While this seasonal celebratory salad is certainly best enjoyed with the flavour and variety provided only by heirloom tomatoes, it can be enjoyed with more standard varieties as well. If an aged balsamic is beyond your pantry’s reach, try reducing an inexpensive balsamic in a pan until it reaches a consistency that coats a spoon.
Tart dough (recipe below)
1/4 cup (60 mL) basil puree (recipe below)
7 oz (200 g) Monforte Belle sheep’s milk cheese, or ch?e
1.5 lbs (680 g) selection of heirloom tomatoes
1/3 cup (80 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp (15 mL) fleur de sel
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp (30 mL) 15-year-old balsamic, or similar
Tart Dough
3/4 cup (180 mL) butter
1/3 cup (80 mL) sugar
2 Tbsp (30 mL) orange zest
1 cup (250 mL) flour
3/4 cup (180 mL) ground almonds
2/3 cup (160 mL) toasted panko crumbs (found in Asian markets)
Mix butter and sugar together. Add orange zest, flour, ground almonds, and panko crumbs to form dough. Mix, being careful not to overmix.
Basil Puree
1 cup (250 mL) basil leaves
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly cracked pepper
2 ice cubes
Add all ingredients together in a mini food processor and puree until smooth. The ice cubes will prevent the basil from turning grey in the process.
Tarts
Roll tart dough into six 4-in (10-cm) balls. Work dough with fingers to create shells approximately 1/8-in (3 mm) thick and press into individual tart shells.
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Cover tarts with baking paper and beans and cook (“blind”) approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Let shells cool.
Mix basil puree with one 1 Tbsp (15 mL) of the Belle cheese to create a spreadable mix.
Lightly coat base of shell with a little of the basil mixture.
In a bowl, season tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper. (Note: To intensify flavours and vary textures, blister some of the smaller tomatoes in a hot pan using a little extra-virgin olive oil, and then season with fleur de sel and black pepper.)
Arrange blistered and raw tomatoes inside tart shells. Garnish with a “quenelle” of the Belle cheese. To form a quenelle, shape the cheese between two teaspoons to create an almond-shaped lozenge.
Place in the centre of the plate; spoon extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic around the tart.
Finish with a sprinkling of fleur de sel as desired.
Serves 6.
source: "Treadwell", alive #396, June 2007
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.