Mango Lime Tart . . . . . it's nice to live in paradise

For me one of the best parts of living in a tropical paradise is the ability to have fruit trees in my backyard and to grow fresh herbs in my garden all year round.  It would always irk me to no end when a recipe called for a teaspoon of fresh rosemary and I had to run to the grocery and spend 2 bucks on a package of “fresh” herbs, only half of which was even usable.  Not to brag (but I am), now I simply stroll out to my garden with kitchen scissors and snip exactly what I need.  And when my Daisy dog runs through the rosemary bush, a most delightful scent fills the air....aaahhhh. 

Our enormous mango tree is the subject of my fascination at the moment...it happens to be “mango time.”  Usually mango season is when we are inundated with immense quantities of mangos and we busy ourselves trying new recipes and finding ways to put all of our mangos to good use.  There is mango chutney, mango ice cream, mango salad, mango salsa and of course, mango tarts.   Many times during this season the subject of mango recipes pop up with friends and neighbors that are experiencing our same joyous predicament.  By the end of the season we often are defeated and end up giving away large quantities (actually a group of women at our church make mango chutney, so it does go to good use) or worse yet see them rot on the ground. 

 

This year, however, is much different.  We had a particularly cold winter and the mango buds were damaged resulting in a very scarce mango season.  We have become extremely protective of our precious few fruits.  In the past we didn’t concern ourselves when the squirrels would nibble on the sweet ripe fruit and we would turn a blind eye when a golfer (we live on a golf course) would wander into our yard and help themselves to a shirt full of mangos.  But now it’s every mango lover for themselves and we are vehemently protecting our homestead from the fearless mango nappers.

 

Our dog, Daisy is having a face off with one of the small mango interlopers pictured here, at the bottom of the right palm tree.   

One of the few draw backs of living in paradise are the hurricanes.  Hurricane Wilma, a few years back, tore out by the roots our large orange tree and our large grapefruit tree.  We do dearly miss the fresh squeezed orange juice but after the 50th morning of staring at a grapefruit half in their bowl, (what else can you really do with a massive quantity of grapefruit?) my husband and children rejoiced at the grapefruit tree’s demise. 

Mango Lime Tart

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6 persian limes) 

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons heavy cream

5 eggs

1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons apricot preserves 

1 recipe pâte sucrée - basic sweet pastry, pre-baked (see below)

(can be made in a 10" round, 9 " square or a 5' x 14" tart pan)

pre heat oven to 325 degrees

Whisk the 5 eggs together in a bowl.  Add the lime juice, sugar and cream and mix together until smooth. Pour the mixture into a pre-baked tart shell.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until just firm.  Let the tart cool completely and then arrange the mangos on the top.  

Melt the apricot preserves over low heat with a teaspoon of water. Push through a sieve and then gently paint the mangos with the melted preserves for a lovely glisten.  Sprinkle lime zest on top.  Chill completely and serve.

Pâte Sucrée - basic sweet pastry dough

I use this basic dough recipe for most of my dessert tarts. This dough freezes well so I like to make this dough in a double batch when at home (for the tart business I would make in large batches) and freeze the other one for later use if I'm not using it right away. I figure if you're going to the effort to make pastry dough then you might as well make two... so this recipe is a double. Remember, the key to a successful and flakey crust is to work quickly and keep the dough cold. You want the butter to remain in little pea sized balls throughout the dough for a flakey crust. So our mantra is....cold dough, hot oven!

300 grams flour (2 cups) I like to weigh my flour for more accuracy

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Add the chopped butter and pulse until the butter is in small pea sized balls. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together.

Put the dough out to a floured surface and make into a large mound and cut in half with a pastry scraper. I like to weigh the halves so that they are equal. Put each half onto a square of wax paper and form into a disk. Wrap with the paper and chill for at least one hour.

If you are freezing at this time, then wrap again in foil and freeze. Let dough defrost in the refrigerator before use.

Roll out dough on a floured surface into a 13" circle. Place dough into a 10" tart pan and fold the overhang inward and press gently into the sides. Do not force or stretch the dough because a thin spot may cause the filling to leak. The dough edges should be a little bit higher than the side of the tart pan to help prevent shrinkage. Prick the bottom of the shell with your fork. Press a piece of foil (12"x13") into the edges of the shell and cover with the foil completely touching and covering the entire shell. Chill for at least a half an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Completely fill the foil covered shell with pie weights or dried beans. Put the shell into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and remove beans and foil. Brush the inside of the shell with a beaten egg white to prevent leakage from small cracks. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes and bake until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.

The shell is ready to fill!

Tarte au Truite Fumé - Smoked Trout Tart

Humor me on this one...I’m starting this recipe from the very very very beginning.  When we vacation in northern Michigan, my husband loves to fly fish at a special little trout club.  It is a leafy green labyrinth of streams in which to lose yourself.  One may go there for the fish but one always returns with a soothed spirit (and hopefully a couple of rainbow, brown, or brook trout too.... which Lyle, the manager will smoke for a later pick up).

Recipe for Smoked Trout Tart - Step One

Ingredients....

one handsome fly fishing husband 

a ridiculously quaint trout club

one dozen hand tied flies

ten sprays of bug repellant

several miles of gorgeous trout stream

one unlucky rainbow trout

(see “how to” photos below)

1.  fly fishing husband

2.  ridiculously quaint trout club

3.  even more ridiculously quaint wicker creels

 

4.  hand tied flies

5.  several miles of gorgeous trout stream

6.  just reinforcing the beauty of the trout stream here

7.  one unlucky rainbow trout

8.  lucky for us

We were going to a cocktail party on a Saturday night and I had volunteered to bring an hors d’oeurvre.  Originally, I developed this recipe as a smoked salmon tart to sell at the farmers’ market because my friend and fellow market vendor, Pam, made the most delectable homemade smoked salmon (she had a cult following of smoked salmon addicts). I would always use her smoked salmon in my tarts but while up in northern Michigan, I decided to try the same recipe for a smoked trout tart.  Worked out great!  The sweetness of the caramelized red onions compliments the saltiness of the smoked fish very nicely.  The spinach adds depth of flavor, color and a bunch-o-healthy!

 

The best tool for deboning a smoked trout is impeccably clean hands.  

Special thanks to our friend, Alex, who is a professional photographer in Aspen and fellow annual northern Michigan vacationer, who so very generously gave me, the newbie photographer, a wealth of advice in photography in exchange for a cappuccino on our screened porch one afternoon.  

Smoked Trout Tart - Step 2

1/2 medium sized red onion - chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups fresh spinach - chopped

4 eggs

1 cup cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 

1 1/2 cups flaked smoked trout (or smoked salmon)

1 recipe pate brisée - basic pastry dough - pre-baked (see below)

preheat oven to 375 degrees

Melt the butter on medium heat.  Add the chopped red onion.  Caramelize the red onion for 10 minutes until the onions are soft and lightly browned.  In a large bowl whisk the eggs.  Add the cream, milk, salt and nutmeg and whisk together until smooth.  Place the chopped spinach in an even layer in the pre-baked tart shell. Arrange the caramelized red onion over the spinach followed by the smoked trout on the top. Pour the batter over the trout, spinach and red onion into the tart shell until full.  Baked for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Pâte Brisée - basic pastry dough

I use this basic dough recipe for most of my savoy tarts. This dough freezes well so I like to make this dough in a double batch when at home and freeze the other one for later use if I'm not using it right away. I figure if you're going to the effort to make pastry dough then you might as well make two... so this recipe is a double. Remember, the key to a successful and flakey crust is to work quickly and keep the dough cold. You want the butter to remain in little pea sized balls throughout the dough for a flakey crust.  

300 grams flour (2 cups) I like to weigh my flour for more accuracy

1/4 teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor add the flour and salt and pulse until combined. Add the chopped butter and pulse until the butter is in small pea sized balls. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. 

Put the dough out to a floured surface and make into a large mound and cut in half with a pastry scraper. I like to weigh the halves so that they are equal. Put each half onto a square of wax paper and form into a disk. Wrap with the paper and chill for at least one hour. 

If you are freezing at this time, then wrap again in foil and freeze. Let dough defrost in the refrigerator before use.

Roll out dough on a floured surface into a 13" circle. Place dough into a 10" tart pan and fold the overhang inward and press gently into the sides. Do not force or stretch the dough because a thin spot may cause the filling to leak. The dough edges should be a little bit higher than the side of the tart pan to help prevent shrinkage. Prick the bottom of the shell with your fork. Press a piece of foil (12"x13") into the edges of the shell and cover with the foil completely touching and covering the entire shell. Chill for at least a half an hour. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Completely fill the foil covered shell with pie weights or dried beans. Put the shell into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and remove beans and foil. Brush the inside of the shell with a beaten egg white to prevent leakage from small cracks. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes and bake until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.  The shell is ready to fill.

Purple and gold cauliflower......life is good!

 

My family and I have recently returned from our annual pilgrimage to idyllic northern Michigan.  We recharged our souls with picturesque lakes, an old creaky cottage, amazing natural beauty, fabulous farmers markets, good food and old friends.  

