Food for Thought: Italian Plum Tart

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Italian Plum Tart

I love the look of this tart but have to say I am somewhat concerned about how to cut what is essentially a great big rosemary-infused shortbread cookie with plums on top.

This pretty fantastic recipe by Stephanie Eddy was in her Icing on the Cake column in the September 19th edition of the Globe and Mail. Stephanie looks to be about 12 years old, but she sure knows how to bake.

Ingredients for the tart shell:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped (fresh) rosemary

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the plum topping:

1 lb. Italian prune plums (about 16)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the softened butter and icing sugar, then stir in the rosemary. Add the flour and salt to the bowl and stir until the mixture looks crumbly. Then, squeeze the mixture together to form a ball. Place the ball of dough into a 9.5 inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press it out until it covers the pan evenly and the dough creeps up the inside edges of the pan about an inch. Let the crust firm up in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cut each plum into 4 equal wedges, obviously removing the pit at the same time.Stir the sliced plums with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest.

Remove the tart shell from the freezer and prick it all over with a fork. Place it in the oven and bake it for 10 minutes with a smaller pan placed on top to weigh the pastry down somewhat and prevent puffing. (You can also cover the pastry with tinfoil and fill the foil with weights or dried beans to achieve the same result). Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Cool the shell on a rack for 15 minutes and turn the oven down yet again (to 350 degrees F.)

Arrange the slices of plums decoratively over the pastry, then drizzle the fruit with any liquid remaining in the bowl that contained the plums. Place in the oven and bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden and the plums are softened. Allow to cool for about an hour before serving. I let it cool for 2 days before serving it; didn't hurt it a bit; in fact, the plum flavour likely intensified over time. Serves 8.

Prune plums...gorgeous, dusky blue

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'To Cut the Mustard'

Meaning: To succeed; to come up to expectations.

Origin: Why cutting mustard was chosen as an example of high quality is unclear. Some possibilities allude to the literal difficulty of cutting mustard;for example: - Mustard seed, which is hard to cut with a knife on account of being small and shiny. - Mustard plants, which are tough and stringy and grow densely. - Culinary mustard, which is cut (diluted) and made more palatable by the addition of vinegar. - Dried mustard paste, which was reputedly used to coat meat and then dried to form a crust.

The love of olive oil...

I finally figured it out...why I love olive oil so much. It was the television programming I was exposed to as a child. See the following description, from the online Encylclopedia Britanica, of a character I admired. I lusted after the large boxes of chocolates she would consume in one sitting.

Tall, gangly, big-footed Olive Oyl, whose black hair was almost always tied back in a bun, first co-starred with her brother, Castor Oyl, in 1919 in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre. For the strip’s first 10 years, she was the girlfriend of Castor’s layabout pal, Ham Gravy, and her jealousy over his wandering eye fueled many comedic episodes. However, soon after the introduction of Popeye in 1929, Ham was written out of the strip as Olive found true love with the salty sailor. In this coupling, she was the more fickle character, as from time to time she became drawn to suitors with more education and refinement than the scrappy, wisecracking Popeye, though he always won her back. Popeye rescued Olive Oyl hundreds of times from the nefarious bully Bluto.

A Funky Review of a Funky Cookbook by a Funky Girl

“Bite me speaks to more than your stomach,” reads an excerpt on one of the first pages of the newly released cookbook, Bite me, by sassy sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. From the tongue in cheek, retro photographs that grace many of the pages to the aptly chosen, often perfectly crude quotations; Bite me is a cookbook that also speaks to your sense of humour and playfulness.
The book is decidedly un-pretentious, which is exactly what the sisters had in mind when creating the book, and exactly what appeals to me as a twenty something with not much experience in the kitchen. At the book’s launch on October 6th at an Indigo location in Toronto, Julie was the first to boast that many of the props in the self-published book came from the dollar store. The price- perfect. The look- genius. The props convey just the right amount of kitsch and comedy.
Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo and famous as Heather of ‘Heather’s Picks’ obviously saw the same genius in these first time authors. The book is now the first cookbook to ever be chosen as a ‘Heather’s Pick’ at Chapters and Indigo stores nationwide.
I personally know Julie Albert, as I tutor her adorable, charming son Benjy, here in Toronto, Ontario. Julie is most often seen looking flawless, but approachable- laid back in jeans or yoga pants, shuffling her kids from one activity to another. She is exactly the involved Mom who wants delicious, easy, home cooking with a twist, to feed to her family. That was the goal for the sisters- no mushroom foam, no truffle scented this or that. Just fun, easy variations on your favourites- using simple ingredients with a dash of wit, and some of Lisa and Julie’s own kitchen secrets. Oh- and a man with his head stuffed down a woman’s shirt. You have to buy the book to take a look at that last one.
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If you need a giggle- go buy it. If you need a recipe for pecan crusted lime chicken- buy it. To the self-professedly “not so sweet, tiny-bit salty” sisters- great job. I forkin’ love it.

Jessie Bass-West

Link to Bite me http://www.bitemecookbook.com/

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Italian Plum Tart

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