In A Nutshell

My nephew Liam made this for our family reunion “tapas” night; I don’t think he had ever made a galette before but he dazzled us with his skills—it was absolutely delicious. The recipe originates from Taste of Home but he subbed in Gruyere cheese for the Pecorino. I have tried numerous different tomato tart recipes this summer but this one and the previously published  tomato tart  are my two favorites. This one in particular because of the simplicity and ease. 1 cup flour 1 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed 1/2 cup sour cream 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 3 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder and salt a couple times to mix. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until this resembles coarse meal. Remove the mixture to a bowl and stir in the sour cream with a fork; gather into a disc and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425º; if you have a pizza stone, all the better! ...

Tomato season is glorious! I can’t get enough of the luscious garden tomatoes; like the rays of the summer sun, I just want to soak them up, revel in them and try to store away the joy they bring in order to conjure the memory during the darkest, gloomiest part of winter. I have 12 tomato plants this year and it has been fun growing some unusual varieties: Peach, Big Rainbow, German Green, Pink Brandywine as well as the standards. For this tart, I used the classic Beefsteak tomato. The reddest red with a pure tomato flavor. The recipe originates (with some adjustments) from Midwest Living magazine (June 2005); it is a classic to love and cherish. A note about the piecrust: I have tried so many different recipes, methods and techniques but in the end I love my own (very easy) recipe the most. I have been making this pretty successfully since high school and I’ve found that I only run into trouble when I try to deviate. Having said this, you can use your own recipe, one from ...

This recipe is slightly adapted from a long-ago issue of Midwest Living magazine; I used tomatoes from my parents' garden-- you can see the vibrant color and the taste of a home grown tomato is unparalleled. My brother recently told me that the most awesome (and truly foolproof) pie crust he has ever made came from Cook's Illustrated so I decided to try it out. He was totally right! CI has one of these irritating web sites where they actually expect you to PAY in order to use it!!! The nerve! Here is a link to the pie crust recipe ; you won't get the lengthy scientific explanation with the free version but you can trust that they've spent countless hours building humidity chambers to get this recipe right. 1 unbaked pie crust (1/2 recipe for a 9" pie)-- be sure to leave out the sugar for a savory tart; needless to say, I have a spare pie crust in the fridge because I didn't think of that the first time around..... 6 oz. shredded provolone or mozzarella c...

This tart is adapted from Fine Cooking magazine; it is a good way to use up zucchini. I cut this into wedges and packed it up for a picnic recently-- it was sooooooooooooo delicious! For the crust : 1 1/4 cup flour 10 T cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes 3/4 t kosher salt 4 T ice water Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour until it resembles coarse sand; with a fork, lightly stir in the water and form into a dough. Pat it into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. For the topping : 4 medium zucchini (about 1 1/4 pound or so) 1- 5.2 oz container Boursin cheese (the herb and garlic flavor), softened 4 oz. plain goat cheese, softened (or cream cheese) extra-virgin olive oil for brushing Slice the zucchini into 1/8" thick rounds (this is easiest using a mandoline) and set the slices in a colander. Sprinkle them with 2 tsp kosher salt and toss so that they all get coated. Let this drain for 30 minutes. Pat them dry-ish with a pape...

Ahhh... piecrust.  It's the bane of my existence!  There was something written on the Smitten Kitchen blog about how piecrust smells your fear and I'm pretty sure that's true-- it has an almost predatory quality. It senses your weakness, culls the herd and tries to ruin any effort to conquer it.  It has brought my sister-in-law to tears. Having said that, once in a while, inexplicably it turns out great (which often has an inverse proportion to how it looks).  I have found that when I care too much, the piecrust turns out awful. When I'm sort of winging it, kind of loosy goosy, it turns out pretty well. This is adapted from Food and Wine. Crust: 2 1/2 cups flour 2 1/2 sticks salted butter roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water I use the food processor or a pastry blender tool to cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal.  If you use the food processor, dump the mixture into a bowl before proceeding and add a little more than 1/...