Pi Day: Tomato and gruyère tart

My maths teachers would be proud...and confused.

Let's face it, I was not known for my stellar work with numbers...English, history, science, geography, French--pretty much anything other that maths and phys. ed and the machine-assisted sewing part of Home Ec, I happily claimed a small part of. Anything and everything beyond BEDMAS made my head hurt...a lot.

Now, ironically, one of the things I've developed a reputation for (at least amongst vendors who works with me) is my somewhat quick and usually annoyingly airtight ability to cut through smarmy numbers...yeah, I'm a favourite in some circles...

Maybe there is a mathy in me screaming to get out. I'm sure it has to do with all my baking and cooking...yet another reason why people should bake more chocolate cakes and make more ice cream...

So when Alanna of Kitchen Parade announced a foodish twist to Pi Day (look at my posting date (omitting the year), if you don't get it), I planned to seize this opportunity to continue making peace with my inner mathy...

Ah...the best laid plans of mince and mandolines...Life got busy so I couldn't bake specifically for this event. I pretty much gave up on participating, until I remembered a tart I made last summer I didn't blog about...

In May I blogged about Georgeanne Brennan's sweet memoir A Pig In Provence, with plans to try a few more recipes. One of which was her Tomato Tart.

Her instructions were quite easy--roll out the crust, fill it and bake it--all done with a voice of someone who's very experienced and matter-of-fact in the kitchen. Quantities aren't specific--you just add as much much as makes sense, season to taste and then bake at the required temp until done.

I didn't want to use a wheat-based crust for my version, instead wanting something that was a little different and had a bit of a texture. Then I remembered Nigella's pastry recipe for tomato tarts used cornmeal...well, I didn't have to go much further than that.

I'll be honest and admit to forgetting if I had to fiddle with quantities for my 30cm fluted tin-- Nigella's is for eight 12cm individually-portioned tarts--but somehow I don't think I had to adjust things. I do recall deciding to form the crust as Edna Staebler used to, by pressing the dough directly into the tin, instead of the usual roll, drape and trim.

I do remember the tart. The crust was crisp and the cornmeal's texture was a nice crunchy-crispy contrast to the soft and gooey cheesey-tomatoey filling. It was the right thing, paired with a leafy salad, for a light supper.

Tomato and Gruyère Tart
Inspired by Georgeanne Brennan's A Pig in Provence and Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess

for the Pastry
125g pastry flour
60g cornmeal
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
115g butter
25g shortening
iced water

For the filling
prepared Dijon mustard
sliced tomatoes
grated Gruyère
salt
pepper
thyme
olive oil


Mix the dry ingredients together, then rub in the fats until the mixture reminds you of coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in enough water so the pastry comes together into a dough. Pat into a disc, wrap in cling and let it sit in the fridge for about half an hour.

When the dough has rested, take it out and press it to about 0.5cm/1/2" thickness into a 30cm x 2.5 cm/12"x1" tart pan. Pop it back into the fridge for another 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Spread a thin layer of mustard on the pastry base. Snug in the tomato slices and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Spread the cheese over top and drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with more thyme, salt and pepper.

Bake until the cheese is golden and the tomatoes have softened--about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving.

cheers!
jasmine

An evening in Provence

Well...not quite.

I'm in those last, few glorious hours between classes. Two weeks (ish) have passed and I've tried to get back to normalcy--you know, cleaning, a bit more cooking, more cleaning. I even got to the cinema (Hot Fuzz is very fun, btw). What am I most pleased with?

Pleasure reading.

As a treat to myself--a bit of literary tourism, if you will--I bought Georgeanne Brennan's A Pig in Provence, and have been enjoying a mini holiday in Provence. If you haven't read it yet, it's a very sweet and easy reminiscence of discovering Provence: making goat's cheese, buying pigs, truffle hunting. Brennan's writing is light and evokes wonderful imagery. You could finish it in an evening--it's not very long.

I must admit that I'm predisposed to this sort of book. I devoured Peter Mayle and Tim Parks years ago and Bill Bryson has a home on my shelves.

Georgeanne's book made me realize I've not been anywhere in three years. Quite depressing, really. So...I've decided that after my I'm done this set of courses (December, methinks), I have to go somewhere. Apart from a weekend in New York City, the last bit of travelling I did was to India and England. This time I was waffling between Sweden and Provence. I think Provence is winning...especially since I found out there are culinary vacations (including a cooking course by Georgeanne). These courses aren't cheap, but they should be interesting. I've been saving my pennies, so I'm hoping in autumn 2008 I'll be hopping an aeroplane to Nice. At the very least I'll brush up on my French while I'm over there.

One of the nice things about his book is apart from being a food-centric memoire, is it's also a bit of a cookbook. Each section ends with a Provence-inspired recipe. Simple food made with fresh local ingredients (aren't those the best recipes anyway?). I decided to try and give myself a taste of France and try one out. The mushroom lover that I am, I had to try the receipt offered in "fungal obsessions"--Poulet au genièvre farci aux champignons sauvages (Juniper-rubbed chicken with wild mushrooms).

It was simple and tasty. I didn't have any wild mushrooms, so I used the "interesting" ones found at the local bigscarymegamart--oyster, shitaki, cremini, portabello. Because she is a home cook, the recipes work really well and read like something you'd get from a friend or your auntie. The chicken was delicious. Plain and simple.

...and yes, Beanie did get a little, teeny bit.

Poulet au genièvre farci aux champignons sauvages (Juniper-rubbed chicken stuffed with wild mushrooms)
adapted from Georgeanne Brennan's A Pig in Provence

1 roasting chicken
sea salt
pepper
crushed juniper berries (about half a dozen)
butter
two shallots, finely minced
four handful (or so) of mixed mushrooms, sliced or chopped
a few slices of stale bread, cubed
a couple of pinches of dried thyme
250 ml white wine

Preheat oven to 400F/200C, or whatever temp you'd normally set the oven to when you roast a chicken.

Saute the shallots and half the mushrooms in the butter until the fungi have just turned golden. Season with some of the spices and the thyme and add in the bread cubes and mix well.

Season the bird's cavity and outside with the remaining spices and stuff with the bread mixture. Roast and baste as you'd normally do (I roast for 35 minutes plus 20 minutes per 500g, and baste every 10-15 minutes...I also poke it with a meat thermometer, for good measure).

When the bird is done, remove it to a cutting board. Drain off the fat. Add the rest of the mushrooms to the pan and saute until golden. Add wine and scrape off the lovely roasted bits that have clung to the roasting tin and let simmer for a bit.

Carve up the chicken and serve with the stuffing and the pan sauce.

cheers!
jasmine

tags: Georgeanne Brennan Chicken Mushrooms
add this page to del.icio.us