Beet Cheese Tart

I used to cook beet dish only for myself; now I have partners in crime, my parents.  They will try my food as well, though I'm not quite sure if they like all of it.  Sometimes what I cook will be too radically different than what they are accustomed to eat.  Take this beet cheese tart.  It looks delicious and it tastes delicious as well.  The cheeses I used here were made locally in Oregon and I was very happy the way it turned out.  The original recipe calls for different colors of beets but what I had on hand was the regular red ones.  I'm sure if I change the type of vegetable, it might work as well.  Think of summer veggies out there, it's suddenly a great idea to make this tart again.

Beet Cheese Tart

Makes one 13 x 19-inch tart

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All-purpose flour, for dusting

Pâte Brisée, recipe follow

1 1/2 pounds (without greens) beets

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound fresh goat cheese, room temperature

1/2 scant fresh ricotta cheese (4 ounces)

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, plus about 1 teaspoon whole leaves

1/2 cup grated fontina cheese (about 2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 375 degree F.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/8 inch thick.  Press firmly into a 13-by-9-inch rimmed baking sheet, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.  Tuck overhanging under to create a double thickness; press firmly against pan.  Pierce bottom of shell all over with a fork.  Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Line shell with parchment; fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Remove weights and parchment.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  (Keep oven on.)

Trim all but 1/2 inch of stems from beets; rinse well.  Toss with oil and 1 teaspoon salt.  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet; cover with parchment, then tightly with foil.  Roast until beets are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.  When cool enough to handle, peel beets with a knife.  Cut into thin rounds.  Raise oven heat to 425 degree F.

Stir together goat cheese, ricotta, and chopped thyme until well combined; season with pepper.  Spread mixture over tart shell, filling all the way to edges.

Arrange beets over cheese mixture, overlapping slices slightly.  Lightly season with salt.  Sprinkle fontina and whole thyme leaves on top.  Lightly drizzle with oil, and season with pepper.  Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Serve warm

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Pâte Brisée

Makes enough for one 9-inch double-crust pie or two 9-inch single-crust pies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor.  Add butter, and pulse quickly until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some large pieces remaining.  Drizzle 1/4 cup water over mixture.  Pulse until mixture just begins to hold together.  If dough is too dry, add 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse.

Gather dough into a ball, wrap loosely in plastic, and press into a disk using a rolling pin.  Refrigerate until firm, well wrapped in plastic, 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Source:  adapted from Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts

My kinda chopped salad

I used to garden, a long while  back when there were only two of us in the house.  I had much time in my hand, and I didn't know that cooking, baking, and taking food photography would take up my time back then.  So, I channeled my energy and focus on gardening.  Though I didn't have a fancy landscaping, my husband and I would go to garden centers at times and picked some flowers or ornamental plants to be added in the yard.  I didn't garden extensively, only during spring and summer time I would be busy in the yard; but I would grow something and get harvest from it and my husband and I got to enjoy eating them too.

Now that much of my time is writing and making food--plus I also worked part-time during the day--my garden was neglected.  Pretty much left were some herb plants and strawberry plants in the garden boxes.  No more going out to garden centers and buying plants.  It's a little sad, but as long as my yard is clean and doesn't grow too wild, I'm already happy about the situation.  But, never despair, somebody would give us his/her share of his/her crops to us and we still get to enjoy fresh harvested produce.

Take these beautiful beets for example.  A friend of ours has a big yard in his property and he gardens extensively, so he asked me one day if I like beets.  I said, sure I love them but I'm the only one who's eating them in the household.  He promised to share a couple of his fresh plucked-from-the-earth beets with me.  He came a while back and brought two good-size beets.  I decided to make a simple chopped salad using roasted beets because beets this fresh really don't need a fussy preparation.

The ingredients can be changed as you like, play with other food's texture and flavor, or what's available in your fridge and pantry.  That's what I did anyway, these were what I happened to have at home and I sure made use of them effectively.  The vinaigrette used roasted walnut oil, if this is too strong of a taste for you, substitute with other mild oil.

Chopped Beet Salad

Serves 4



1 medium-size fresh beet, leaves trimmed

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

10 oz. spinach, stems trimmed, leaves sliced thinly

1 medium Gala apple, diced

1/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled

For the walnut oil vinaigrette:

1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons walnut oil



Preheat oven to 400 degree F.  Wrap beet tightly with double layers of foil, place in baking sheet and roast in hot oven for about 1 hour, or until it's tender when pierced with a fork.  Cool until warm in foil until ready to use.

Make walnut oil vinaigrette:  Blend together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Whisk in the oil in slow stream until it's well blended.

Peel beet skin and diced beets.  Divide and assemble diced beets with other salad ingredients in plates and drizzle dressing over salad and serve.