Plum-Frangipane Tart with Chocolate

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Another day, another tart! My tart pan has been getting a lot of use lately, and with great results.  This tart was inspired by an overabundance of plums in our CSA box.  I went looking for plum recipes, and when I found this one that combines plums with a buttery crust, chocolate, frangipane, and custard, I knew I had a winner!  Despite all of the different components, this tart was surprisingly easy to pull together.  The crust is prepared in a pan on the stove and then simply pressed into the tart pan - no rolling pin required.  Once the crust chills for an hour or so, it's scattered with chopped chocolate and then topped with an easy almond sauce.  If you have an immersion hand blender, this is the place to use it - way less dirty dishes, and the final dessert doesn't suffer at all from a slightly-less-smooth frangipane.  Once the tart goes in the oven, the chocolate and almond sauce melt together to form a fantastic soft layer on the bottom of the tart.  The top layer is simply sliced plums topped with an easy custard that takes about 30 seconds to whisk together.  The custard is unsweetened because the other components of the dessert are plenty sweet enough.

Overall, the almonds, chocolate, plums, and custard come together to create the perfect tart - sweet, slightly tart, rich, and chocolate-y.  One word of warning - make sure to prepare this when you're having guests over, as the leftovers keep for about a day, two max.  It will stay reasonably fresh at room temperature overnight, but then it starts to go downhill fast.



Plum-Frangipane Tart with Chocolate (adapted from Christie's Corner, original recipe here)
Makes one 9-inch tart

For the crust:
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
Generous pinch of salt
1 cup flour

For the filling:
1-3/4 ounces slivered almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, divided
2 tsp vanilla, divided
3/4 cup heavy cream
4-1/2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 pound plums

1. Make the crust.  Melt the butter.  Then stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Add the flour and stir to form a dough.  Once the dough is cool enough to comfortably touch, press it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  Place in the fridge and chill until the dough is firm.
2. Make the frangipane.  Place the almonds and sugar in a food processor along with one of the eggs and 1 tsp of the vanilla.  Process until smooth and set aside.  If you have a stick blender, you can also use this to blend the frangipane - it won't get quite as smooth, but the dishes are easier!
3. Make the custard.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and remaining 1 tsp vanilla along with 3/4 cup heavy cream.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5. Assemble the tart.  Scatter the chocolate over the bottom of the tart crust, and then drizzle with the almond mixture.  Pit the plums, slice them, and then add them to the tart in an even layer.  Pour the custard on top, being careful - you may have more custard than you need depending on the height of your tart pan sides.
6. Place the tart on a baking sheet and then bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35-45 minutes, until browned and set.  Let cool at least slightly before serving, and ideally serve with homemade vanilla ice cream!

Cranberry-Pecan Zucchini Bread

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Zucchini overload! As you might expect this time of year, our CSA has been overflowing with zucchini and summer squash every week.  This tasty quick bread will use up at least some of them, and any variety will work.  I ended up using little yellow pattypan squash, with great results, even though it felt a little weird using a yellow veggie rather than a green one!  The squash makes the bread moist, and cranberries and pecans just make it a little more fun and interesting.  I especially liked the tart cranberries as they contrasted perfectly with the sweet bread.  Of course, any favorite dried fruits and nuts would be excellent here.



Cranberry-Pecan Zucchini Bread (adapted from Smitten Kitchen, original recipe here)
Makes 2 loaves

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini or summer squash
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Several grates of nutmeg
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two loaf pans with oil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, and sugar.  Stir in the zucchini and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.  Stir in the pecans and cranberries.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix.  Divide the batter among the loaf pans.
5. Bake 50-70 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Secret Recipe Club: Buttermilk Waffles

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Tim and I have been on a great weekend waffle kick lately - it definitely makes Saturday mornings a lot of fun! So it was an easy choice to find a great waffle recipe from my Secret Recipe Club partner for this month, No Reason Needed.  These buttermilk waffles are fantastic - tender, flavorful, and super easy to put together.  I was a little worried when I whisked together the batter because it seemed pretty thin, but the waffles cooked up perfectly in my waffle iron.  Because the waffles don't contain any sugar, you'll definitely want to go for sweeter toppings here - I used chocolate chips and maple syrup!



