Kitchen Garden Journal

Put flour and salt in Cuisinart or Kitchen-Aid, then add butter in cubes, while processing, until the mixture resembles small peas. Drizzle in cold water while processing until the dough forms a ball. Lay on a piece of cling wrap and press dough into a disc. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, wash, trim and slice leeks. Saute in butter 15 minutes until soft and golden, and allow to cool. In a bowl, combine eggs, yolks, cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in leeks and reserve. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and press into a 9-inch pie pan. Prick all over with a fork, cover with foil, fill with pie weights (dried beans, pennies, marbles etc.) and partially bake until dry – 10-15 minutes, removing foil for the last few minutes. Remove pie shell from oven and sprinkle cheese on the bottom. Pour in the leek mixture and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Bake 30 minutes, until the center is set but still soft like Jell-O. Cool and serve.

 

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• Pastry Shell (makes two tart shells)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine flour and salt in the Cuisinart bowl fitted with a blade. Pulse to combine and start adding cubes of butter, pulsing, until the lumps are pea-sized. Mix cream and yolk together and pour the mixture into the bowl while processing, just until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of saran wrap and form into a disc. Divide in half and chill for an hour before rolling out and fitting into a 9-10" tart pan.

Filling (quantity for 1 tart)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg
1 bunch asparagus
4 oz. goat chevre, crumbled

Trim any tough ends from the asparagus and toss with ample olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the spears on a cookie sheet at 450 for 15-20 minutes until blistering but still slightly firm. Chop into bite size pieces and allow to cool.

Turn oven down to 375. Roll out pastry dough and fit into the tart pan. Prick the bottom with the tines of a fork, fit with foil and fill with pie weights (dry beans, pennies, marbles, etc.) Bake for 8 minutes until pastry is set, remove foil and weights and continue baking 7 minutes until the shell is dried out and very lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool before filling.

Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg with a fork or whisk, being careful not to incorporate too much air. Stir in asparagus and chevre. Pour filling into cooled shells and bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly browned. Cool before serving. 

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I am just back from a weekend trip to Montreal. Being in that city this time was a badly needed shot of French culture right into the arm. Tempered in good measure by a dose of Canadian friendliness and lack of pretension, my visit was inspiring on many levels.

Going to Montreal is like a geographical slap in the face. That there is a whole metropolitan culture beyond the desolation of northern New York never ceases to amaze me. And even though I am way more Canada-literate than most Americans, being there reminds me of the severity our collective Canada-denial. Case in point: when I think of Northeast cities, I think Boston, New York, Philly, DC. It never even occurs to me to look up. But Montreal is truly one of the great Northeastern cities, and so close.

And it’s now official: I need to go there more than once every three or four years.

I need to be in a place where you can count on good baguettes: not just one or two places, but ALL of them. Can you imagine if bakeries in the US just happened to stock four kinds of paté? People would laugh. Then the place would go under. It’s just nice to be in a place where French things are French and don’t also have to reflect American trends and tastes (or lack thereof). French food in the US unfortunately has that in common with Chinese food.

As you can tell, I carry around way too much snobbery and bitterness. And in Montreal, I witnessed a culture of warmth and openness that somehow doesn’t sacrifice coolness or good taste. Strangers are assumed to be sympathetic. I can’t but think if I lived there I would be a better person.

My trip to Montreal was truly inspiring. Most of all, it seems to have inspired a bad case of city envy and fantasies of relocation. If anyone knows the lowdown on emigration, please let me know.

