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.

Dessert Sliders!

These cookies were such a hit at the last BBQ we attended. Everyone thought they were too cute eat, but when they did bite into them, they were delicious as well! This is more of an assembly, than cooking and there is no baking required. I saw these on the news the other day and thought I could that! They used grasshopper mint cookies but I thought the flavor profile would be better with the carmel fudge cookies. They were so fun to make..and easy.

Dessert Sliders

Yields: 36 sliders. I made an assembly line and did 18 cookies at a time, it took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

1 package vanilla wafers (Nilla Brand)

2 packages Keebler Fudge Shop, Carmel filled

1 small package of sweetened shredded coconut (died with green food coloring)

1 each of Red and Yellow, Betty Crocker Icing Tubes (the spray can works better)

2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds

2 Tbsp. Caro Syrup ( I would rethink this part)

Directions:

1) Brush tops of vanilla wafers with caro syrup and sprinkle sesame seeds.

2) Squeeze yellow frosting around edge of vanilla wafer (mustard) and place keebler cookie on top (burger) sprinkle the coconut (lettuce) on the burger, top with the red food coloring (ketchup) and place the vanilla wafer with the sesame seeds on top.

Note: The caro syrup never dried and was left sticky and hard to cover with plastic wrap for transortation. Someone online suggested just using water to get the sesame seeds to stick. I may try honey and bake the tops for a few minutes.

Cornbread Burger Bake

I don't recall where I picked up this recipe card, but the source states "Ohio State University Extension, Cuyahoga County, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program". This looked like something Robert would love as he loves cornbread and burgers and it was made with turkey..which was a great bonus. I made a few changes to the recipe, but here is the original recipe, I will explain my changes and suggestions below.

Cornbread Burger Bake

1 Cup of Flour

1 egg beaten

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1 Cup 1% milk

1 Cup Cornmeal

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 can cream style corn

1 lb. ground turkey

1/4 green bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 cup low fat cheese

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees, grease or use cooking spray to coat a 9 x9 casserole dish.

2. Combine first seven ingredients and set aside.

3. Brown the ground turkey, dran excess fat and add onion, green pepper and chili powder.

4. Pour half of the cornbread mixture in the casserole, cover with turkey mixture and the cheese; pour the remainder of the cornbread batter over the top.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Changes

I made the following changes. It was good, but still needed something more. I used skim milk, instead of 1%. I used two ears of corn instead of a can of cream of corn...I am trying to eat only whole foods and I think I should have added something else for this substitute, maybe a Tbsp. of honey as creamed corn is sweet usually.

I also added a whole onion and bell pepper and I added the onion and green pepper to the turkey while browning it. I use very lean ground turkey and had to add olive oil to get it to brown. Next time, I'll add a little more chili powder too.

In the corn bread mixture I added a fresh jalepeno, chopped fine, for a little flavor and color. That was a great addition.

Overall, this was good...not great. I think tweaking the recipe a little more will make this a wonderful hearty dish to add to my repitore. Served with salad..but this is really a pretty complete meal in one. For time saving, you could use any corbread pre-mix that you like. I think Trader Joe's Cornbread mix is pretty darn good.

This is another one of those healthy, economical dishes. I would estimate it was less than $10 to make and you can get 6 nice sized servings.

I'm Back!!

Well, after a year of not blogging I've decided it something I miss and want to do again. I think the pressure of daily updates was too much and I realized I cook a lot of the same meals which is boring for my loyal blog readers. So, while I am not promising daily blog updates, I do plan to update it much more frequently than once a year!

Pork & Bean Enchilladas

I love to use C.O.S.T. (Cook Once, Serve Twice) cooking is so easy and helps in cooking economical quick meals. I used the left over pork tenderloin from Saturday and made a whole new meal in a few minutes with some convenience foods.Pork & Bean Enchiladas

1 lb. pork tenderloin, cooked and chopped

1 14 oz. can of pinto beans

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese

1 jar of Frontera Enchilada Sauce

8 corn tortillas

Mix pork, beans and 1/2 of the cheese in a bowl. Heat tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften them up a little. Fill tortilla shells with 1/8 of the meat/cheese mixture and roll them up. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce in a 13 x 9 casserole dish and place tortillas on top. Cover with the remainder of the sauce and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake until cheese has melted and is bubbly.

Served with Rice A Roni Spanish rice and Sweet Corn Saute from a previous blog.

Company Breakfast

This is such a decadent breakfast we usually reserve it for the holidays. We had some overnight guest this weekend and I made this for Sunday morning. It was a huge hit all around. Definitely a very easy, but yet impressive breakfast. You make it the night before so it makes the morning easy and care-free so you can enjoy your guests.

French Toast Casserole

Loaf of French bread cut into 2" thick pieces

1 stick of butter

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

5 Tbsp. Orange Juice

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

Melt butter and pour into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of brown sugar into butter and spread evenly. Place bread in a layer over bottom. Sprinkle remainder of brown sugar and cinnamon on top of bread. Whip together eggs, cream and OJ and pour mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. In a.m. bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.

Serving suggestion:Warm 1 cup of pure maple syrup with 1/4 cup grand marnier in a small saucepan. Serve with sausage and fresh fruit.

Cooking Light is always right!

So, I saw this cover of Cooking Light's June 2008 issue and thought it looked so good. I decided to try and make this tonight. It was really easy to make and pretty tasty. I especially loved hte coleslaw. This is a great summer meal!

Pork Tenderloin with Mustard BBQ Sauce and Tangy Mustard Coleslaw

Ingredients
Sauce: 2 bacon slices, finely chopped 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard 5 tablespoons honey 3 tablespoons ketchup 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 1/4 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin Pork: 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper 2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed.

1. Prepare grill.
2. To prepare sauce, cook bacon in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until almost crisp, stirring occasionally. Add chopped onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mustard and next 5 ingredients (through 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin) to pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 4 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.
3. To prepare pork, combine brown sugar and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper) in a small bowl, stirring well; rub mixture evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink), turning once. Let pork stand 10 minutes. Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve with sauce.
Yield
8 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and about 2 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 235(25% from fat); FAT 6.5g (sat 2.1g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.7g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 77mg; CALCIUM 26mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.6g; SODIUM 569mg; PROTEIN 26.2g; FIBER 1.3g

David Bonom ,
Cooking Light, JUNE 2008