Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin

Ward found this recipe in the Times...it sounds amazing.

Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

1 14-ounce package all-butter puff pastry
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup plus a pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1 1/2 pints (about 1 pound) cherry or grape tomatoes; a mix of colors is nice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Unfold puff pastry sheet and cut into a 10-inch round; chill, covered, until ready to use.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of sugar and cook, stirring, until onions are golden and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water and let cook off, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Transfer onions to a bowl.

3. In a clean, ovenproof 9-inch skillet, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan gently (do not stir) until sugar melts and turns amber, 5 to 10 minutes. Add vinegar and swirl gently.

4. Sprinkle olives over caramel. Scatter tomatoes over olives, then sprinkle onions on. Season with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Top with puff pastry round, tucking edges into pan. Cut several long vents in top of pastry.

5. Bake tart until crust is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then run a knife around pastry to loosen it from pan, and flip tart out onto a serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Here's the link to the article.

Classic Red Tomato Rice

I made this out of Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen cookbook (a great gift from Jesse). The salsa that goes into the rice is so delicious. It is especially good this time of year because nearly every ingredient came from the farm. Move over Bobbie Salsa, Lisa Salsa is in town! (Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it.) Warning: this recipe is a little fussy, but totally worth it.

• 1 lb ripe tomatoes
• 2 jalapeños
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• salt
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 2 cups white rice
• 1.5 cups water

1. Roast the tomatoes on a baking sheet under the broiler until blackened on one side, about 6 minutes. Flip and roast the other side. Cool and peel, collecting all the juices with the tomatoes. While the tomatoes are roasting, roast the chiles and unpeeled garlic directly on an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until soft and blackened in spots. (The chiles will take 5 - 10 minutes, the garlic 15 minutes.) Cool, then pull the stems from the chiles and peel the garlic.
2. In a food processor, whir the chiles, garlic and 1/2 tsp of salt into a coarse pursee. Add the tomatoes and whir again. Rinse the onion in a strainer under cold water, shake off the excess and add to the tomato mixture along with 1/2 cup of the cilantro. (At this point, make sure you have at least 2 cups of salsa.)
3. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. In a 3-qt ovenproof saucepan heat the oil over medium. Add the rice and cook, stirring regularly, until the rice turns chalky looking, about 5 minutes. If some kernels brown, it's fine. Add 2 cups of the salsa and stir for a minute as the salsa sears and reduces a little. Add the water and 1 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and stir. Cover the pan tightly and bake for 25 minutes. (Test and make sure the rice is nearly done.) Let the rice stand out of the oven for a few minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the cilantro over the rice, then use a fork to fluff the mixture and fold in the cilantro.

Fine Cooking September 2008

If it's still on the newsstand, you should rush out and get a copy of this one. It's chockablock of great recipes.

So far, I've made the Mexican Black Bean Burgers, Pepper Crusted Beef with Rosemary Chimichuri and the Nicoise Salad with Tuna and Potatoes (above).

Still to try: Cinnamon-Walnut Shortcakes with Caramelized Plums, Summer Vegetable Soup with Dill, Smoked Heirloom Tomato Relish and much more.

I'll post recipes for the first dishes when I get more time.

Here's the summary from the website:
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/fc_currentissue.asp

Spinach and Hot Ham Pasta Bake

My really good friend Jill lost her dad earlier this week. She's also a military wife and her husband is deployed. The instant I got the phone call I knew exactly what I needed to do. Make her something she would eat. Jill has said before she would eat anything I cook for her so I dug deep and thought about something that would look pretty, seem healthy but had immense amounts of cheese. This is truly one of the most comforting meals I can think of and it yields a ton (9x13 dish).

Btw, this is a Rachel Ray recipe and she scares me - but I think we have already talked about this... So here it is:


Ingredients:
1 lb cavatappi pasta or any short pasta with lines (I used mezza penne)
3 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1.5 cup whole milk or 2%
1/2 lb sliced capocollo ham, sliced thin
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup grated parmigiano-regiano
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb mozzarella, in 1/2" cubes
1 cup breadcrumbs

preparation:

1/ boil pasta and pre-heat broiler
2/ in large saucepan at medium heat - 1 tbsp EVOO and butter. when
butter melts add garlic and onion. season w/ salt and pepper.
3/ dust onions w/ flour and cook stirring for 1 min. slowly whisk in
milk. bring to a bubble and let thicken.
4/ stir in ham, spinach and 1/2 cup parmigiano-regiano
5/ season w/ nutmeg and cayenne pepper
6/ drain pasta when ready. combine cubed mozzarella w/ pasta and sauce
and toss to coat. transfer to baking dish.
7/ breadcrumb topping: combine breadcrumbs, 2 tsp EVOO and 1/2
parm-reg cheese. sprinkle on top of pasta.
8/ broil for 1min until topping browns.

