Two new winners!

                  

One of our customers Anne (her son who is a great artist comes to our studio) gave me this book for Christmas.  It's now my favorite cookbook.  "The French Market", by Joanne Harris & Fran Ward.  It's all recipes from Southwest France.  I'm in heaven.  This morning was great, very relaxing.  We got our coffee got back into bed around 7:30 to watch TV for a bit.  All the dogs were in the bed to.  I got a hold of the remote (very unusual) and went to the food channel.  Giada was making this lovely salad, so I decided to try it tonight.  I also decided that I was going to make one of the dishes in my new cookbook.  The first one I wanted to try was the  "Tarte au Chevre"....a goat cheese tart.  I already have a recipe for a goat cheese tart (which I have shared with you)  but I figured that I needed to try this one too.  It's amazing and our new favorite.  My old standby is great, but very rich, this tart is perfect, not too rich, just delicious.  If you have tried my old tart recipe, you need to try this one as well.  I guarantee you'll love it.  We just had it for dinner tonight.  We also had Giada's salad that I saw on TV today and it was excellent.  Here's the link for her salad.  Tuscan salad.

               

Here is the Tarte au Chevre recipe.  Would love to know what you think...do you like the first one or this one?

    TARTE AU CHEVRE

    If you want to use store bought puff pastry, go ahead.  But if you are adventurous, please try the pastry         shell recipe here.

        For the pastry shell

            1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
            pinch of salt
            4 TB unsalted butter, chilled and diced
            4 TB vegetable shortening, chilled and diced
            3 TB ice-cold water, as needed

        For the filling

            3 TB unsalted butter
            3 medium leeks, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced
            2/3 cup half-and-half
            2 large eggs
            salt to taste
            pepper to taste
            5 ounces rindless goat cheese

            To make the pastry shell, stir the four and salt in a medium bowl.  Add the butter and vegetable                 shortening and rub it together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Stir in             the water with a fork until the mixture comes together.  Place on a lightly floured work surface and             knead briefly until the pastry is evenly blended, shape into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate             for 30 minutes.  (I used my food processor and it's much easier and faster and made a great crust).

            Lightly butter a 9 1/2" tart pan.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry about 1 inch wider             than the pan's diameter.  Carefully roll the pastry around the rolling pin and unroll onto the pan.              Press into the pan and trim off any excess pastry with a small knife.  Refrigerate for another 30                 minutes.

            Heat oven to 350.  Line the pastry with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans.  Bake until the                 edges of the pastry look set - 30 minutes.  Lift off the foil and beans, bake until the pastry is barely             browned, about 10 minutes more.  (If you are using store bought puff pastry - cook pastry for 15                 minutes covered with foil & beans and then 5 minutes without foil & beans)

            For the filling, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the leaks, cover and cook             for 15 minutes.  Whisk in the half-and-half and eggs, and season with salt and pepper.  Pour into                 the pastry shell.  Top with cheese and bake until filling sets, about 45 minutes.  Serve warm or                 cooled to room temp.
            Yum yum. 

Cold and rainy day here in Los Angeles.  Good day to stay in and cook.