Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

I am back to creating dishes by throwing together the leftover bits and pieces from other meals. I hate throwing away perfectly good food, and do it more often than I would like, despite the fact that I have been reducing recipes several times over to yield smaller amounts.

I have been challenging myself to find new and exciting ways to repurpose leftovers. I almost always have a box of puff pastry in the freezer, and really I think that just about anything can be gussied up by wrapping it in puff pastry or presented as a tart. Slap some cheese on it, garnish with a sprinkling of fresh herbs or a drizzle of some sort of sauce and presto, you've got "something fancy for supper," which is something that my kids are really big into at the moment.

They don't have to know that those are the leftover caramelized onions from the French Onion soup 2 weeks ago that I froze. All they know is that it looks nice and tastes delicious.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

Makes 2 small tarts

Ingredients

• 1 oz. herbed goat cheese
  
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed*
  
• 1/2 cup caramelized onions
  
• 2 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
  
• 1/2 cup Emmenthaler cheese, shredded
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut two 6 inch rounds out of thawed puff pastry and press them into 5 inch tart molds.
   
   
2. Break the goat cheese into pieces and add them to the pastry shells.
   
   
3. Divide the caramelized onions between the two shells and top with shredded Emmenthaler and crumbled bacon.
   
   
4. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the edges of the shells have puffed up and browned.
   
   
5. Let cool 5 minutes and then serve.
   

Notes:

• One sheet of puff pastry yielded 4 rounds, and some scraps, but I only made use two of the rounds for these  caramelized onion and goat cheese tarts. I used the other two rounds to make ham and cheese tarts, recipe coming soon. 
• I will put the puff pastry scraps to use soon, most likely as a dessert or a snack. 

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Crab Tartlets

We love finger foods here. I am always on the hunt for new appetizers to serve at the various family functions. Puff pastry is always a good place to start. You can create strudels out of it, layer it with ingredients and fold it over, cut it into rounds and place them in muffin tins, it provides a near infinite variety of snacks and dishes.

The family also goes nutso over seafood, particularly crab, so any opportunity to fold together something crabby with something creamy is always welcome in this house.

Crab Tartlets

Makes 12 tartlets

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed and cut into rounds with a 3 inch biscuit cutter
• ½ cup lump crab meat, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of mayo
• 2 tablespoons garlic and herb Boursin cheese
• ½ teaspoon sriracha more or less to taste 
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1½ teaspoons minced shallot
• 1½ teaspoons minced celery
• ¼ cup shredded cheese - I used a mixture of extra-sharp cheddar, parm and romano
• Old Bay to taste
• ¼ cup soft, unseasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. Place the rounds of puff pastry into the bottom of a 12-well muffin pan.*
3. Mix together the crab, mayo, sriracha, mustard and Boursin in a bowl, then add the minced shallot and celery and the shredded cheese. Stir well to combine.
4. Taste and then season with salt, pepper and Old Bay to suit your taste.
5. Add the bread crumbs and toss to combine well.
6. Put a heaping teaspoon on top of each pastry round in the muffin pans and then bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry starts to get golden brown. 
7. Carefully pry the tartlets from the muffin pan and let cool on a wire rack and then serve.

Notes:

• I put the pastry rounds into an ungreased muffin pan and then stuck like hell, but for some reason, with this particular muffin pan, that is always the case. Next time I might try greasing it liberally with Crisco or even resorting to muffin liner papers or using my new silicone muffin cups.
• Any leftover crab mixture makes a wonderful crab cake mixture with the addition of a bit more soft bread crumbs. The resulting texture is soft and somewhat bready, like what you get with baked stuffed clams. It was an unexpected delight.

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Rustic Swiss Chard Tart

Tuesdays in summer is the Downtown Farmers' Market. The best thing about working downtown, aside from the whole getting-a-paycheck thing is that I am steps away from a terrific farmers' market. No longer can I use laziness as a excuse not to visit the market and revel in truly fresh and local produce.

I stop in Tuesday mornings on my walk to work from the parking garage and pick up whatever strikes my fancy, as they say. The first week, among other items, I got a loaf of cracked pepper-cheddar bread that was so insanely delicious that it was gone by 10:00 that evening; the next week, I scored some granulated maple sugar that will be a key player in an upcoming maple-walnut apple strudel ; last week the highlights of my produce bag were garlic scapes and a lovely bunch of Swiss chard. Those scapes made a scrumptious pesto which I devoured on rosemary & olive oil Triscuits with slices of provolone while watching Midsomer Murders on Netflix at 2 in the morning, and the Swiss chard  - along with a few scapes - realized its happy vegetable potential by ending up as the star of this Rustic Swiss Chard tart.

When I got to the market today, I found the same vendor and told her how delicious her chard and scapes were. She had some absolutely gorgeous purple basil and some 8-ball zucchini that just begs to be stuffed with something - I'm thinking artichoke hearts, some of that purple basil, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh parmigiano reggiano. Look for those in the coming days here. :)

The next time you visit the farmers' market, be sure to check out Daily Harvest Farm.



Now for the tart.

Look at it. There could be anything in there.

But cut it open and taste a delicious mixture of chard, cheese and herbs.

You just can't beat that.

Rustic Swiss Chard Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Swiss chard, washed and dried well
• olive oil
• 5 garlic scapes, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 (15 oz) container of ricotta
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano - or the stuff in the green can if that's what you like
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 T fresh thyme
• 1T fresh oregano
• 1/8 t grated nutmeg
• 1 package of frozen puff pastry - 2 sheets

Directions:

1. Thaw the puff pastry.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Remove the leaves from the stems and slice the leaves into thin ribbons. Set aside.
4. Slice the stems thinly and saute in olive oil of medium high. Add the scapes and let them cook until the stems and scapes are tender.
5. Toss in the smashed clove of garlic and the minced shallot and raise the heat to medium-high and cook for 2 minutes. 
6. Add the chard leaves and let cook down until any moisture that has been released has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and let cool.
8. Roll out one sheet of the thawed pastry between sheets of waxed paper until the pastry is at least a 12 inch square and set it in a 9 inch tart pan. Trim off excess pastry until there is a 1 inch overhang of pastry.*See Notes
9. To the cooled vegetables, mix in the ricotta, beaten egg, parm, herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.
10. Put this vegetable-cheese mixture in the tart pan and roll out the second sheet of pastry to a 12 inch square and trim it to an 11 inch circle. 
11. Place it on top of the filling and pinch the edges together and then fold the joined overhanging pastry edges inward and crimp the seam. I like to tuck it inward, even.
12. Slash a few vent holes in the top of the pastry and bake for 40-45 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.
13. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Notes:

• Ever wondered about what to do with scraps of leftover puff pastry?
  
  Check it out: Cinni-minis

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Coming soon...

Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownie Bites

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Cinni-Minis

 I am trying to cook from my pantry for the next few weeks, designing my menu around what I already have on hand rather than shopping from a list of things I don't have. My pantry of canned goods and canisters of things may not resemble a fallout shelter just yet, but it has gotten unwieldy, so it is time to be creative and resourceful as I hack my way through the jungle that is by kitchen pantry (really just my kitchen cabinets).

I was going through the cheese drawer in my fridge the other day and found a ball of leftover puff pastry scraps. Wracking my brain, I thought that this ball of scraps could be re-purposed easily into mini cinnamon rolls. They made a fast, easy and delicious sweet snack, and there's no reason to wait until you have puff pastry scraps. I would gladly make these again using a full sheet of puff pastry.

Cinni-Minis

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry scraps
• melted butter
• turbinado sugar
• 3 T walnuts, chopped
• 1 t cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix together the sugar, chopped walnuts and cinnamon.
3. Press together the puff pastry scraps, folding them over onto themselves in a large ball.
4. Place the ball on a piece of parchment paper and with a rolling pin, roll it to a thickness of 1/8 in.
5. Brush melted butter over the surface and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar and nut mixture over the top.
6. Roll the pastry up like a jelly roll and brush it with more melted butter.
7. Slice into 1/2 in. slices.
8. Place the slices on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, and bake for 12 minutes or until nicely golden brown.

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Apple and Goat Geese Galette with Honey-Vanilla Sauce

I was traipsing though the grocery store yesterday, uncertain if I was going to make a mini Black Forest cherry cake or some sort of apple thing for my dessert. I have always liked the flavors of apple and goat cheese together, and when I went to check out the goat cheese selection, I saw that in addition to the usual herbed and peppered varieties, they had this:

Honey vanilla goat cheese.

