Mixed pepper tart with gougère crust

I really didn't know what I was in for with this recipe.  A cheesy choux pastry turned into a tart crust and topped with vegetables?  It's a bit intimidating going into a recipe with no idea what the outcome should be, not even a photo.  On the other hand, it's liberating not having any expectations-- it eliminates disappointment.  So did I make the recipe correctly?  I have no idea.  But did I like the outcome?  You bet.

I made the recipe without any significant changes.  The only issue I had was with the pan-- I didn't have an 11" tart pan, so I used an 11" cake pan, which was considerably deeper than a tart pan and might have affected how it baked up.  Also, it was black.  Fearing it would over brown the tart, I covered it in aluminum foil.

Here's what I used:

3 medium red, yellow, and/or green sweet peppers, sliced

1/2 of a red onion, sliced 

1 clove garlic, minced 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 cup milk 

5 tablespoons butter, cut up (unsalted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour 

4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled 

4 eggs 

1 oz. blue cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup) 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; set aside. In a large skillet cook peppers, onion, and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until tender. Stir in basil and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

In a small saucepan combine milk, butter, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boiling, then remove from heat and, using a wooden spoon, vigorously beat in flour.  Reduce heat and return saucepan to heat.  Stir for 2 minutes.  Transfer dough mixture to a large bowl and add the 4 ounces of blue cheese.  (The large bowl is necessary because bits of dough go flying, and also so the batter isn't too deep, otherwise it climbs up the beaters.)  Using a hand mixer, beat on high speed for 2 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition, until each egg is fully incorporated.

Spread dough evenly in the prepared pan.  Bake 10 minutes.  Spread vegetable mixture over dough.  Bake 40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.  Sprinkle remaining blue cheese over tart before serving.

I didn't have fresh rosemary, so I used dried (1 teaspoon), but that wasn't very nice.  I should have added it early into the peppers so it could absorb some moisture and soften, but I added it at the end, as directed.  It ended up as sharp little sticks and probably didn't add much flavor.  

With all the cheese, I was concerned about its being too salty, so I used unsalted butter, but then added 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  This was a little too salty for a sizable serving, but adequate for a side serving.  Ultimately, you can add salt as desired, or use salted butter.  Generally, I like something salty with something bland, so either a salty crust and bland topping, or salty topping and bland crust.

The dough didn't rise much, which actually didn't surprised me.  I'm not sure why it's baked first for 10 minutes, but I suspect it's to firm the surface a bit.  After 10 minutes, my batter was still wet in the middle.  (This might have been due to using a deeper pan.)  I contemplated leaving it in long enough to dry the surface, but plodded ahead as directed and dumped the peppers on the raw batter.  In the end, I baked it about 15 - 20 minutes longer than called for; it didn't even show the slightest hope of rising until after 45 minutes.  I don't know that the batter would have risen much anyway under the weight of the peppers.  The end result was a moist and soft but firm crust, sort of like cold polenta.  It cut easily with a fork and held up to a stab, but not a slice you could pick up with your hands.

Conclusion:  This was a happy surprise, much like a cheesy vegetable pizza with a soft, supple crust.  It wasn't too rich, which I'd been concerned about.  With a green salad, it would make a nice light lunch.  Other soft vegetables, such as mushrooms, would be a good addition.

Recipe:  "Mixed Peppers in a Gougère Crust" via Better Homes and Gardens magazine, September 2010
(Also see this recipe for a gougère tart.) 

September ABC challenge: Buckwheat Galette with Apples, Onion, and Cheddar

This month, the challenge is apples.

The original recipe for this galette was badly written, which really makes me question their "test kitchen approved" stamp.  Per the comments to date, only one person had made it other than myself and it didn't turn out well.  Not all the ingredients were in the list, for one thing, and some were vague, like 1/4 of an onion, and 5 slices of cheese.  I had also questioned the need to add flour to the apples--- they weren't very juicy.  In fact, there was no running liquid in the pan.  But since it doesn't have a container to hold in any juices while baking, I figured this must be a safeguard.  In the end, it probably wasn't necessary, but didn't seem to hurt.

I've rewritten the recipe to be more clear, where that was possible, and also provided notes. My changes or suggestions are italicized or in strikeout.

Topping
5 slices sharp cheddar (packaged, pre-sliced)
3 fresh sage leaves, julienned
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

Dough
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks and chilled
1/3 to 1/2 cups ice water

Filling
1 tablespoon butter
2 fresh sage leaves, julienned
1/4 red onion, sliced 1/8" thick (about 1/4 cup)
2 green apples, cored, sliced 1/8" to 3/16" thick
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Chill the cheese in the freezer until it's firm, but not frozen. Pulse in food processor with the sage leaves until lightly crumbled. Add the 1/4 cup flour in three batches, pulsing between each, then pulse together at high speed until it's well combined into small crumbs. Pulse in 1 tablespoon brown sugar.  Set aside.

Whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt, then cut in or process the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.  Add the ice water and stir until the dough forms into a ball-like mass. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In a large sauté pan over low heat, melt the butter with the 2 sage leaves. Add the red onion and cook until wilted, then add the apples and sauté on medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until apples soften and release their juices. Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and toss to coat. Cook an additional 2 minutes so the sugar melts. Remove the pan from heat and toss with 1 tablespoon flour to thicken the juices. Reserve and cool filling.

Roll out the dough into a rough 12-inch circle. (The rough edges should extend beyond the 12 inches or the dough will be too thick.)  Move to a baking pan, then arrange apple mixture evenly in the center, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border. Fold edges over the apples and sprinkle with cheese crumble. Bake at 350° F for 40 mins or until the dough is cooked through and cheese is golden brown.  Serve warm.