Buttermilk Waffles (adapted from No Reason Needed, original recipe here)
Makes about 10 waffles

4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1. Whisk the eggs briskly for a few minutes until light.  Whisk in the buttermilk and the oil.  Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine.
2. Cook in a waffle maker - this batter rises quite a bit, so be careful not to overfill.
3. Serve hot with your favorite toppings.




I'm also sending these waffles off to the Kitchen Bootcamp Challenge: Eggs and Breakfast!

Creamy Potato Salad with Peas, Artichoke Hearts, and Fresh Herbs

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I love potato salad - creamy, tangy, and the perfect summer side dish.  And this is a great one - it's got your classic mayo-based dressing, with a few fun twists.  One of these is artichoke hearts.  Sounds a little crazy, but their briny flavor is a fantastic counterpart to the richer ingredients in the salad.  Chopped fresh herbs and freshly toasted, freshly ground fennel and coriander seeds add an extra layer of flavor alongside smoked paprika, which is probably my favorite fun spice - I sprinkle it on everything!  Creamy potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and frozen peas round out the potato salad with some more classic, familiar flavors for a dynamite side dish.



Creamy Potato Salad with Peas, Artichoke Hearts, and Fresh Herbs (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Serves 2-3

1/2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
Salt
1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Olive oil
2 canned artichoke hearts, each cut into 8 pieces (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 hard-boiled egg, diced
2-4 T chopped fresh herbs (use whatever mix you have - I used basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1-1/2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly toasted and ground
A few good grinds of black pepper
Generous pinch of smoked paprika

1. In a large bowl, combine the rice vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir to dissolve and set aside.
2. Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and add few generous pinches of salt.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender.  Drain well and add to the bowl with the rice vinegar; stir to combine.
3. Meanwhile, heat a bit of oil in a non-stick skillet.  Add the artichoke hearts and saute until lightly browned. Add the peas, and saute for about 30 more seconds.
4. Add the artichoke hearts and peas to the potatoes, along with all the rest of the ingredients.  Stir to combine, and serve warm or chilled.

Pork Meatball Soup with Kale

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I love meatballs - something about them just makes a meal so much fun!  These little pork meatballs are no exception.  They're spiced up with chilies, garlic, and lots of fresh herbs, and then browned in a hot skillet and simmered in flavorful chicken stock.  This is definitely the time to pull out the homemade chicken stock - there aren't a whole lot of ingredients here, so each one really needs to shine.  Hearty greens complete the bowl - I used dinosaur kale, but any green that can hold up to a little hot chicken stock would be tasty - perhaps chard, mustard greens, or baby bok choy.  Homemade croutons are an optional but absolutely delicious addition to sprinkle on top.

Pork Meatball Soup with Kale (adapted from Tender)
Serves 3-4

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground pork
2 small, spicy chilies (such as serrano), minced
4 green onions,white and light green parts, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 bushy sprigs of parsley, leaves minced
6 bushy sprigs of mint, leaves minced
Salt
Fat to fry, preferably chicken fat (olive oil works too)

For the soup:
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
Salt and pepper
1 bunch dinosaur kale, leaves removed and coarsely chopped
Homemade croutons, optional

1. Mix together the ground pork with the chilies, green onions, garlic, herbs, and a generous sprinkling of salt.  Roll into small meatballs (I got about 24).
2. Heat the fat in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the meatballs until just browned, shaking the pan often, working in batches if necessary.
3. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large pot, and bring a pot of water to a boil on another burner.  Season the broth well with salt and pepper, and add a good pinch of salt to the pot of boiling water.  Add the meatballs to the pot of chicken stock and the kale to the boiling water.  Cook the kale 1-2 minutes, until wilted, and then drain.  Cook the meatballs 4-5 minutes, until cooked through.  Add the kale, remove from heat, and serve right away, preferably with fresh hot croutons fried in chicken fat.