Welcome!

Hi and thank you for visiting my blog. My name is Tina, I am 42 years old and married to a wonderful man named Robert. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area with my husband and our two pugs, Koko and Lucy and a special kitty, named Trixie.

I am of Italian decent and love to cook not just for my family but for everyone! I have a lot of weeknight dinner guest and try to keep it casual but delicious! My Mom passed away a few years ago and was my great teacher.

In 2012 I have changed the way I eat. A real lifestyle change to be healthier, eat a nutrient dense diet and remove all processed foods, refined flours and sugars from our diet. I do cook a lot healthier than my Mom did and do a lot more vegetarian meals, poultry and fish. I'm trying to find a way to keep the traditions of family, friends and good food in my house always.

I plan to post my weekly menus, update with new recipes, health information and articles and how to eat mostly organic in an economical way. I will also periodically post personal updates of my journey to regain health and hope.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Tart

I was watching PBS on Sunday and saw the Huber Keller show. I only recognized him since he was one of the Top Chef Masters. This was a show from many years ago as he was a much younger man. He made an eggplant, zucchini, tomato tart with goat cheese and it looked soo delicious. I tried to find the recipe on-line without much luck but found a few similar recipes and decided to put a few of the recipes together to re-create this dish. This will be a work in progress as I did many things right (the crust was perfect)...but I want to improve the filling flavor and I want to perfect this dish.

Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Tart
Crust
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 stick of unsalted butted chilled and cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 Tbsp. ice water
Extra Ice water as needed (I used about 3 Tbsp)
1) Place flour, salt, butter in a food processor and pulse until dough resembles coarse meal, add egg mixture through the feed tube with the processor in the "on" position. Pour in extra ice water until dough is moist and almost lumping together (marbles).
2) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a moment with the heel of your hand. Form dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3) Roll dough into a 14 inch round. Carefully transfer to a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim overhanging dough to 1". Lightly press dough into the grooves and fold over the top for a double thick edge. Edge should be approximately 1/2" higher than the pan. Pierce dough with a fork. Wrap tart in plastic and freeze for 30 minutes.
4) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake until crust is golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375.
Filling:
3 eggs lightly beaten
5 oz. creamy goat cheese (at room temp.)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 sour cream
5 slices of cooked bacon chopped fine
1 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
In a large bowl whisk eggs, goat cheese, heavy cream and sour cream together. Fold in bacon, zucchini and spices. Pour into prepared tart crust.
Toping:
1 zucchini sliced thin (I used both zucchini and yellow squash for aesthetics)
2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 Tbsp. bread crumbs
Arrange zucchini and tomato slices in concentric circles until covered. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until a knife comes out clean in the center. I put mine on broil for a few minutes to brown up the top, but I also over-cooked the crust edge slightly.
TIP - To save time and effort buy a pre-made pie crust (but I will say the crust was the best part!!) You can also make this vegetarian by leaving out the bacon....add onion for more flavor.

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