I sliced the onion on the thinnest setting of my mandolin, less than 1/8 of an inch, but used a thicker setting, about 3/8 inch, for the apples.  My onion was rather small (often red onions are huge), so I used about 1/3 of it.  (I contemplated using 1/2, but played it safe.  Good choice-- I wouldn't have wanted more onion.)  I also didn't have fresh sage, so I used dried and just approximated the amounts.  I should have crumbled it more, as I tended to get the occasional strong bite of sage.

About the cheese... 5 slices?  Presumably the author is thinking of the packaged, pre-sliced cheese, which comes in about 4" x 4" x 1/8" slices.  Who buys that???  You'd think you could use cheese according to personal taste... except there's flour involved.  Too much cheese and you'll have it melting everywhere.  Too little and it will be floury and tasteless. Better too much than too little?  Turns out, possibly not.  I used 16 slices that were about 4" x 1" x 3/16", and I used about 1/3 mild cheddar and 2/3 New Zealand (white) sharp cheddar. I had just under 1½ cups of the crumbles, but I felt that was too much, so used only about 1 cup of it.  (This confirms my thought that the recipe intends you to use packaged, pre-sliced cheese.)  I started with only 2 tablespoons of the flour when the cheese was in about pea-sized chunks, and it looked okay, so I added another tablespoon.  Then it looked too floury, so I processed it longer and the cheese broke down into much smaller bits and the flour was well incorporated.  I just can't remember if I added the last tablespoon. I don't think I did, and since I started with too much cheese, my crumbles were certainly more cheesy than the recipe intended.  The flavor was fine, but once the galette cooled, the cheese became hard.  With more flour, I think they would have been softer, more shortbread-like.  (Could the cheese go under the apples, or would the oil cause havoc with the crust?)  It was fine, though, once rewarmed.

Conclusion:  I liked this more once I'd gotten over the initial disappointment when my expectation didn't meet reality.  This was definitely on the savory side, despite all the sugar. However, it might have been nicer made with slightly sweeter apples, or a combination.  The buckwheat added a nice flavor, but made the crust soft and a bit mealy, and gives it an unattractive hue.  The cheese, also, I find unattractive, especially after cooling.  Very tasty with a dollop of sour cream.

Recipe:  Buckwheat Galette with Apples, Cheddar, and Sage via Food52

August ABC challenge: Croûte d’abricots (apricot and almond tart)

 

I have access to the BEST apricots ever, but the season is short and early here, so I knew I had to get on this recipe.  (And my lavender was in bloom.) Nonetheless, when I went to my favorite apricot vendor to buy the fruit, he was already out for the season.  But his peaches were in, so I bought several yellow and white peaches.  They looked a little green still, but he said they were ready.  I was skeptical.  Unfortunately, they did not fair well on the way home, and the riper ones became so bruised I barely had enough to get some decent slices.  (The unripe fruit was still perfect.)  Not only that, but they didn't taste good.  This was not a good year for stone fruits.  I was so disappointed.  But I salvaged what I could, dipping the slices in sugar to try to sweeten them up a little.

I've noticed that, so far in this challenge source, the consistency of my doughs never match that of the originator.  For example, she says to "pour" the batter into the pan -- I had a thick, sticky mass that I had to carefully pat down.  She must be using giant eggs.  I also noticed that my honey was rather stiff, so maybe that was the problem.  By the way, although there are dramatic differences in the flavor of various honeys, I've never been able to distinguish lavender honey from clover honey from any other variety.  I used sage honey.

I didn't have a small tart pan, so I used a pie pan from Marie Callendar's, which measured 7 inches across the bottom.  Other than the honey, the only other change to the recipe I made was to increase the salt.

Here's what I used:

50 g beurre noisette
120 g almond flour
50 g (lavender) honey
1 3 pinches of salt (using a pinch measuring spoon)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon dried, organic lavender
icing sugar to prepare the tart pan
4 to 6 fresh apricots, stoned and quartered

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Brush an 8-inch shallow tart pan with butter and dust with icing sugar.

Make the beurre noisette by slowly melting the butter over a low flame until nut brown and the milk solids have toasted. (No need to strain.)  Set aside and leave to cool. In a bowl (or the butter pan), stir together the almond flour, honey, egg, salt, and lavender flowers.  Add the brown butter and whisk until smooth.  Pour into the tart pan and spread evenly. Press the apricot quarters in the mixture, arranging them the way you like best.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it does not brown too fast, otherwise turn the oven down to about 320º F from the point of perfect crust color.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool and firm up slightly before releasing it. When cooled completely, dust with icing sugar and serve.
 

I checked this at 30 minutes and it looked a little dark on the edges, but not quite done in the center, so I turned the temperature down and left it another 5 minutes.  It was still hard to tell if it was done because it gets rather juicy.  For appearances sake, I would have preferred it be less dark on the edges.  I didn't try it until the next day, and by then the peach juice had soaked into the base, so it wasn't dry.  I don't know if it would have been dry if I'd had it right away.  Whipped cream was a great addition.

Conclusion: This was good, and surprisingly light.  It's not very sweet either, so it could be eaten plain for breakfast, or dressed up with whipped cream as a dessert.  I think it would have been much better with the apricots -- they have more flavor and that bit of tartness that would contrast nicely with the somewhat bland almond base.  There was only a hint of lavender, which was just the right amount.  A little lemon zest would also be a nice addition to the base.

Recipe:  Croûte d’abricots with lavender & honey via Weekend Bakery.