last friday night’s raspberry tart

my “forked”, unbaked crust awaiting the oven

last friday night, we went over to our friend’s house. we had beef bourguignon that was delicious atop buttery fluffy potatoes–that couple just knows how to cook.

i made a raspberry tart. i did not have lemons for a lemon tart so i just substituted the raspberries i had in our fridge instead. it was not a disappointment.

here is my secret recipe (my friend gretchen discovered it a few summers ago)…

lemon tart

crust:

3 oz. unsalted butter

3 T. water

1/8 t. salt

1 T. vegetable oil

1 T. sugar

1 slightly rounded cup of flour

mix all ingredients except flour in base of tart pan. place in oven for 15 minutes at 410 degrees. remove from oven and mix in flour. with a fork or hands begin to pat dough along bottom of pan and half way up sides of tart pan. poke along the bottom of the dough in pan with a fork before placing into the oven for another 15 minutes (keep a small piece of dough aside. this will be used later to fill in any cracks that might form in over. cool and patch in extra dough where cracks appear).

the raspberry curd ingredients

the curd waiting for the shell to cool

the cooling tart

curd:

1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

graded zest of one lemon

1/2 c. sugar

6 T. cut-up butter

2 whole eggs

in saucepan, heat juice, zest, sugar and butter. in another bowl beat eggs. when butter has melted in saucepan, start spooning mixture into the eggs and stirring until eggs are warm/hot (you cannot directly add the eggs or they will scramble. they need to warm slowly before placing in with the rest of the curd mixture. i have slightly scrambled mine and just picked out the eggy parts later….). when egg mixture is warm/hot, pour mixture into saucepan. cook complete mixture over low heat until thickens and starts to boil around edges.

pour into cooled/baked tart shell. bake for 5 minutes to set curd. cool and serve.

dinner with salisbury

the other day while doing laundry, i raided my friend caroline’s recipe box. i came away with a pile of good-lookin’ recipes i promised to return (and have not, yet). as i begin to cook through the recipes, i will make sure to post the extra tasty ones!

salisbury steak with gravy

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. cream (i used regular milk)

1 t.  dried onion (i used 1/4 c. fresh chopped onion)

1/2 t. salt

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1 can beef broth (used beef bouillon)

1/2 c. red wine

1 t. worchestershire sauce

2 T. parsley

1 4 oz. can mushrooms (i used fresh portabella mushrooms)

mix beef, onion, cream and s+p. form into 3 or 4 thick patties. heat butter in pan. brown patties quickly on both sides. remove (mine did not remain in perfectly shaped littl’ rounds).

mix flour into pan well. add broth and wine. cook until bubbles and thickens. add worchestershire, parsley, mushrooms (and liquid), and s+p.

return patties to pan. reduce heat and simmer until done.

 

the kitchen lit by fairy lights

 

matt before dinner

 

–serve mashed potatoes on side. i served with baked sweet potatoes (dice/slice sweet potatoes. place on aluminum foil. sprinkle with olive oil, paprika, garlic salt, and italian seasonings (etc. get creative!). bake at 375 or higher until tender and crisp. or serve salisbury with lots of steamed veggies to even out the butter intake. so good, but cannot cook all the time! it’s a o.a.y.m. (once a year meal).

a day of letters and scones

freshly baked scones

today, my friend caroline came over around nine. i had decided the prior night to make her scones. somehow though, butter dripped from the scones onto the bottom of my oven: a fire proceeded (a nasty, smelly, blue-flamed fire).

there was smoke everywhere.

my eyes watered.

i called my mother.

she had never had this problem with making scones and assumed my butter had not been made into perfect pea-sized crumbles.

bahhh….anyhow, with windows cranked open, the air-blasting, and an array of candles burning propped on books and tables, the house was decently presentable by the time caroline and her baby daughter arrived.

The scones were NOT ruined (by the way or maybe the heavenly whipped cream did the trick).

after caroline left, i got the mail and to my utter joy had received a bunch? load? pile? of lovely letters! God is good. mail does do the heart good..but more on that later.

the mail