Tart Tuesday: Goat Cheese, Zucchini, and Roasted Red Pepper Tart

I am going to cheat a bit today... because for one, I am on a pretty big work deadline, and two, I'm still recovering from last weekend. 

Last Thursday, my friend from FSU, Vishan, who is now studying painting at West Dean in England, came down for a long weekend in Paris. We both have been on similar journeys this past year, and we've been keeping up with each others' progress of adapting to life in a new country. It was really comforting to finally have someone from back home who understands my issues with cold weather, and even though there's not really a language barrier between the US and England... I learned there were a lot of things in Vishan's case, that just don't translate.

Luckily for us, it was a beautiful weekend (with the exception of a slight drizzle), and we made sure to take full advantage. There are so many things I want to blog about, but I am actually going to start at the end and work backwards... You'll see why. 

So, should we start with Sunday morning then? Ugh, it was not a pretty sight. The night before, I let my FSU side run wild... and ended up face-in-a-plastic-bag in a cab on the way back to our apartment. Where did it all start? Well, Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the market across the street from my apartment. I wanted to show Vishan what a real, local, French outdoor market looked like.

We strolled past each stand at least twice, all the while the vendors greeting us with a cheerful, "Bonjour monsieur-dame!" Artichokes and strawberries were making their seasonal debut, and I could literally feel Spring in the air. We walked past the rotisserie stand, where chickens and rabbits were ever so slowly turning on the spit... their delicious fat and juices melting into the vats of onions and potatoes below. I took a deep breath in, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I said to him, "This is why I love France."

It was already a gorgeous day, so what better than to do as the French so love to do, and picnic in the park? We bought an entire lapin roti (rotisserie rabbit), some bread, cheese, and grape leaves, and made our way to Montmartre. 

We parked ourselves on a bench in front of the Sacre Coeur, and spread out our market goodies. 

The rotisserie rabbit was absolutely to die for... the skin as crackly and crispy as lechon, the fat - glistening and rich like duck fat (aka liquid gold), and the meat was as tender as a perfectly roasted chicken. A perfect trifecta. I don't know why anyone would be afraid to eat rabbit. I know, I know, it's like eating Thumper or Bugs Bunny, but seriously people, this was amazing. 

We made quite a little spectacle of ourselves - going all Andrew Zimmern on the rabbit - eating the liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart... all which were so graciously left inside the animal while it roasted. 

 

 

Rabbit lung, by the way... not so tasty. It's not so much the flavor, but the texture that made Vishan make this face:

People were literally staring at us like we were freaks, especially since Vishan was pretty dressed up to be gnawing away at a rabbit carcass.

After we finished devouring our kill catch purchase, we walked around Montmartre, went back to the Musée Guimet (another blog post), and ultimately landed at one of my favorite pâtisseries, Gérard Mulot. 

They by far have some of the most gorgeous pastries I've ever seen... and they taste just as amazing.

With no room inside to sit, we took the pastries back to the apartment to enjoy them in peace, while I whipped up this tasty little tart:

So see, I am cheating a bit... it's not a tartine, and I didn't exactly eat it today, but hey - it was yummy, and I wanted to share!

*P.S. - It all went downhill from there... lots of wine... lots and lots of wine.

Goat Cheese, Zucchini, and Roasted Red Pepper Tart

1 pâte feuilletée or puff pastry (I used a pre-made & pre-rolled dough to make it easier on myself)

200g fresh goat's cheese

2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence

4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

2 medium-sized zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices.

1 small red bell pepper

1 egg

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Remove the core and seeds from the red bell pepper and cut in half length-wise.

Place the two halves of the red bell pepper on a baking sheet, skin-side up, under the broiler until the skin begins to char, about 10-15 minutes. 

Once the skin has turned black, take them out of the oven, place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap for about 10-15 minutes. 

Once cooled, peel the skin off of the peppers (do not rinse) and slice into 1/4 inch strips. Set aside.

*You can do up to this part a day or so in advance.

 Preheat oven to 400°Fahrenheit (200°Celsius).

On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, arrange the zucchini slices in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over the zucchini and toss with your hands to coat. Re-arrange into a single layer and add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the baking sheet. 

Roast in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, just to allow the garlic to begin to soften. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. 

*Do not turn off the oven.

Remove the garlic from the peel and chop into a fine mince.

In a bowl, mix the goat's cheese, Herbes de Provence, and roasted garlic until thoroughly combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

On a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper, place the puff pastry in the center of the pan. Spread goat cheese mixture in a thin layer, leaving about an inch border around the edges.

Arrange the zucchini slices on top of the goat cheese mixture, and fold the edges of the puff pastry over top of the zucchini. Arrange the slices of roasted red pepper on top of the zucchini.

