Dark Days: A Northeast Gathering

Way back in December, at the beginning of the Dark Days Challenge, Sophie of Late Bloomer’s Farm contacted a few fellow Dark Dayers and other local foodies in the Northeast and suggested a gathering; a local potluck where we would get together, bring some of our favorite seasonal, local dishes, and get to  know each other outside of the cozy confines of the Interwebs.

What a wonderful time!  Sophie, as the hostess with the mostest, gathered us all together at her place, which was fairly central to our far-flung Northeast participants.  In addition to Tai & I, our gathering included Alicia and her husband, Maureen, Zoe, and Cecilia.

We dished (and dished and dished): dished out great food, great conversation, recipe ideas, baking techniques, local food sources and resources, politics, current events, and many, many laughs.  There was homemade butter, a potato leek soup, and chicken scarpariello from Sophie, a tofu and butternut squash curry from Zoe, fresh local greens with a fabulous dressing and a potato-kale pancake from Maureen, and homemade rosemary potato chips and butternut and quinoa fritters from Alicia. Not to mention local cheese, spicy pickled carrots and chile peppers, bean sprouts, local fresh butter, roasted root veggies, spinach gnocchi, and many bottles of local wine and beer.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, or I’ve mis-attributed some dishes; suffice it to say, when you invite a bunch of passionate food bloggers over for a meal, you end up with a lot of excellent food!  We even had local party favors, as Lisa of Goat Boy Soaps kindly provided local goat milk soap for everyone in attendance.

The table groaned under the weight of so much tasty, fresh, local food, and our stomachs groaned as we could not stop eating the deliciousness.  We sat by the warmth of the fire, or stood around the loaded buffet table, or hovered in the kictchen, picking up tips on authentic Italian Sunday gravy or flavorful fresh salad dressing, and chatted, and laughed, and ate.  All in all, it was a perfectly lovely day, and I can’t think of a better way to while away a frosty winter afternoon. 

For our contribution, Tai & I brought whole wheat Scottish baps and a glazed blackberry tart (local resources listed below) not to mention our healthy appetites.  Special thanks to Sophie for organizing and hosting the gathering, to Lisa of Goat Boy Soaps for providing the party favors, and to everyone for making it a truly fun time.  We can hardly wait until the next one!

————————————————————-

LOCAL RESOURCES

Whole Grain Scottish Baps

• Flours, cornmeal, 10-grain mix (topping): Wild Hive Farm, Clinton Corners, NY
• Milk & whey: Milk Thistle Farm, Ghent, NY
• Butter: Ronnybrook, Ancramdale, NY
• Dried basil topping: Ryder Farms CSA, Brewster, NY (dried in summer ‘09)
• Salt, instant yeast: away

Glazed Berry Tart with Sweet Ricotta Filling

• Pastry flour: Wild Hive Farm, Clinton Corners, NY
• Butter: Ronnybrook, Ancramdale, NY
• Cider vinegar: homemade
• Baking soda, salt: away
• Egg white: Madura Farms, Goshen, NY
• Ricotta: homemade from Arethusa Farm, Litchfield, CT (citric acid from away)
• Maple syrup: homemade, Old Forge, NY
• Honey: New England Farms, Granville, NY
• Strawberry puree: homemade from Jones Family Farms strawberries, Shelton, CT (lemon juice from away)
• Blackberries: Fishkill Farms, Fishkill, NY (frozen in August ‘09)
• Cornstarch: away

Glazed Berry Tart with Sweet Ricotta Filling

This tart is a riff on my standard Glazed Blackberry Tart recipe, with an added sweet cheese filling and 100% local ingredients for our Northeast Dark Days gathering (Dark Days post to follow- stay tuned!).  This is a lovely tart to make in the winter, when fresh berries are still months away, yet you can relive the taste of summer with berries from the freezer.  It can easily be made with any frozen berries you have on hand, and a variety of fillings, including the sweet ricotta, a lime or lemon curd, a berry chiffon, or no filling at all, give you plenty of options to tailor the recipe to your taste.

The tart was good, but I think it would have been better with a little lemon mixed with the berries to accentuate the blackberry flavor. Next time I make it I will add in some lemon juice and zest to the berry glaze to punch up the flavor profile.

—————————————————————

Glazed Berry Tart with Sweet Ricotta Filling

INGREDIENTS

• one recipe Rose’s Deluxe Pastry Dough
• 1/2 egg white (for sealing pastry shell)
• 1/2 lb ricotta cheese
• 3 – 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp honey
• 3 – 4 tbsp strawberry puree (or substitute a soft-set strawberry jam)
• 2 lbs blackberries (frozen)
• 1 and 1/2 cups drained blackberry juice + water
• 1/8 cup maple sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• juice and zest of 1 lemon (optional)

METHODS

1. Make the pastry dough.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour and ideally up to 24 hours. 
2. Roll and shape the dough.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour and ideally up to 24 hours.
3. Thaw the berries. Place the berries in a large colander, over a bowl, and thaw for several hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.  Reserve berry juice.
4. Bake the tart shell.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (400 degrees F convection).  Line the tart shell with parchment paper (or a disposable coffee filter) and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice to weigh down the pastry.  Bake for 15 minutes; lift out pie weights, prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then return to the oven and bake for another 5 – 7 minutes, until the pastry shell is a uniform golden brown.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for 3 minutes and brush lightly with the 1/2 egg white.  Cool completely.
5. Make the filling. Whip together ricotta, maple syrup, honey and strawberry puree with an electric beater. Taste, adjust flavors, then refrigerate to firm up the filling.
6. Make the berry glaze. Pour the reserved berry juice into a 2-cup measure.  Bring the total volume to 1 and 1/2 cups with juice, added fruit juice, or water.  Mix maple sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan.  Add berry juice mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat.  The mixture will turn opaque, then, as it begins to boil, will thicken and become translucent.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly; remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, and stir in the optional lemon juice & zest. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
7. Assemble the tart.  Lightly stir the ricotta filling so that it is smooth and uniform.  Spoon filling into the pastry shell, smoothing out to the edges with the back of a spoon.  Stir the berry glaze so that it is also smooth and uniform; add the glaze to the thawed berries, toss gently, then spoon berries on top of the ricotta filling (you may not use all of the berry filling; I had about a cup leftover).  Roll the berries carefully into an even layer, taking care not to get too much glaze on the edges of the tart crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to set.  Serve cool or at room temperature.

Serves 8.

OPTIONS

1. Cream cheese would work as a substitute for ricotta.
2. The tart was tasty, but a touch of lemon would have pumped up the berry flavor. I recommend adding lemon juice and/or zest to the berry glaze, if you are not cooking completely locally (or if you are lucky enough to have local lemons).
3. If you yield limited juice from your berries, or want to use fresh berries, you can use commercial juice or frozen concentrated juice to make the glaze. See Glazed Blackberry Tart for the method.
4. Strawberries or blueberries would be a good substitute for the blackberries. Raspberries don’t tend to thaw well, so are better suited for a puree or chiffon.

STORE

For 3 days in the refrigerator or 1 day at room temperature.

SEASON

This is best made in Winter with frozen summer berries.

LOCAL RESOURCES

• Pastry flour: Wild Hive Farm, Clinton Corners, NY
• Butter: Ronnybrook, Ancramdale, NY
• Cider vinegar: homemade
• Baking soda, salt: away
• Egg white: Madura Farms, Goshen, NY
• Ricotta: homemade from Arethusa Farm, Litchfield, CT (citric acid from away)
• Maple syrup: homemade, Old Forge, NY
• Honey: New England Farms, Granville, NY
• Strawberry puree: homemade from Jones Family Farms strawberries, Shelton, CT (lemon juice from away)
• Blackberries: Fishkill Farms, Fishkill, NY (frozen in August ‘09)
• Cornstarch: away

Sweet Ricotta Tart with Honey-Spiced Peaches

I’ve been dreaming of summer lately. Don’t get me wrong, I love the seasons, winter included. I love snow (and I wish we were getting the blizzard that DC is enjoying today, but we didn’t get a single flake).  Despite my love of snow, I, like everyone else, get tired of the cold, the dark, the dry indoor air, the wearing of layers and layers to keep warm.  That feeling that your core is always twisted into a tight little ball, protecting yourself from the elements. Since I can’t afford to wing myself off to the Caribbean, I do the next best thing: I eat summer.  Strawberries, blackberries, sweet corn and peaches. 

A peach is so evocative of summer; of juice dripping down your chin while you savor a peach outside, wearing nothing but a tank top, shorts and flip flops. Sigh. For their brief season, everything comes up peaches: peach salsa, peaches over pancakes or on the grill, peach juice in champagne and fuzzy peach martinis.  Peaches just say “summer” (even the Stranglers agree).

This is a versatile dessert, that can be thrown together for a weeknight dinner, or dressed up for a party or event.  It comes together quickly and can be made well in advance.  I made this recipe up on the fly and there are a few things I would do differently the second time around:  I would omit the cinnamon from the ricotta filling (it overpowered the more delicate flavors of honey, peach and anise) and opt instead for a dusting on top; I would up the amount of peaches (from a half-pint jar to a full pint) and add a second layer, as the peach flavor got a litte lost against the full-flavored ricotta; and I would try glazing the top with reduced peach syrup rather than adding it into the ricotta, again to increase the peach flavor.  These changes aside, the dessert was quite delicious as it was (the last, lonely piece in the fridge is not long for this world, I’m afraid). 

Note on the portion: I love my little 7-inch tart pan, because it makes just enough for two people, or four if you are sharing. For a standard 9- to 10-inch tart pan, increase the recipe by 50%.

————————————————————–

Sweet Ricotta Tart with Honey-Spiced Peaches

INGREDIENTS

• about 1/2 recipe of Rose’s Deluxe Flaky Pie Crust
• 1/2 lightly beaten egg white
• 8  oz ricotta cheese
• 8  to 16 oz jar of Honey Spiced Peaches, or other canned peaches, with syrup
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp honey
• pinch sea salt
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp turbinado sugar, for garnish
• freshly grated star anise or cinnamon stick, for garnish

METHODS

1. Make, or thaw, the pastry dough (allow freshly made dough to rest for a minimum of 1 hour in the refrigerator prior to rolling).  Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness and shape into a 7-inch tart dish. (See pastry recipe for detailed instructions). Cover rolled pastry dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 24 hours prior to baking.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (400 degrees F convection).  Line the tart shell with parchment paper (or a disposable coffee filter) and fill with pie weights, dried beans or rice to weigh down the pastry.  Blind bake the tart shell for 12 -15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Remove the parchment and weights, prick the bottom crust several times with a fork, then continue to bake for 3 – 5 minutes, until the entire pastry shell is nicely browned.  Allow the tart shell to cool for a few minutes, then brush lightly with egg white, which will keep the bottom crust crisp.
3. Drain the peaches from their syrup. If the syrup is very light and watery, reduce in a small saucepan until thickened to the consistency of good maple syrup.  (My yield from a half-pint jar of peaches in very light syrup was about 1 to 2 tablespoons of thick syrup.)  Set aside. (At this point, you can choose to add this syrup to the ricotta filling, or reserve for a glaze over the top of the peaches).
4. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, maple syrup, honey, salt, cinnamon (if using) and peach syrup (if adding) with a fork or electric hand blender.  Taste and adjust flavorings as needed.  For a creamier texture, add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream or whole milk.
5. Spoon the ricotta filling into the cooled tart shell.  Smooth with a spatula.  Fan slices of peach in a circle across the top of the tart.  If you reserved the peach syrup as a glaze, drizzle it over the peaches now.  Garnish with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar, if desired, and a dusting of grated star anise or cinnamon stick.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to set the filling.  Serve cool or at room temperature.

Serves 4.

OPTIONS

1. My peaches were already flavored with honey and star anise, but many flavors work well with peach.  A little almond oil in the ricotta, or shaved almonds as garnish, would be tasty.  A tiny bit of chile powder, in the ricotta and as a dusting on the top of the tart, would be an interesting twist.
2. The peaches were a little overwhelmed by the ricotta (and the cinnamon).  A double layer of peach slices (using 1 pint jar) might be a good way to punch up the peach flavor. Also, glazing with the reduced peach syrup might help the peach to shine.
3. If using store-bought ricotta that is quite wet, drain for 30 minutes or so, in a colander lined with cheesecloth, to remove excess moisture.

STORE

Refrigerated for up to 3 days.  It will keep longer, but the pastry crust will start to get soggy.

SEASON

Year round, but best in winter when fresh fruit is a distant memory.