Summer Tomato Tart – Better Than a Nude Beach

One of these days Michele and I will travel to the south of France, where we’ll make it a point to eat this amazing tomato tart at least once a day. It’s going to be hot, since we’ll have to go in the middle of summer, so we can enjoy the best possible tomatoes, but that’s fine, as long as they don’t run out of chilled rosé.

While beautiful in its own way, this tart doesn’t necessarily look like it’s going to be one of the most delicious things ever, but then you bite into the crispy, buttery crust, which is the perfect delivery system for the tangy Dijon, and sweet, caramelized tomatoes, and you’re like, yeah, that guy was right.

By the way, if you want to learn some really good French swear words, call this a “French pizza” in front of a French chef. They don’t quite agree with the analogy. However, there is one common denominator. Both can be ruined with too much topping. Just like we don’t want to overload a thin-crust pizza with a ton of sauce and cheese, we need to be restrained with this as well.

One layer of tomato is plenty, since more than that will make for a too wet tart, which means your pastry will not stay crispy. Besides that, there’s not much that can go wrong, unless you use subpar tomatoes. But, since we’re right in the middle of peak season that shouldn’t be a problem, so I really do hope you give this tomato tart a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

enough puff pastry to make your shell

enough extra-strong Dijon mustard to sauce the inside

enough sliced tomatoes to fill the tart with a single layer

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

several big pinches of Herbes de Provence (or an Italian herb blend if you can’t find)

extra-virgin olive oil, as needed

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, as needed

fresh chopped herbs to garnish

- Pre-bake tart shell for about 10 minutes at 400 F.

- Let cool about 10-15 minutes, then fill and bake at 400 F. for about 25-30 minutes, or until pastry is well-browned and crisp.

Pouding Chômeur – This Unemployed Man’s Pudding Isn’t Cheap

This Pouding Chômeur, which translates to “unemployed man’s pudding,” is one of your more ironically named recipes, since the main ingredients aren’t cheap. The good news is you probably don’t want to eat this more than a few times a year anyway, so it shouldn’t break the budget.

If you use a bigger baking dish than I did, and pour over all the maple cream syrup, your cake should float over a pool of what will eventually be your sauce. If you just use a deep pie dish like me, then you’ll have to serve the extra sauce later, which may work out even better anyway.

Be sure to stop between 1/2 and 1-inch from the top of your dish, because this will soufflé up, and the molten syrup will run all over. Which reminds me, be sure to use a sheet pan underneath, as neither maple syrup nor heavy cream is recommended for the bottom of your oven.

This is the perfect dessert to pair with summer fruit, and I hear that a scoop of vanilla ice cream only improves things further. So, thanks to my French-Canadian friends who suggested this recipe to follow the Poutine, and to all of you, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 Portions:

For the syrup:

2 cups maple syrup

2 cups heavy cream

Note: I had plenty extra, so you may be able to reduce these amounts

For the batter:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs (use room temperature for best results)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 425 F. for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean

Poutine – You'll Ruin French Fries and Like It

As the old joke goes, it takes a lot of time and effort to make poutine, but at least when you’re finally done you get to eat soggy fries. And, what incredibly delicious, soggy fries they are. 

Once you get past the fact that this is how they’re supposed to be, you can focus on the overall awesomeness of the dish, especially the rich, freshly made beef gravy featured herein.

I realize most you won’t actually use this gravy to make poutine, which is totally fine by me, since this is so good, on so many other things. While I don’t have any problem with you buying the cheese curds, or using frozen fries, I really do hope you make the sauce from scratch, as it is profoundly better than anything from the store.

I should mention that none of the “authentic” poutines I’ve had included chunks of beef in the gravy, but I really enjoy the extra meatiness, and this way everyone knows we made it from scratch. By the way, if you’re of the vegetarian persuasion, some severely caramelized mushrooms, and a decent vegetable stock (which I still need to do a video for), will produce a perfectly fine version. Either way, I really do hope you give this a try soon…at least the beef gravy. Enjoy!

For the Beef Gravy:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or lard

1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef short rib, chuck, or brisket, chopped

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup diced onions (you can also add some garlic if you want)

salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne to taste

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups homemade beef broth, or a low-sodium, all-natural prepared broth

fresh chives to garnish

For the Fries: click here for video

For the Cheese Curds: click here for video

Homemade Cheese Curds – Plan B

Making your own cheese curds at home requires several special ingredients, takes many, many hours, and there are a lot of steps. Other than that, it’s a pretty quick and easy thing to do. So, if you’re planning on making poutine, and there’s a store nearby that sells fresh curds, you should really consider that Plan A. This recipe is Plan B.

Having said that, this is still a fun, satisfying project, and even someone as inexperienced as I am can produce a decent product. Keep in mind; we’re eventually going to pour hot beef gravy all over these, so that should help everyone stay relaxed. Some of the ingredients below sound exotic and kind of scary, but they’re all easy to find in health food stores, or online, and used properly, are completely safe.

With that in mind, I encourage you to do some research on things like sterilizing equipment, and other best practices. While their times, temps, and procedures are slightly different, I referred to these fine videos by ChefSteps and Gavin Webber. In regards to complexity of technique, my method falls somewhere between those two, but they’re both well worth checking out for more info.

Besides the time involved, the hardest thing is keeping everything at those relatively low temps. A sous vide set-up would be prefect for this, but a double-boiler does work. Just keep a thermometer in place, and once the milk gets up to 90 F., alternate between low heat and no heat to get where you need to be.

Is it worth all the effort? I’m not sure, but fried cheese curds are a very nice treat, and having a cube of fresh cheese to pop into your mouth anytime you get the urge is pretty sweet, and then of course we have Poutine. Which is the only reason most people know that cheese curds are even a thing. So, if Plan A isn’t an option, I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 Pound Cheese Curds:

1 gallon whole milk

1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride crystals, diluted in 1/4 cup of water

1/8 teaspoon mesophilic culture

1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet, diluted in 1/4 cup of water (Check directions on package, as the strengths can vary. Mine was “double-strength”)

*kosher salt to season finished curds

* You want to apply exactly 1% kosher salt based on the weight of the finished curds. For example, if you end up with 400 grams of cheese curds, then season with 4 grams of salt.

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