines Day!

 

 

Happy "V" Day everyone. While not a new recipe on the blog, here's one from the archives that is classic, dead pan easy and always impressive. Am I the only one who doesn't want chocolate desserts on Valentines Day? I think not.

This flourless chocolate dessert is DEC A DANT and the perfect valentines dessert.

http://www.lemontart.ca/2009/02/the-daring-bakers.html

"Cake" for New Years

And...I'm back! I've cooked so much since I last shared something with you here and eaten even more. I've paid a visit to my new favourite place in the world, La Bretagne (or Brittany as is it known to the Anglophone world) where I fell head over heels in love (more on that later!). We ate our first "proper roast dinner" in a rediential neighborhood of London complete with dog under the table and a poster worthy wooden platter of beef and all the fixings (how sad I forgot my camera that day). More recently I cooked my first Porchetta, that dreamy Roman style pork roast covered in cracklin', as festive as it gets! And alongside a traditional bowl of broth filled with tiny handmade tortellini. A bowl of dreams I call it. I'm looking forward to 2012 and getting back into sharing my adventures with you.

But for now, lets deal the present task at hand - New Years Eve! I'm sharing one of my best kept secrets - Cake, en Francais!

I first discovered Cake Sale 4 years ago.  If I could figure Typepad you'd see an accent on the last "e", which changes things entirely. No this isn't cheap cake, but rather savoury cake. We were staying in a lovely B & B in the medieval village of Beynac in the Dordogne region. Jean Claude and Francoise Fleurie were the perfect hosts, and living my dream. Breakfasts and dinner we enjoyed there still remain memorable so many years later. Each morning a new dish and always a different cake, for breakfast! With my competent but limited French and her non existent English, we managed to strike up conversations about cooking, obviously her passion too. She spoke to me of the many regional foods that I had never enjoyed before such as Duck gizzard salad (turns out quite delicious), Vin de Noix, a sweet nutty dark aperitif and foie gras. When I told her of some of my own baking loves, she spoke of Cake and lent me a fantastic cookbook filled with savoury loaves.

Beaming Berries and Strawberry Gelee Tart

Quick! Grab the last of the berries out there and make this oh so summery dessert. This will have your guests beaming with delight, as I was when I finally made this tart, one that's been sitting on the "to bake" list for a couple years. Fresh vibrant summer berries bound together by a sweet, fruit filled, rose wine spiked gelatin.

With gelee desserts being all the rage right now, this berry tart will make you wonder why you haven't been eating more of this seemingly passe category of sweets. Banish your thoughts of Jell-O from your childhood or ,worse, hospital stays: this is high class and down home all at once!

I made this in classic tart form, starting with my go to sweet tart pastry case. Beautiful and perfect, but I think where it really shines is in gelatin molds to make grin worthy individual desserts. What you end up with is everything a simple strawberry tart is in a tidy, glittery package.

If you have a penchant for vintage gelatin molds that you've come across for pennies, this is where they shine. Simply cut pastry into shapes to match the size of your mold and bake. When ready to serve, turn your beaming berries out onto the cookie and enjoy.

They jiggle with delight and reflect like a bowl full of rubies. If you have molds like mine with a handy little indent in the middle, you can't help but fill that with a dainty scoop of vanilla ice cream. Stawberries and cream, you can't go wrong.

 

Strawberry Gelee Tart/ Beaming Berry Desserts

adapted from Gourmet Magazine.

Printable Version

Crust:

1 - 9 inch prebaked sweet tart crust

OR, for individual portions as pictured, you will need small tin gelatin molds, or custard/tea cups:

Using the recipe in the link above prepare the dough as directed, but instead of pressing into a tart pan, roll out to 1/4 inch thick as if making cookies, which is essentially what you'll be doing. Cut them using a cookie cutter with the same diameter as your mold. Place on baking sheet, 1 inch apart and chill, then make as directed, adjusting the time to about 10-15 min depending on their size. When golden brown, remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Gelatin:

2 pounds strawberries, quartered or halved, depending on size (raspberries make a beautiful version)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup rose Wine

1 used dried vanilla pod (optional)

1 envelope gelatin

 

Toss berries, sugar and lemon juice together, gently and leave at room temperature for a half hour. Gently pour the berries into a sieve over a bowl or glass measuring cup. Leave to drain for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring rose wine, along with a dried used vanilla pod if using, to a boil and boil 1 minute to boil off some of the alcohol.