Oh my GOD. Thank you, Woolwich Dairy, Inc. for bringing us this wonderful flavor!

When I saw the honey vanilla goat cheese, I knew that I had to pair that with a Granny Smith apple. I had read several apple galette recipes that included a layer of frangipane beneath the apple slices, and I thought that this honey vanilla goat cheese would be a wonderful substitution, so I decided on an apple galette. I immediately grabbed the goat cheese and headed off to the freezer section for a box of puff pastry - no time to make my own today - and hurried back to my tiny kitchen.

Top it with a simple vanilla sauce spiked with honey, and you've got this:

Apple & Goat Cheese Galette with Honey-Vanilla Sauce

Makes four 4 in. galettes

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• Honey-vanilla goat cheese
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and sliced into paper-thin slices
• 1 T butter, melted
• 1 T honey

For the Honey-vanilla sauce:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 T honey

Make the honey-vanilla sauce:

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add them to the cream in the top of a double boiler and heat until warm, not boiling. Let simmer for 15 minutes, then remove the bean pod.
2. Whisk together the egg yolk and 2 T of honey. Add a small amount of the warm cream to the egg, whisking fully. Slowly add the warmed egg mixture to the cream in the double boiler, whisking well.
3. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to bubble a bit around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and refrigerate.

Prepare the galette:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Thaw the sheet of puff pastry for about 45 minutes. 
3. Cut out four 4 in. rounds from the pastry by using a bowl as a guide. Lay a slightly smaller bowl on top of the rounds and press down to leave an indentation in the pastry. This will be the lip of the galette.
4. Spread goat cheese on the pastry and top with overlapping slices of apple.
5. Mix together the honey and melted butter and brush on top of the apple slices and the edges of the pastry.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
7. Drizzle the honey-vanilla sauce on top and eat warm

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Almond Pastries

I had a hankering for a cheese danish the other night. Well no, first it was a craving for almond-filled croissants, croissants aux amandes, but then later on, I'd moved on to drooling after a good old cheese danish when the thought hit me: Why not combine them?!

So, practically the first thing I did this morning was take out my box of puff pastry from the freezer and let that last sheet of pastry thaw out. Then I took a look at what I had in the fridge that could simulate a cheese danish filling. A little cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, some ricotta, almond paste and an egg yolk formed the base of it. I added orange zest and almond extract to round it out, and finished it off with a lovely egg wash to give it a sheen.

Going into the oven, they were kind of a mess, I'll be honest. The crimped-together edges were not the least bit pretty and I wondered if I'd have anything photograph-worthy. I thought if the filling turned out ok, I could  troubleshoot the presentation the next time I made them, but to my surprise, when they came out of the oven, they were gorgeous, attractively puffed-up and golden brown.

The final test, then, would be how they tasted.

Sublime. The texture was just right, smooth and creamy, and the orange and almond flavors worked nicely with one another. It is strongly reminiscent of almond without being too strong.

Almond pastry

Ingredients

• 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 T ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 T almond paste
• 1/2 t pure almond extract
• 2 t grated orange zest 
• 1 sheet  frozen puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg beaten, for egg wash

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
2. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin until it's a 12 by 8-inch rectangle. 
   
3. Place the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth.
   
4. With the mixer still on low, add the ricotta and crumble in the almond paste and let the mixer combine them well.
   
5. Then add the almond extract, orange zest and egg yolk and mix on low speed until just combined.
6. Cut the sheet of puff pastry into eight rectangles with a sharp knife.
   
7. Place one heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of 4 of the rectangles.
   
8. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and then cover it with a free pastry rectangle, pinching the edges together so that they stick together.
   
9. Brush the top of the pastries with the egg wash.
   
10. Place the pastries on the sheet pan.
11. Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.
    

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Bacon, Leek and Gruyère Tart

I've been on a puff pastry kick lately. A few weeks ago, I used up my box of pastry to make a savory appetizer and a sweet treat Puff Pastry Swirls, Two Ways, and have been inspired ever since to try out new recipe ideas with the puff pastry. I still had some slab bacon left over from last week's haluski, and two beautiful leeks in the crisper. I remembered the block of Gruyère languishing in the cheese drawer, bought a while back when I had been contemplating making French Onion Soup. I knew that I had to combine the three in some way.