In a bowl, whisk one egg with a little bit of water, and brush it over the top of the puff pastry. This will give the pastry a nice brown color when it bakes. 

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Serves 3-4.

Tartine Tuesday: Honey Drizzled Beets with Lemon-Tarragon Goat Cheese Tartines

I never thought I would like beets. Even just recently I made a comment to Quentin about how they aren't my favorite thing... and how I never really liked them. But this year I'm attempting to give a second chance all those things I loathed as a food-ignorant adolescent.

Turns out (unsurprisingly) that there are a lot of things I didn't like back then that I love now... red wine, olives, black pepper (freshly cracked of course). Don't even get me started on cheese. I actually refused to eat cheese unless it was bright yellow, square shaped, and wrapped in individual clear plastic sheets. I'm so glad I grew out of that phase.

I gave beets a second shot. Hell, I was basically dreaming of this recipe in my sleep last night.

I roasted the bloody beauty and paired it with tangy goat cheese, lemon zest, and my new favorite herb; tarragon. The tart, fresh goats cheese balances beautifully with the earthy sweetness of the beets. The lemon zest brightens up all the flavors and the tarragon adds a woodsy licorice note that makes my knees weak. Damn, I love tarragon. A little sweet drizzle of honey at the end took it right over the top.

These tartines are bloody delicious.

Honey Drizzled Beets with Lemon-Tarragon Goat Cheese Tartines

6 slices of bread, toasted

1 medium sized beet (uncooked & with the skin on)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pinch of large grain sea salt

200 grams fresh goat's cheese

1 sprig of fresh tarragon (or roughly 2 pinches of whole dried tarragon leaves), chopped

zest of 1 small lemon

honey, to taste

freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

To Roast the Beet:

 

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit (205° Celsius). 

Rub the beet with vegetable oil and sea salt. 

Place in a roasting pan with about an inch of water in the bottom and cover with aluminum foil. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until a knife slides easily into the beet.

Remove from the oven and let cool before peeling. Once cooled, peel and slice into a medium dice or bite-sized pieces.

To Make the Lemon-Tarragon Goat Cheese Spread:

In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, tarragon, and lemon zest until combined. Add freshly cracked pepper to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator until the beet is cooled and prepped.

Spread goat cheese mixture on toasts and top with the roasted beet. Drizzle honey on top. Serves 2.

Tartine Tuesday: Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion, and Balsamic Fig Tartines

This is for all my friends out there who, like me, adore goat cheese. You're welcome.

Originally, I wanted to make these tartines with fresh mission figs. It was only about a year ago when I had my very first taste of fresh fig. I know, I know, how could that be?! Well, growing up there were always Fig Newtons at my Grandmother's house. She loved(and still does) them, but I was never really a fan. I guess I figured fresh figs would taste the same. Wow, was I wrong.

While living in Atlanta, I noticed two large mission fig trees growing near my urban vegetable garden in our apartment complex. Being a lover of all things food(especially free food) I gave a stab at trying one fresh off the tree. Wow. I picked a handful, brought them back to my apartment and made roasted figs with goat cheese, and prosciutto. Even wow-er. Okay, so now I like figs.

So today I went looking for some fresh mission figs at the supermarket, but could only find dried Turkish figs. I figured I could improvise.

I saved the left over duck fat from last night's magret de canard(duck breast) that Quentin so deliciously cooked for us, and spent most of the night brainstorming on how I could use it. I thought to myself, "Figs go well with goat cheese, goat cheese goes well with caramelized onions, onions + duck fat = yum, and duck goes well with fig."

Bingo.

Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Balsamic Fig Tartines

6 slices of bread (or about 10 slices of baguette), toasted
2 medium sized yellow onions, sliced
1 tablespoon of duck fat(you can also use bacon grease, or just butter and olive oil)
6-8 turkish figs, dried
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of honey
fresh goat's cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Slice the dried figs in half and place in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over the figs until just covered, and let steep for 10-15 minutes.

In a medium-sized sauté pan or frying pan, heat a tablespoon of duck fat on medium-high heat. Once heated, add the onions and stir to coat the onions with fat. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and reduce heat to medium. Stir every 10 minutes or so, until the onions are softened and brown. This will take about 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove figs from the hot water(save the water) and scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. In a small saucepan, add the fig seeds and pulp, balsamic vinegar, honey, 1/3 cup of the water the figs were steeping in, and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.

Spread fresh goat's cheese on toasts and top with freshly cracked black pepper. Spoon balsamic fig reduction over the goat cheese and top with caramelized onions. Add a little slice of dried fig to the top for presentation. Serves 2.