A KITCHEN FULL OF TARTS: SWEET AND SAVORY

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Over the weekend, I attended a tart party. I had never met any of the other guests in person, but know them from an online cooking community, Food52. My host, Abbie, known on Food 52 as aargersi, invited me to join her and several other members at her home in Austin. Our mission was to collaborate on this weeks contest, Your Best Late WInter Tart (Sweet or Savory). We would spent the day getting to know one another while shopping for and then baking sweet and savory “late winter” tarts. We would post the recipes as a group under the name, Ginger’s Kitchen, named for Ginger, Abbie’s Jack Russell terrier.

Abbie had never laid eyes on me, yet she and Ginger, our mascot, welcomed me into their home like an old friend.

We began in the morning at the farmers market. While there is no such season as late winter in Texas, mushrooms, kale, chard, onions, potatoes, and citrus fruits were our focus. Once the produce was purchased, we moved on to Central Market to select our crust and cheese components. The rest of the day, we baked. Six tarts later, it was dark outside, and we were done. We’d created quiches, savory tarts and a decadent sweet chocolate and citrus tart. Our creations had been photographed and eaten. The kitchen was clean. Every one of them was absolutely delicious. Here are fruits of our labors along with the links to the recipes if they are posted:

WILD MUSHROOM, ONION AND BRIE TART ON PUFF PASTRY

TEXAS CHILLY QUICHE

WHITE BEAN, CHORIZO, and KALE TART with MANCHEGO CHEESE

CHARD AND PANCETTA QUICHE WITH BUTTERY WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER CARAMELIZED ONION AND CRISPY SAGE TART

CHOCOLATE CARAMELIZED ORANGE TART

NOTE: If I could eat this every day without any consequences, I would. I might even bathe in it. (Chocolate is an antioxidant!) It is that good.

NOTE: Are tarts intimidating to you? Relax. They are not as hard as they sound. Crusts can be store-bought or easily made in a food processor. There are many easy-to-follow recipes as well. Martha Stewart, in fact, has a new cookbook all about tart making. It is called Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites.

Peace and love from my kitchen to yours,

Waverly