Strawberries are in season now in California (even in my little garden) and the markets are filled with them. One of my favorite desserts on this site is a mascarpone mouse with strawberries in a balsamic syrup. The combination of balsamic vinegar and sweetened strawberries is one of those heaven-made matches that you simply must try if you haven't already. (Sprinkle a little good quality, aged balsamic over some sugar macerated strawberries and you'll see what I mean.) Combine that with a sweetened mascarpone base, and it's just, well, really really good. Like eat the whole batch and forget about dinner good. This week I experimented with putting these ingredients to work in a strawberry tart, happily for the family (dad had a box of strawberry jello out on the kitchen counter to prepare and when I told him I was making a strawberry tart, he said, "well, if you must," smiled, and put the box away.) I made a tart crust using my standard pâte brisée recipe in a tart pan and also experimented with some frozen puff pastry. Both work fine, I loved the taste and flakey texture of the puff pastry though I had a bit of trouble rolling it out to a size large enough to hold a comparable amount of filling and strawberries as the tart pan. My advice is to just use a crust you are most comfortable with. You'll need to bake the crust first, as this tart is a no-bake tart. I experimented with mascarpone and ricotta combinations, my preference is straight mascarpone for the tart, but experiment and see what you like. Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche
One of my favorite recipes on this site is the smoked salmon and goat cheese toasts; I just love the blending of flavors of the herbed goat cheese, the salmon, and lemon zest on crunchy buttered toasts. When trying to come up with a good quiche to serve for a Mother's Day brunch, I spied some smoked salmon in the fridge and here you have it - an appetizer morphed into a custard. Fresh dill is added because, well, dill just tastes good with salmon. But feel free to use another favorite herb if dill's not your thing. For the filling, I followed Michael Ruhlman's basic ratio for quiche filling, which is essentially 1/2 cup of milk or cream for every large egg. This produces a delicate, creamy custard for your quiche. If you want something sturdier, feel free to add another egg. We like it as is. In fact, when I asked if my mother or father thought it could use another egg, I got a clear "it's perfect as it is, don't mess with it." High praise from those two! Do you have any particularly favorite quiche combinations? If so, please let us know about it in the comments. |
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