Weekend Tarts: Guanciale,Corn Custard, Chorizo, Heirloom Tomatoes, Peaches, Blueberries!

  

We offered this tart on Saturday. It was made with Corn Custard (AT Buzby), TapRoot heirloom tomatoes,fresh marjoram, chorizo from the Los Amigos Carniceria on 9th St and "extra sharp" PA cheddar from Fair Food FarmStand. Not an especially French combo but all local, fresh, prime stuff.

Saturday's sweet tart used both Halteman and Frecon peaches. It's a carmelized peach tart. I pretty much took this straight from Boulud.

 Sunday we used the corn custard again. This time though I had tasty guanciale from PorcSalt. So the combo was corn custard with Z-Farm Heirloom tomatoes and basil, guanciale and chevre. A felicitous summer arrangement. Right?

 The sweet tart for Sunday was Frecon blueberries with honey mint pastry cream

Whisky and Canele

For whisky noses who like a French accent with their single malt, Auchentoshan has launched the limited edition Auchentoshan 1999 Bordeaux Cask Matured (£46.99, 70cl, leading whisky specialists or visit www.auchentoshan.com). Aged exclusively in French oak, this triple distilled malt with sweet, candied fruit flavours and an oakey character make it a perfect match with another Bordeaux beauty, canele pastry. The custard filling and caramelised crust is nicely balanced by the spicy tingle on the lingering finish.

Read More http://www.examiner.co.uk/leisure-and-entertainment/food-drink/2011/07/29/drink-column-cool-choices-for-summer-86081-29141425/#ixzz1TWVodDh4

Hot Tart Cool Tart

RTM's FairFood Farm Stand supplied very tasty golden beets that we matched with PorcSalt bacon and BirchRun Hills Blue for the savory tart.

FairFood also supplied both sweet and tart plums for the sweet tart. We matched those with refreshing ginger pastry cream.

Heat of Summer Market Ingredients

Here's a basket of sensational veggies from a few of the HeadHouse Vendors. There is cauliflower and currant tomatoes from Culton, torpedo onions, fresh shallots, chives and purple basil from Blooming Glen, super tasty heirloom tomatoes from AT Buzby, eggplants and beets from Weaver's Way..

I baked off some tarts using these goodies for a photo shoot about savory tarts. The slices look a little sketchy but the actual tarts were handsome and tasty

. #1 Cauliflower and cherry tomatoes with chevre, guanciale and mustard. #2: 3-onion tart with currant tomatoes and BirchRun Hills Eclipse. This tart used the fresh cipollini's from Z Food Farm, fantastic. #3: Heirloom tomatoes with grilled eggplant, claudio ricotta, purple basil and PorcSalt pancetta. #4: Beets and sorrel with BirchRun Hills Blue, PorcSalt bacon and herbs.

Fresh Organic Cipollini

Yesterday at Rittenhouse Market Z Food Farm offered crispy fresh, certified organic cipollini. These were choice.

Beechwood Farms Apricots, Claudio Ricotta & Valhrona Guanaja

I ordered a supply of Valhrona just before this recent hot spell. I wanted to use it in the florentines along with some home made candied cherries. I was also contemplating bringing iced hot chocolate with those same cherries (as a garnish) as a market offering. But florentines are no friend of the heat and humidity and I'm still processing the beverage idea. So... here it is, a glaze of chocolate beneath vanilla flavored ricotta, ripe apricots and toasted almonds. 

HeadHouse Market Fixens

Culton and Blooming Glen salad elements, Talula's salmon, Savoie onaway taters, wish they were Taproot eggs

A.T.Buzby, Sicilian eggplant

Thursdays' Tart

We took a breather in Cape May this past M,T,W. We caught the West Cape May Farmers Market on Tuesday and grabbed a bunch of stuff including ready to eat peaches. Meanwhile, in my garden, my lavender patch was pumping out the most amazing perfume. I grabbed the Felcos and snipped a bunch. Lavender glazed peach tart with chevre and almonds went to market today.

Back in Philly I grabbed tomatoes and eggplant at FairFood Farmstand. Iovine had some hen in the woods and we had few knobs of Beechwood heirloom garlic, fresh thyme and 1/2 wheel of BirchRun Hills camembert. Tomato and eggplant tart with forest mushrooms and garlic also went to market today.

Experiments @ The Tart Lab

It's my good fortune to be situated next to Tom Culton at HeadHouse Market on Sunday and on Saturdays PorcSalt's Matt Ridgway is next door..

These tarts use combinations of their products. Last weekend Tom offered both those currant tomatoes and the orange cauliflower. They ended up in a tart with Sue Miller's (BirchRun Hills)Chester Co Camembert over a base of carmelized onions.

In another experiment we  paired the cauliflower with PorcSalt's guanciale, herbs and Lindendale's chevre. Another had asparagus (out of season but needed for a photo) with Matt's pancetta, Andy's chevre and cipollini..

Chefs at Market: Jean Marie, Shola, Matt, Daniel & Aimee's Luscious Scones

Aimee Olexy delivers to Bodhi Sunday morning

Chef Lacroix (tart & canele fan) with Lil Lady

Matt Ridgway, Daniel Stern, Chef Lacroix @ Porcsalt Stand, RittenHouse Market

Shola Olunloyo Lends a Hand at Culton Organics, Headhouse Sunday Market.

4th o'July Blueberry Tarts

Anyone else have beef with chefs or bloggers declaring that their creations are bloody spectacular, heavenly, perfection and other  superlatives? I get so dang irritated when food people boast about their grub. I say let the compliments come from others. It's a simple idea, a compliment from someone who ate your stuff would be legit; blowing your own horn, not so much.


These tarts are pretty dang delicious. This is no violation of the above admonition since the lil lady is making these.  I conducted rigorous taste tests confirm their fresh flavor and their flavor and presentation after 1.5 days. Bloody spectacular!

We're selling these at Bryn Mawr, Rittenhouse and Headhouse  this weekend. The blueberries are from Hammonton NJ and the pastry cream is made with Kreider cream, Lancaster PA.

I did make the shells and the candied lemon. Let me know your impressions please.