Once the berries are drained well, add the wine to the juice and then top off with enough cold water to make 2 cups liquid. Taste the liquid and adjust with more lemon juice if too sweet.

Pour liquid into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over top. Leave to soften for 5 minutes. Add any liquid from the berries that accumulates. Bring up to heat until steaming, or  just a  bare simmer, stirring to dissolve all the gelatin.  Remove from heat, pour into another bowl or measuring cup and cool for 15 minutes.

While liquid is cooling fill your tart shell or individual molds with berries until full. Then pour the liquid to the top, making sure berries are submerged. Carefully transfer to the fridge and leave to chill at least 2 hours for small cups and up to 4 for a full tart.

To assemble the individual desserts for serving:

Have a small bowl of warm water ready and dip the molds into the water for about 10 seconds. Wipe with a towel and then turn out on to a cookie base, while carefully using a knife along the edge of the gelatin to release it from the mold. This movement is slight and won't require you to run the knife along the entire edge. SImply insert and remove while tilting and then place completely upside down, give it a few seconds and you should hear a plop.

This is best the day of, but keeps nicely for about 3 days max.

Serving with Vanilla Ice cream is a must!

Rosa's Lemon Tart

Its nearing mid June, yet here on the Westcoast carefree warm summer days seem very far away. The garden is sluggish and I've only just worn my sandals for the first time. My yearning for extended warmth and blue skies has recently has me thinking about the French Riviera and magical days spent in that oh so cliched (for a reason!) part of the world. When I yearn for such memorable days, I usually aim to recreate them with the best way I know how - food! And so with a handful of lemons I whipped up this light, lemony Lemon Tart or Tarte Au Citron, and remembered fondly a day in Nice 3 years ago.

Nice, France is a city I can't wait to return to. Its a beautiful, vibrant city with an Italian feel due to the colourful painted buildings , Italiate architecture and an attitude all its own. The people there certainly will identify themselves as being proud Nicoise before French, a place worthy of such pride. 

Nicoise cuisine is full of bright vegetables and interesting flavours derived from an up and down history of foreign domination. Socca, the chick pea flour pancake seen above is the famous street food of the city. To be eaten quickly, its cheap, and readily available throughout town and  in simple cafes or on outdoor picnic tables. Commonly washed down with a tumbler of cheap local rose wine, I crave it regularly and have wished a stove top version made at home might suffice. Another thing to draw me back there of course is the Rose. We drink copius amounts of it we drink when in this parts of the world and no wine brings back memories of place more than this. Rose is abundant in the French Riviera, and cheaper, and as you can see by this photo I took of the rose section in the Monoprix, there's much more of it there than in my local liquor store. I weep for such selection.

I once took a cooking class in Nice from food fellow blogger, Rosa Jackson - cookbook author, teacher, blogger, guide book editor and fellow foodie extraordinaire. This proved to be one of my favourite travel memories and a day I hold dear. After wandering the vibrant Marche Cours Saleya ogling huge local Menton lemons, shiny Provencal strawberries, and baskets of wild thyme, we made our way through the narrow lanes of the Old Town stopping in quaint family run shops full of the best of everything. We gathered my favourite Cote de Provence wine, the best goat cheese and the freshest hen. Over the course of the next few hours a grand lunch would be prepared where we roasted, chopped, sauteed and baked everything needed for a proper French lunch. Of course ratatouille was enjoyed, in fact it was stuffed into squash blossoms and zucchinis and served with deeply flavoured Guinea fowl and braised white asparagus of the season. 

The meal continued with a goat cheese that I count as 1 of the single greatest cheeses I have ever eaten, only available to her and a chef at the grand Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Rosa herself. Talk about connections! But what ended that lovely lunch eaten slowly with rose in hand and lovely company from Canada, Boston and Nice was a lemon tart that had me moaning inappropriately. 

Lemon Tarts are my specialty and indeed close to my heart. I'm rarely impressed by many, as they are often too sweet, have bad pastry or worse yet not even made with real lemons. Yet even with this sort of malaise, I still keep my eyes and nose tuned to the possibility of a good one. This tart remains one of my favourites and I loved that I took home this technique and recipe from such a memorable experience. Each time I make it I think of that afternoon, that week, that beautiful place.