Sunday, November 27, 2011

An Amazing Surprise **RECIPE ALERT**

To continue my penance to you all for having taken such a long hiatus, I wanted to share an amazing recipe that you should all go make RIGHT NOW.

Do you ever have one of those kinds of cooking adventures where you think, "Hey, this recipe kinda looks nice," and then you proceed to be blown away by how incredible it is? Oohing and aaawing through every bite? Yeah, this recipe is one of those.

It came about a few weeks ago when we were just loaded up on Swiss chard and leeks from the farm box. We both love chard and leeks and were looking for a recipe where we could use up a whole bunch of either, but ideally both together. Also, being the late eaters we are, on this particular evening we knew we were getting a late start on dinner and needed something relatively fast. I found this recipe for a leek and chard tart and thought it fit the bill perfectly.

And did it ever! This tart was not only quick and easy but the flavors were just astounding. Truthfully, I didn't expect much out of something whose base ingredients were a leafy green and a mild onion. Yeah, doesn't sound terribly exciting, does it? But somehow they are balanced perfectly and the full savory flavors just come out and hit 'ya with every single bite. This recipe alert doesn't even need a full backstory to go with it. Just go out and make it. Now!

Well.... no backstory but of course I can never post a recipe without some notes. First, I did go with the store bought puff pastry. Remember, we were looking for efficiency. If you are lazy (or efficient) like me, just run to Whole Foods and pick up a package from the frozen section. You can't say the ingredients don't fit the Au Naturale mantra:



Second (and this is small), we only had about 1/4 tsp of thyme left in the container so we supplemented with dried oregano. Finally, the recipe calls for heavy cream. We took a risk and substituted skim milk instead, mainly to make it healthier. I feared that the skim might "water it down," so to speak, but like I said this tart was absolutely packed with flavor. If full cream could add anything more, well then, I'll eat my hat.

Thanks to both Smitten Kitchen and Epicurious for providing this recipe (I found the same one cross-listed on both sites). Enjoy!

Swiss Chard and Leek Tart
Serves as many as you can slice up. But officially: 8
Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream (We used skim milk)
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Instructions:
Roll out pastry on floured work surface to 12-inch square. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Fold under; crimp edges. Cover; chill.

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add leeks and thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until leeks are very tender but not brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add chard; saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool.

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Whisk cream and next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in cooled leek mixture. Pour filling into crust.

Bake tart 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until filling is puffed and just set in center, about 15 minutes longer (this only took our oven about 10 minutes longer). Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes.

We inhaled half of it it before it occurred to me to take a picture.

1 comment:

  1. ah, i always look at that one and think it sounds complicated. perhaps not? perhaps just more dishes than i want to wash? am motivated to try it now. thanks, jor!

    ReplyDelete