Sorrel & Roasted Beet Salad

Sorrel is the new "wonder vegetable" of our garden. Well honestly, it has been since June when we transplanted it from a container into the ground and it exploded into a verdant mass of leaves. And we are grateful. Sorrel makes an incredible "green lettuce" base for a salad, particularly when the lemony bite of the leaves is paired with roasted beets, goat cheese, and pistachios.  (I'm sure hazelnuts are equally delicious in this). I could also have added orange slivers or red onions but I was lazy and I can't say that I missed them one bit! My dressing was an olive oil/balsamic/dijon mustard/thyme mix with a touch of honey for sweetener. If I had frozen orange zest I would have added it to the dressing, but c'est la vie.

Sorrel & Roasted Beet Salad

•  Beets, red or golden. A large beet would serve two salads, or roast 3-4 to have extras for leftovers. Scrub clean and toss with a bit of olive oil. Wrap in two layers of foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 40-50 minutes until tender. (I did this part about 5 days in advance). Let cool and then peel the skin off. Slice into rounds and then into quarters (or halves depending on beet size).

• Sorrel, for two probably 100-200 grams, or for four 300-400g. Remove the stems, wash, and slice into ribbons.

• Goat cheese (as much as you want!)- for two, about 2 oz.

• Salted pistachios (1/4 - 1/3 c. for salad for two)

Assemble salad and dress. Enjoy. Perhaps with some baguette on the side.

Easter Dinner

I am so far behind on my posts but I did want to share some photos from our lovely Easter dinner on our brand new table that expands to seat 8!!! A huge step up in the "grown-up" world of furniture for us.

I found this tart based on the following criteria: meal item must contain goat cheese and must be able to be assembled in advance.  The tart was heartily enjoyed by all - the smooth, tangy filling although filled with goat cheese, artichoke hearts, parmesan and greek yogurt tasted surprisingly light. The polenta crust was lovely and not too heavy. My only warnings would be that I think there needs to be more liquid in the polenta so it doesn't dry out during the baking time and that it's better to have a thicker bottom crust than side crust. I used a 10" springform pan and as long as you run a thin knife or spatula around the edge of the polenta crust before opening the pan, you should be able to produce a perfectly intact crust.


Artichoke Polenta Tart (Maria Speck)

Polenta Crust

• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. broth
• 1 1/4 c. polenta
• 1/2 c. parmesan, grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Bring the water and broth to a boil. Pour the polenta in a slow stream, whisking to combine. Remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
2. Remove the lid and let cool for 5-10min. While it cools, line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan.
3.Stir in the egg, parmesan, salt and pepper into the polenta. Get a cup of cold water. Dip your fingertips/hands into the cold water and press the polenta into the springform pan. You want a thickness of about 3/4" for the crust.
4. Press the polenta into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. You should be able to get a crust height of 4-5". Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Filling

• 12 oz can marinated artichoke hearts, drained
• 1/2 c. crumbled goat cheese
• optional: sorrel or spinach - a small handful
• 1 c. plain greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 - 1/2 c. finely chopped green onions
• 2-3 Tbs freshly chopped parsley or 1-2 Tbs dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/3- 1/2 c. parmesan

1.  Spread the artichoke hearts over the bottom of the polenta crust. Crumble the goat cheese on top. Add sorrel or spinach if using.
2.  Beat the yogurt, eggs, green onions, pepper, sea salt and parsley together. Pour over artichokes and goat cheese.
3. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top of the tart.
4. Bake for 45 min. Center should appear mostly firm when tart is gently shaken. Parmesan should be golden brown on the top.
5. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 20-45 min. You can serve immediately or place in the fridge for later. It's best at room temperature or warm.

Spanish Banks, looking back at downtown Vancouver

Best Easter crew gathering ever!

