It is, by all counts, a match made in Heaven.

He has been taking me shopping because I am still not up to my usual energy level. This is good in that it allows us some time together uninterrupted but it is bad for the same reasons I don’t like taking children when I go to the grocery store. You know why. Things end up in the cart that weren’t on the list.

Like rhubarb. We walked into the small natural foods store where I like to shop first. I have been shopping there for decades, since it began as a fruit stand on a corner. It is now a great place to buy local produce as well as  organics and naturals. Small and family owned -  I love shopping there. So, the last time we were there we were almost done; cart was piled high with stuff and we were headed to the check-out when he saw it.

And his eyes got that special glow – you know the one – like a dog staring at a rabbit or a cat staring at a mouse. I have even been the recipient of that look a time or two in our marriage.

Rhubarb stacked high, glistening crimson and white, and next to it…organic strawberries. He had obviously all ready had me create a pie and was eating is slowly in his mind. I couldn’t say no.

But I wanted something different. I vaguely remembered an Epicurious recipe I had for a white chocolate rhubarb tart. The idea grew from there.

I used a tiny maple leaf cookie cutter to make the top crust. I just laid them on the filling randomly. You could make any type of decorative crust you want.

The filling is tart and sweet, with the creamy richness of white chocolate. I cooked the rhubarb in Chardonnay and then made a reduction to create a glaze for the filling. The combination of flavors was perfect.
On the down side, the strawberries were juicier than I thought and I ended up with a bit of a runny filling. Adjust the cornstarch accordingly; a little more for juicier berries.

The images aren’t great. In fact, none of my images from last week is vey good due to the rain and lack of good lighting. What the images lack in look the tart excels in taste. Get nice bright rhubarb and stick with organic, non-GMO cornstarch.

Rhubarb Strawberry and White Chocolate Tart with Chardonnay Glaze

Filling

• 3 stalks of rhubarb, washed and cut into  1/2″ slices
• 1 quart of strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 8 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup good Chardonnay, divided use
• 1/3 cup of sugar (adjust to taste and flavor of the berries)
• 2-4 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Combine rhubarb, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the Chardonnay in a pan. Cover and simmer until rhubarb is tender, about 5 minutes
3. Place a colander over a bowl and pour the rhubarb mixture into it. Allow the juices to drain off.
4. Set the rhubarb aside and return the juices to the pan. Add the rest of the Chardonnay and simmer until the juice is reduced by half and begins to  thicken.
5. Whisk in the cornstarch and allow the mixture to clear, stirring constantly
6. Remove from heat
7. Mix in the rhubarb and the strawberries
8. Sprinkle the bottom of the tart with white chocolate
9. Add the fruit mixture
10. Add the top pastry and sprinkle with sugar
11. Bake for 50 minutes or until filling bubbles and gets thick
12. Cool and serve with whipped cream or ice cream

Serves 8

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tbs sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 stocks chilled unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients
2. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Keep the butter chilled and dip your fingers in ice water to keep your body heat from melting the butter.
3. Beat the egg, vanilla, and cream together in a large bowl. Add to flour – butter mixture until dough will form a ball.
4. Chill 1 hour. May be made 1 day ahead.
5. Roll out half the dough and fit into a tart  or pie pan
6. Prick all over with a fork
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart and pop any bubbles that have formed. Return to the oven and bake 15 more minutes until tart shell is golden.

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I like combining colors and texture and flavors. Iceburg lettuce rarely comes into our home because it is just bland and tasteless. My favorite salad base is either the Organic Baby Herbs or the Organic Baby Spinach. I don’t mind the other mixes either, it is just those are my favorites.

Once I have the base I like to add whatever is interesting, on sale or smells wonderful in the produce aisle. I just start picking up things. The other day I picked up this combination:

The base is the baby herb salad. I added strawberries, blackberries, Tuscan melon, cubed Fontina cheese, and a raspberry key lime dressing that is amazing.

Serve this with baguette or black olive bread. A light, crunchy dessert like  lemon-snaps will compliment this perfectly adding both crunch and repeating the flavor of the citrus.

Tuscan melon is very sweet, similar to a cantaloupe. You can use any combination of fruit in this dish, whatever is ripe and looks the best.

Raspberry Key Lime Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup Raspberry jam (seedless is best)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Key lime juice (you can buy the juice in the juice aisle, or use Key limes when they are in season.)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pulp from 1/4 inch of vanilla  bean
• 2 Tbs walnut oil
• Pinch of salt

1. Make this one day ahead if possible so the vanilla will have time to infuse the dressing.
2. Warm jam in the microwave until it is a liquid. Add the rest of the ingredients and shake well.
3. Store in refrigerator

Yield: about one cup

image:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Imagine a crunchy snack that satisfies your sweet tooth, is totally organic and sugar free and provides the equivalent of three servings of fruit in each snack sized bag.  Now imagine you could pick it up at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, or Amazon…for around $2 a bag.

So I guess this must be a dream come true, right?

I liked this stuff.  I really felt kinda sad when I gave the bags to the kids after I did my initial tasting for the review.  I mean I love my kids and all, but…

I really did not expect to like these a whole lot.  I think dried fruit is o.k. but the whole chewy leathery thing can put me off unless I am backpacking.  Since I don’t normally back pack in the house I leave the dried fruit for the kids.

The difference with this is that it is freeze dried.  So instead of leathery you get crisp and crunchy and the flavors are bright and natural.  According to the information I got with the packages the freeze drying process preserves more of the nutrients than just plain old drying.  And check it out, the apple still has a peel on it!

My kids scarfed them down.  Seriously, you could not have gotten those packages away from them with a handful of M&Ms to lure them…and M&Ms are the lure of choice around here.  In fact, since each one of my children were three weeks (yes, three weeks) late (except Erin, she was on time due to an impatient mom, a concerned doctor, and an armful of pitocin) Marc and I often joked about holding a bag of M&Ms on my lap to see if it would get labor to kick in…

But I digress, terribly.  The truth is these snacks are really good, and they are really different.  Great lunch box items.

Funky Monkey comes in four flavors:

Purple Funk- Crunchy banana and acai flavored snack sweet with a tangy aftertaste.  I liked this but not as much as some of the others.  It may be because I think that acai is the Paris Hilton of the fruit world.  A little too over promoted for what it delivers.  My kids didn’t care for these at all.

Carnaval Mix-Banana, pineapple, apple, papaya, and raisins  Nice mix, sweet and crunchy with the occasional texture variation of the chewy raisins.  This was delicious, but predictable.

JiveALime- Pineapple and lime.  Very sweet ripe pineapple with tangy lime.  Sort of like that candy that you have to suck the sour off to get to the sweet part.  My kids love that stuff! If you have an Airhead addict at your house this may tempt them away.  These were my kids favorites.

Bananamon- My favorite.  Sweet banana and cinnamon.  I could eat the entire bag.  When I was a kid I used to eat corn flakes with bananas in it and cinnamon toast on the side.  This is sorta like that.  Only not.  If I was really going to treat myself I would add about 1/4 cup pecans to the mix.

Anyway, great stuff.  Highly recommended.

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights