I was upset with myself for not making a pie all summer. How I passed over the chance to toss summer berries and stone fruit into a buttery crust, I have no idea.
At least now I can say I’ve made up for lost time by making all kinds of sweet and savory pies and tarts this fall (yes, it is technically still fall, the first day of winter is Tuesday, December 22 ah!). Continue reading
This month’s Recipe ReDux theme is all about pie: Tucked in a crust, nothing says love from the oven like pie. Give a healthy makeover to your favorite savory or sweet pie recipe.
I consider tarts to be in the pie category, so Strawberry Rhubarb Breakfast Tart it is.
This tart is inspired by two recipes in Sarah Britton’s cookbook, My New Roots. I used her recipe for oat crust that she pairs with a pecan cranberry pie in the book. The crust is made using gluten free rolled oats, coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, and nutmeg.
The filling for my tart was inspired by the cookbook’s fig and buckwheat breakfast tart. I haven’t seen figs around the markets here yet, so I went for berries instead. To make the filling, fold a touch of vanilla extract and maple syrup into some 2% plain Greek yogurt. A few large spoonfuls of homemade rhubarb compote and a pint of greenmarket strawberries give the tart a real spring zing. Continue reading
Last weekend, my friend Michelle and I drove up (well, Michelle did all the driving while I snapped photos of fall leaves through the window) to Vermont to take a pie-making class with Joy the Baker. But, oh no, the fun did not stop there.
After the class ended, we continued on the road for another hour to Cabot, VT, where we spent the night at our friend’s farm, Hooker Mountain Farm. The farm specializes in pork, beef, chicken, maple products (maple soda!), and soon, whiskey and hard cider.
We arrived at the farm Continue reading
I started Figs in My Belly in June, 2009. At that point in my life, I was living in California, getting a degree in Nutritional Science, staging (interning) in the kitchen at a small handful of restaurants, working at a cooking camp for kids, and making dinners for my housemates at the co-op where I lived. Oh, and I was totally obsessed with Joy the Baker and her blog.
That August, I heard about a rooftop picnic in downtown Los Angeles that Joy was hosting and jumped on the opportunity. I brought my mom along and we spent the afternoon enjoying Joy’s biscuits, fried chicken, coleslaw, and cupcakes while mingling with other Joy the Baker fans.
Cut to more than five years later, and I now live in New York City with a short (four-year-long) pastry cook career currently on pause while I finish up a graduate degree in Nutrition Education and a dietetic internship to become a registered dietitian. And, as you might have guessed, I am still totally obsessed with Joy the Baker and her blog.
Joy is currently on tour for her latest cookbook, Homemade Decadence. I attended her book signing at The Brooklyn Kitchen, and the following weekend, my friend Michelle and I drove up to King Arthur Flour in Vermont, where Joy was teaching a hands-on pie making class. Joy taught two four-hour pie classes on the same day. She is a warrior.
I’ve made my share of pies in the past, but pie still intimidates me, and I wanted to gain some pro tips to boost my pie confidence. Plus, my friend Michelle never made her own pie before, so this was the perfect opportunity to learn. We road tripped for pie! Continue reading
I’ve been busy enjoying life on a beautiful island in the Pacific Northwest, in a petite rustic cabin with no running water and no electricity. For 4 days, I was peeing in the woods and not taking showers. I wore a headlamp and lit candles to see at night. The days were filled with hiking and bushwhacking up mountains and through meadows, and the evenings with melting marshmallows by a fire on the beach. It was totally dreamy to be out in nature, to be one with the biting bugs and scurrying animals and calm waves of the ocean’s tide coming in and out.
It’s amazing what one can miss with just a week absence of internet. The moment I had access to my computer again, I started plowing through, trying to catch up on all the blogs I read.
Heidi’s tomato tarte tatin immediately caught my eye, especially since I had a pie crust in my freezer just waiting to be used.
I made a big trip to the farmer’s market today, where I found heaps of gorgeous tomatoes, onions, green and yellow beans, cucumbers, melon, and white peaches. I even bought my lunch at the farmer’s market–whole wheat focaccia with eggplant, spinach, and goat cheese.
This tarte tatin is basically an upside down pie. Filling on the bottom, crust on top. I sautéed onions and combined them with fresh tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Into a pie plate and sprinkled with blue cheese. I think blue cheese and honey are a swoon-worthy combination, so I squeezed a bit of honey over everything for good measure. Pie crust on top. Egg wash. Salt. Oven.
The blue cheese melts right into the tomatoes, the juices so rich they give off hints of a beefy French onion soup.
Real talk: I used the cap of my canola oil to cut out the circles in the center of the pie crust.
Also, I like to place the pie plate onto a baking sheet. It just makes it easier to take in and out of the oven.
adapted from Heidi, of 101 cookbooks
serves 6-8
**NOTE: Use whatever pie crust you like. I think Heidi’s rye crust sounds great. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe (see below) that can go into a savory or sweet pie.
1 extra large (or 2 medium) onion(s), chopped
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 pounds (24 oz.) small tomatoes
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1-2 tablespoons flour
2-3 tablespoons blue cheese
1 teaspoon honey, for drizzling
1 pie crust
1 egg (for egg wash), whisked
flaky salt, for sprinkling on top
Preheat the oven to 400F / 205C.
While the oven is warming, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium and saute the onions. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are deeply golden and caramelized, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
While the onions are cooking, cut any larger tomatoes in half. You can leave the small cherry tomatoes whole. Add the tomatoes to the caramelized onions along with the sea salt and balsamic vinegar. Transfer to a deep pie dish. If you get the sense that your tomatoes are quite juicy, and might release a lot of liquid, you can toss the mixture with a tablespoon or two of flour at this point. Sprinkle mixture with crumbled blue cheese and drizzle with a touch of honey.
Roll out your pie dough, cut out 3 circles around the center, and cover the tomato mixture – tucking in the sides a bit. Brush the crust with the beaten egg wash and bake in the top third of the oven until the crust is deeply golden and the tomatoes are bubbling a bit at the sides, 25 – 30 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes, then serve.
Prep time: 10 min – Cook time: 45 min
from David Lebovtiz’s Ready for Dessert
makes 2 rounds
**NOTE: You only need 1 round for the Tomato Blue Cheese Tarte Tatin. You can keep the other round in the freezer.
2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch (3-cm) cubes and chilled
6-8 tablespoons ice water
In a large bowl using a pastry blender, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and mix just until the butter is broken up into rough 1/4-inch pieces.
Add 6 tablespoons of the ice water all at once and continue mixing just until the dough begins to hold together. If necessary, mix in the additional 2 tablespoons ice water.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 1 hour.
STORAGE: The disks of dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Figsinmybelly 