Note - I usually put it in the oven at 300 covered after the broiling part when waiting for guests so the mozzarella melts and makes it all gooier and yummier...

Enjoy!

Fresh Peach and Gingercream Shortcakes

(photo from epicurious.com)

Saturday was the great day of the brisket in the Riker residence - I will post the recipe soon, I promise, but first feast your eyes and taste buds on this. John picked this out from the August Bon Ape and it was great. The recipe was super easy to make and the results were scarfed down quickly. I will admit to not bothering with the crystallized ginger (I just assumed that it wasnt going to be found in these parts) so I substituted with ground ginger and the result was super subtle, yet tasty. I'm not a huge fan of peaches, so we also had strawberries around.

ingredients::

2 cups all purpose flour
13 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled salted butter, diced
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger, divided
1/2 cup ginger ale
3 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
4 large peaches,halved, thinly sliced

preparation::

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, and baking powder in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until very coarse meal forms (oatmeal-size flakes). Mix in 1/4 cup chopped ginger. Add ginger ale and 2 tablespoons cream. Toss until moist clumps form. Gather dough into 7-inch log. Cut crosswise into 6 equal rounds. Place on sheet, spaced apart. Shape each into 21/2-inchdiameter round. Mix 1 tablespoon cream and 1 tablespoon sugar in small bowl; brush over top and sides of shortcakes.

Bake shortcakes until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool on sheet.

Meanwhile, toss peaches in large bowl with 4 tablespoons sugar and remaining 1/4 cup chopped ginger. Whisk remaining 1 1/4 cups cream and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl to peaks.

Halve shortcakes horizontally. Place bottoms on plates. Top each with peaches, whipped cream, and shortcake top.

Jenny's Take on BPG's Chipotle Lime Shrimp

Hot, garlicky, spicy, delicious! This reminds me of my favorite appetizer at the Blue Point Grill. It is delicious serves with Judy and Mark's rice dish (on my blog) and a green salad with mangoes and cukes. (Inspired by a recipe from The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman.

To serve 4:

7 large garlic cloves, peeled
3 T. olive oil
1-2 chipotle peppers (canned, but use as little adobe as possible)
a couple of pinches of dried chipoltle pepper flakes
6 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 c. cilantro without any thick stems
2 lb. peeled shrimp
s&p
1/3-1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 c. white wine

With blade running, drop garlic cloves into food processor. When finely minced, stop f.p. and add oil, peppers, S & P, scallions, and cilantro and process until mixture is minced. Add some of the lime juice if mixture seems too dry.

Add green mixture to saute pan and add juice. Heat, stirring for a couple of minutes, and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp is pink, turning 2/3 of the way through. Add wine and more lime juice if you want it more juicy. Also could add orange juice if you want it juicier!

Farmstand Corn Fritters

Sometimes in the summer we eventually get a little tired of corn on the cob as a side dish. I'll make these fritters as a change of pace, especially if we're having a light main course.

If you're feeling really decadent, you can add cheddar cheese and chives (1/3 cup shredded & 2 tablespoons chopped, respectively) plus 1 tsp Dijon to the mixture. I've not tried that, but it's probably great.

Farmstand Corn Fritters
Cooks Country – August 2005
Makes 12 fritters

1 1/2 pounds fresh corn (2 large or 3 to 4 medium ears), husks and silk removed
1 large egg , beaten lightly
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup corn oil or vegetable oil, or more as needed

Method:
1. Using chef’s knife, cut kernels from 1 to 2 ears corn and place in bowl (you should have about 1 cup whole kernels). Grate kernels from remaining 1 to 2 ears on large holes of box grater (you should have generous 1/2 cup grated kernels) into bowl with cut kernels. Using back of knife, scrape any pulp remaining on all cobs into bowl. Stir in egg, flour, cornmeal, cream, shallot, salt, and cayenne.
2. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop 6 heaping tablespoonfuls batter in pan. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer fritters to plate lined with paper towels. If necessary, add more oil to skillet and heat until shimmering; fry remaining batter. Serve fritters immediately.