The Glee Finale

Yes it's true, Glee has ended for the season and I will miss it. And yes I was utterly crushed that they didn't even place at Nationals. Why was this the one storyline that they decided to imbue with some sense of reality???  Anyways, in order to celebrate the season finale, I made a fairly simple but elegant looking tart. Overall, loved the filling and the glaze, but not a huge fan of the crust as it was not as flaky/crispy as I had hoped. I also found the crust too sweet when paired with the filling and glaze so would either cut some sugar out of the filling or the tart crust the next time I made it; the other two commentators thought it tasted fine.

RE: The crust: it might be that I added in a bit too much liquid to the dough, or that the substitution of all-purpose for pastry flour was not correct, or simply that it should have been baked a bit longer, but it shrank an awful lot down the sides of the pan and became very thick in the centre despite chilling the dough overnight in the fridge.  I would recommend just using a basic tart recipe for the crust if in doubt.

Cream Cheese Tart with Marmalade Glaze
Crust:
1 1/2 c. pastry flour (if substituting all-purpose flour, reduce by 2 Tbs)
4 Tbs sugar
9 Tbs chilled salted butter (1/2 c. + 1 Tbs, or 1 stick + 1 Tbs)
1 egg yolk (ok the recipe called for 1/2 a yolk, but seriously, who measures out 1/2 a yolk? I think I would even try using the whole egg next time)
1-4 Tbs chilled water

Filling:
1- 8oz block cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c. goat cheese (or marscapone)
1/2 c. sugar (reduce this down to taste)
1-2 Tbs fresh lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla

Glaze:
1/2 - 2/3 c. marmalade (I used a combo of half homemade with half store-bought plus a little apricot jam for good luck)
A little water (or juice) to thin it out if needed

You could also substitute about any jam/jelly filling you like with this or some combo of jam + fresh fruit

1. Blend the flour, sugar, and butter by hand (or make it faster by using a food processor) until the butter is evenly distributed in small crumbs. Mix in the yolk (and water as needed) by hand or pulse in a food processor until the dough comes together. Press into a flattened disk and chill at least 4 hours in the fridge (or overnight). Roll out the dough and press into a fluted tart pan (I greased and floured mine). Bake at 400 degrees F for 18 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.

2. Beat the filling ingredients until whipped, smooth , and soft. Spread into tart crust.

3. Prepare the glaze. If heated, let cool until thickened. I only waited til the marmalade had cooled to "warm", not actually "cool". Spread glaze over the filling and put the tart in fridge to chill for an hour.

Goat Cheese Brownies

Goat cheese is high up on my list of favorite cheeses for its tangy, smooth, and infinitely flexible nature in its pairings with foods and flavors. You could use it anywhere you could use cream cheese so it occurred to me that the giant log of goat cheese (chevre) sitting in my fridge could be part of an exciting new adventure: goat cheese brownies! Of course I am not the first person to come up with this idea and I enjoyed reading about these industrious women and their brownie company: http://www.vermontbrowniecompany.com/dark-chocolate-chevre.html.  I also found another food blogger who made some attempts at these brownies, and I ended up modifying her recipe for the chevre swirl and adding it to Jamie Oliver's brownie recipe as the base. The end result: a classy brownie dessert that hits the sweet and salty craving right on the nose!

Photo courtesy of my beautiful wife!

Goat Cheese Brownies
Chevre Swirl
8 oz goat cheese (room temperature)
1 egg + 1 egg white
1 Tbs flour

Beat all ingredients together until silky smooth.

Brownie Base
1 c. unsalted butter + 2 Tbs salted butter
7 oz dark good quality chocolate (I used Callebaut dark chocolate pieces)
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
3/4 c. cocoa
4 eggs
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt the butter and chopped up chocolate in a double boiler, or a thick-bottomed pan over low heat, stirring constantly til smooth. Sift together the dry ingredients. Beat together eggs (and vanilla if desired). Stir the melted chocolate and butter into the dry ingredients until mixed and then beat in eggs until smooth.
Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Spread chevre mixture on top and cut swirls through to produce marbling effect. Sprinkle with sea salt as desired. Bake 25-35 minutes until outer edges are done and middle is still slightly gooey.

Picture to come....