I was torn between making the classic Quiche Lorraine or somehow adding the new box of puff pastry in the mix. Well, this morning I found this recipe at BBC GoodFood for a Leek, cheese and bacon tart and I just knew I had to make it.

Wow, it is ever amazing... and rich. Next time though, I have to use goat cheese in place of the cream cheese. This recipes needs that slight tanginess from the goat cheese.

Bacon, Leek and Gruyère Tart

Ingredients:

• 5 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2 large leeks, tops cut off, washed well and coarsely chopped
  
• 2 t dried thyme or 1 T fresh thyme
  
• 1 oz Gruyère, shredded
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 oz cream cheese
• melted butter
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
   


2. Thaw one sheet of puff pastry, laying it out on a baking sheet lines with a sheet of parchment paper.
   


3. Cook the bacon until crisp. Set aside to drain on a plated lined with paper towels.
   


4. Saute the chopped leeks in the bacon fat (oh yes) until they are soft, not browned.
   


5. Add 1 t of the dried thyme (1/2 T fresh thyme) and saute another minute or so. Remove from heat and set aside.
   


6. Spread the cream cheese on the thawed puff pastry, leaving free a 1-inch border along all four sides. Sprinkle a little thyme over the cream cheese.
   


7. Brush the border with melted butter.
   


8. Spread the leeks all over the cream cheese.
   


9. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle on top of the leeks.
   


10. Top generously with the shredded Gruyère. Sprinkle a little more thyme on top.
    


11. Fold the edges of the pastry over and brush it with melted butter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and nicely golden brown and delicious.
    

Gruyere Cheese- جبنة غرويير Tweet

Puff Pastry Swirls, Two Ways

Chocolate Hazelnut Swirls

Here is another one of my Sandra Lee-esque recipes using items which are ready-made. It's easy to assemble and the end result is tastier than an almost-ready-made tidbit ought to be. I got inspired to make this after recent Nutella adventures. My kids have discovered its wonderfully nutty, chocolatey goodness and have declared it to be the Best Thing EVER!

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• Nutella
• chopped hazelnuts
• melted butter
  

Directions:

1. Thaw 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry on the counter for an hour. Preheat the oven to 375.
   


2. Unfold it onto a sheet of parchment paper. If the pastry has cracked and separated where it had been folded, press the pieces together gently with your fingers. Flip the pastry over and press the seams on the other side.
   


3. Spread Nutella all over the pastry, leaving about 1/2 border around the edges.
   


4. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on the Nutella. Press them in firmly.
   


5. Roll the pastry into a jelly roll, and slice into 10 pieces.
   


6. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the pastry with melted butter.
   


7. Bake for 17 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.
   

To balance out the rich sweetness of the chocolate swirls - and they are rich, sweet and delightfully chocolatey - I decided to make something savory with the remaining sheet of puff pastry. I saw many recipes for puff pastry appetizers that used spinach, but I wanted something different. I thought maybe I could use a bruschetta spread from artichoke hearts and cheese as the filling to make a nice savory treat.

I was right. These were amazing.

Savory Artichoke Cheese Swirls

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts (6 oz), drained
  
• 1 T minced shallot
  
• 1/2 cup shredded pecorino romano
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 T sun-dried tomato, minced
• 1 T mayonnaise
• 2 T shredded mozzarella
  
• olive oil
  

Directions:

1. Thaw 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry on the counter for an hour. Preheat the oven to 375.
   


2. Unfold it onto a sheet of parchment paper. If the pastry has cracked and separated where it had been folded, press the pieces together gently with your fingers. Flip the pastry over and press the seams on the other side.
3. Chop the artichoke hearts and add the minced shallot, garlic and sun-dried tomato to the mixture.
   


4. Add the mayo and the cheese. Mix well.
   


5. Spread the mixture all over the puff pastry, leaving 1/2 inch border around the edges.
   


6. Roll the pastry into a jelly roll, and slice into 10 pieces.
   


7. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the pastry with olive oil.
   


8. Bake for 17 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.
   

Notes:

• I could have baked these longer and let the pastry get more brown, but I had forgotten to set the timer (doofus) and honestly, they smelled too incredible and I pulled the out early. They were delicious even if they weren't very brown on top.
  

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