 

Although I was on vacation I did do a bit of “work” after all.  I taught my first cooking class on tart making.  Although the 30 students were our “nearest and dearest” from the cottage association where we vacation, I was still very nervous.  But as the class got going and it was obvious that they actually wanted to learn about tarts and how to make a decent pastry, I relaxed and enjoyed myself...it was even fun! 

 

Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of our friend Tim, one of the two men that came to the class. You got to love a guy who comes to a tart class in the first place and then turns around and makes two awesome tarts later in the week!  After a few days he was knocking on our door looking for Crème de Cassis and a rolling pin.  He is a very talented artist and ceramics teacher to begin with so maybe pastry is just an extension of the clay to him. 

 

My dear sister, Amy, and my husband, Mike were my “sous chefs” for the class (pictured behind me in these two photos).  I had volunteers get up and make the tarts along with me.  I find that hands on experience really makes it a lot easier to understand.  The tarts that we made during the class were featured as the dessert finale for the french themed dinner for 100 people at our dining hall that same evening.

 

One of the northern Michigan highlights for me is Bill’s Farm Market....we visited the actual farm to buy their gorgeous produce and assortment of local products such as honey, maple syrup, preserves etc. Hello - you can’t get more local than this!  

  

Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary

Here is the way that I like to prepare cauliflower, any color of cauliflower... it's simple and earthy and the squeeze of lemon juice at the end awakens the flavors.  The purple and gold cauliflower were stunning together on the plate.  I cooked this for my family one night at home in the cottage but if you can find these vivid colored specimens, they would be exquisite to use in this dish for a dinner party!

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1/2 lemon

pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

On a foil lined baking sheet, toss the cauliflower and rosemary, with the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Roast for 15 minutes and then take the baking sheet out of the oven and sprinkle on the garlic and toss again.  Place back into the oven and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes until the cauliflower is tender and golden.  Take out of the oven and squeeze the lemon half over the cauliflower and toss.  

Tarte aux Cerises et aux Amandes - Cherry and Almond Tart

I know, I know....cherries are not a local Florida fruit, but they are in season in many other places at present, including northern Michigan, where my family and I are headed next week to a cottage on a gorgeous inland lake.  I will be holding a tart cooking class while up there and will be making the desert tarts for the French themed evening at the dining hall of the cottage association where we stay.  I thought I’d better tweak and re-tweak my cherry and almond tart recipe this week since that is one of the three types of tarts that I will be teaching and making for the dinner.  (photos to follow)

 

Since my “practice cherries” had to be flown in from afar and I felt twinges of guilt for what their extra mileage does to our environment.  I decided to at least buy organic.  After the sticker shock wore off, I relaxed knowing that my family would enjoy their tarts pesticide free!  

Cherry and almond are two flavors which were made for each other.  I originally made this recipe with pears for the farmers’ market but tried it with cherries once while up in Michigan and it was oh so sublime!  What do you think? 

The French have been known to leave the pits in the cherries for added depth of flavor.  However, if you choose to do this, I’d advise the Americans to have their guests sign a dental waiver before dessert!  I love my cherry pitter which we keep up in northern Michigan.  It’s great for pitting a large quantity of cherries at once.

 

Northern Michigan cherries come in two varieties, tart (best for baking) or sweet, which I look forward to nibbling on every summer when we are up north.  In fact, Traverse City (a couple hours from where we go) is the cherry capitol of the world.  They have held an annual cherry festival since 1926 and in 1987 they broke the Guinness Book of World Records for baking a 17 foot cherry pie! This leads me to the recipe for my modest size 10 inch cherry and almond tart.....

Tarte aux Cerise et aux Amandes  

1 pound fresh pitted cherries 

1/4 cup almonds - finely ground (I use a coffee grinder or a spice grinder) 2 tablespoons for the filling and 3 tablespoons sprinkled on the crust

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon Kirsch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup cream

1 tablespoon flour 

1 pâte sucrée - basic sweet pastry dough - pre-baked (see below)

Preheat oven to 375 degree

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the ground almonds in the pre-baked tart shell.  Place cherries in a single layer in the pre-baked tart shell.  

In a large bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons ground almonds, sugar, egg, Kirsch, vanilla extract, almond extract, cream, and flour.  Pour mixture over the cherries until the tart shell is completely full.

Bake for 40 minutes or until custard is set and the tart is golden on top.

I used a 9"square tart pan but you can use a 10" round just as well.  You can get the square tart pan here.