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• 2lbs yellow or cipollini onions
• 1/2 stick butter, or combination of oil and butter
• 1 shot Port wine
• 2 quarts homemade beef stock, or use canned
• salt & pepper
• To serve:
• 4 slices slightly stale french bread
• grated Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese, or a combination

This is an absolute classic and is actually pretty easy once you get all the onions peeled and thinly sliced. Heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet or dutch oven and add the onions. When they are hot and actively cooking, reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a long time, even over an hour. What you are looking for are the various phases the onions go through as they cook: sweaty, soft, mushy, golden, deep golden and virtually disintegrating. Be sure to stop there, before they start sticking and turning black. Add the Port and stir until evaporated. (If you happen to have saved some pan drippings from a roast, throw them in now. There are few better things to use them for.) Add the beef stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. The soup is done now but if you wait until the following day to serve it, it's even more delicous. To serve: Toast the bread. Serve hot soup into individual oven-safe bowls, topping each with a piece of bread and some grated cheese. Place all the bowls on a baking sheet and stick them under a hot broiler until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

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Put flour and salt in Cuisinart or Kitchen-Aid, then add butter in cubes, while processing, until the mixture resembles small peas. Drizzle in cold water while processing until the dough forms a ball. Lay on a piece of cling wrap and press dough into a disc. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, wash, trim and slice leeks. Saute in butter 15 minutes until soft and golden, and allow to cool. In a bowl, combine eggs, yolks, cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in leeks and reserve. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and press into a 9-inch pie pan. Prick all over with a fork, cover with foil, fill with pie weights (dried beans, pennies, marbles etc.) and partially bake until dry – 10-15 minutes, removing foil for the last few minutes. Remove pie shell from oven and sprinkle cheese on the bottom. Pour in the leek mixture and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Bake 30 minutes, until the center is set but still soft like Jell-O. Cool and serve.

(Variation: Substitute 4 oz. goat cheese for Gruyere.)

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• 1 lb. celery root, cut into julienne matchsticks or grated
• 4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp boiling water
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped (optional) 

This is perhaps the most common salad eaten in France.  Place mustard in bowl and whisk in boiling water.  Next, whisk in oil until thick and creamy.  Whisk in vinegar and season to taste. Fold celery into sauce and marinate at least 2 hours.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve cold or at room temperature.

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This recipe has been a favorite of ours for years, adapted from Jack Bishop's The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook.

• For the Basil-Garlic Crust
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 medium garlic clove
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut in 8 pieces
• 4-5 Tbsp cold water

Place basil and garlic in the bowl of the Cuisinart fitted with the normal blade. Process until finely chopped, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add flour and salt and pulse to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture is the size of peas. Drizzle in the water and pulse until the dough comes together into a ball. Remove and flatten into a disc wrapped in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour.

• For the Tart
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
• 2 large, ripe tomatoes (about 1 lb), sliced thin
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Fit the dough into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Preheat the oven to 375. Line the bottom of the tart shell with mozzarella slices covering it completely. Arrange tomato slices over the cheese in an overlapping ring starting along the outside edge and another on the inside to cover the entire shell. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese has golden blisters, about 35-40 minutes. Cool at least 5 minutes before slicing, or serve at room temperature.

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This recipe is adapted from Clifford A. Wright, an expert on Mediterranean cuisine.

• Fish Carcasses
• Olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 quarts water
• 1 cup white wine

Make a fish stock by sauteing the onion in the oil until translucent.  Add water, fish carcasses and white wine and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 2 hours.  Strain and reserve the stock.

• Fish fillets (preferably a mix of oily fish, such as moonkfish, tuna or mackerel, and white fish, like cod, haddock, pollock)
• 3 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• another onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large bulb fennel, thinly sliced
• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes
• Salt & pepper

While the stock bubbles away, marinate the fillets in some minced garlic and olive oil.  Saute the onions and fennel in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, stock, salt & pepper, and bring to a ferocious boil.  Add fish fillets, cut into large pieces, one variety at a time, starting with the oily fish, which take longer to cook.  Let the stock come back to a boil before adding the net type of fish.  After all the fish is in, boil for another 10 minutes or so, until the fish is cooked but not falling apart.  Taste for seasoning and serve immediately, topped with toasted bread slices smeared with garlic sauce.

• 4 slices of baguette for each diner
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk

Toast the bread slices until crispy and set aside.  In the food processor or blender, add the garlic, oil and salt and whip together to form an emulsion.  Add lemon juice and egg yolk and continue to blend until it looks smooth.  Smear some of this sauce on a toast slice to garnish each bowl of stew.  Serve the remaining toasts and sauce at the table.

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