Pâte Sucrée - basic sweet pastry dough

I use this basic dough recipe for most of my dessert tarts. This dough freezes well so I like to make this dough in a double batch when at home (for the tart business I would make in large batches) and freeze the other one for later use if I'm not using it right away. I figure if you're going to the effort to make pastry dough then you might as well make two... so this recipe is a double. Remember, the key to a successful and flakey crust is to work quickly and keep the dough cold. You want the butter to remain in little pea sized balls throughout the dough for a flakey crust. So our mantra is....cold dough, hot oven!

300 grams flour (2 cups) I like to weigh my flour for more accuracy

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Add the chopped butter and pulse until the butter is in small pea sized balls. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together.

Put the dough out to a floured surface and make into a large mound and cut in half with a pastry scraper. I like to weigh the halves so that they are equal. Put each half onto a square of wax paper and form into a disk. Wrap with the paper and chill for at least one hour.

If you are freezing at this time, then wrap again in foil and freeze. Let dough defrost in the refrigerator before use.

Roll out dough on a floured surface into a 13" circle. Place dough into a 10" tart pan and fold the overhang inward and press gently into the sides. Do not force or stretch the dough because a thin spot may cause the filling to leak. The dough edges should be a little bit higher than the side of the tart pan to help prevent shrinkage. Prick the bottom of the shell with your fork. Press a piece of foil (12"x13") into the edges of the shell and cover with the foil completely touching and covering the entire shell. Chill for at least a half an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Completely fill the foil covered shell with pie weights or dried beans. Put the shell into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and remove beans and foil. Brush the inside of the shell with a beaten egg white to prevent leakage from small cracks. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes and bake until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.

The shell is ready to fill!

tarte aux fruits

A gift for my dad.....

This specific fruit tartlet was made with love for my dad tonight.  It was an add on to a dinner that I brought over to him.  He needs a little “happy” this evening.  He is the most dedicated and loving husband and care giver for my mother, who is courageously battling cancer at this time.  They are both an inspiration to anyone who knows them.  I love you both!

 

Tarte aux Fruits

1 recipe pastry cream (see below)

1 pâte sucrée - basic sweet pastry dough - pre-baked (see below)

fresh seasonal fruit

1/4 cup currant jelly plus 1 teaspoon water cooked into a syrup over medium heat in a saucepan

You may make this tart with any shape or size tart pan.  The crust is fully baked and then the rich pastry cream is spooned into the tart shell.  Decorate the tart with any fresh seasonal fruit.....I love it with berries of any kind!  Paint the currant jelly glaze on the fruit to give it a beautiful pastry shop glisten.

pastry cream - crème pâtissière

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean - split or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract   *note you would add these at different points in the recipe

5 tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon butter

Pour the milk in a medium saucepan.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape it into the milk and add the vanilla bean pod as well.  Add 1/4 cup sugar and cook the mixture over high heat until just bubbling.  

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1 tablespoon sugar, flour and cornstarch.

Remove the vanilla bean from the milk and pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the egg mixture while constantly whisking.  Pout the entire mixture through a sieve back into the saucepan.  

Cook over medium high heat while constantly whisking until the custard just becomes thick (about 2 minutes)

Transfer into a bowl and stir in the butter.  (At this time stir in the vanilla extract if you are using it instead of the vanilla bean.)  Cover with plastic wrap and press down so that the wrap completely touches the pastry cream.  This keeps it from forming a skin.  Chill completely.

 

pate sucrée - basic sweet pastry dough 

(this recipe makes dough for two 10” tarts)

300 grams flour (2 cups) I like to weigh my flour for more accuracy

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Add the chopped butter and pulse until the butter is in small pea sized balls. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. 

Put the dough out to a floured surface and make into a large mound and cut in half with a pastry scraper. I like to weigh the halves so that they are equal. Put each half onto a square of wax paper and form into a disk. Wrap with the paper and chill for at least one hour. 

If you are freezing at this time, then wrap again in foil and freeze. Let dough defrost in the refrigerator before use.

Roll out dough on a floured surface. If you are using a 10” tart pan roll the dough into a 13" circle.  (For tartlets roll the dough out to a 13” circle and cut the dough into smaller circles with a knife using the tartlet pans as a size guide. Go 1” larger than the size of the pan)  Place dough into a 10" tart pan and fold the overhang inward and press gently into the sides. Do not force or stretch the dough because a thin spot may cause the filling to leak. The dough edges should be a little bit higher than the side of the tart pan to help prevent shrinkage. Prick the bottom of the shell with your fork. Press a piece of foil (12"x13") into the edges of the shell and cover with the foil completely touching and covering the entire shell. Chill for at least a half an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Completely fill the foil covered shell with pie weights or dried beans. Put the shell into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and remove beans and foil. Brush the inside of the shell with a beaten egg white to prevent leakage from small cracks. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes and bake until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.

The shell is ready to fill.