Peach and Pistachio Tart with Cornmeal Crust

This, Eric claims, is his favorite dessert, and it just might have edged out the famous Tarte Tatin!

I did this as mini tartlets for the shower, but it actually makes a nice rustic freeform tart.

Cornmeal Tart Dough:
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (cubed)
6-8 Tbsp. ice water

Pistachio Spread:
1 cup shelled pistachios (save 1/4 cup for garnishing later)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp almond extract

Peach filling
5 fresh peaches: blanched, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp water
Granulated sugar

Almond Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
1 Tbsp sugar
2 drops almond extract

Combine flour, cornmeal, 2 Tbsp sugar and salt together for dough. Work butter in by hand, mushing away at it and the stir in ice water using a fork. Gather the dough together and press into a disk. Chill and let rest 30 minutes, then roll out into a 13" round (1/8 " thick).

Chop 3/4 cup pistachios and sugar in processor together, then add in whipping cream and almond extract. Spread on bottom of the tart leaving 3" rim around edge of tart.

Toss peaches with brown sugar, lemon juice, rum, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Place peaches on the pistachio spread, but save the juices for glazing after tart is baked.

Flip edges of tart over, folding as you go along. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar.

Bake at 400°F for 45-50 minute, then brush top of fruit with reserved juices.

Whip the cream and add in sugar and almond extract.

Serve a slice with whipped cream and garnished with remaining pistachios.

Real New York Cheesecake

By request, here is the recipe for real New York Cheesecake, which we had at Janice and Jeff's shower. We served it without the raspberry glaze, instead sprinkling cacao nibs from Scharffen Berger Chocolate on top.

(Makes 1 - 10" Cake)

For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
3 T. sugar

For the filling:
6 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (heavy cream can also be used)

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast pecans on baking sheet for 15 min., or until golden. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300°.

Combine cracker crumbs and pecans in food processor until fine. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Add the butter and sugar to the processor and pulse to blend.

Spray sides and bottom of 10-inch Springform cake pan with nonstick spray. Trace and cut out a round of parchment to fit pan and make a strip for the side of the pan. Line bottom and the side with parchment circle. Spray parchment and sides again.

Sprinkle the reserved 2 T. of crumbs around sides of pan. Tilt and tap pan to distribute crumbs evenly. With rubber spatula, press remaining crumb-butter mixture onto bottom of pan.

The cheesecake will be cooked in a "bain-marie" or water bath, to prevent scorching. Cooking the cheesecake in a roasting pan filled with water works fine, so heat enough water to be used for the bath (don't pour it into the roasting pan yet though, or the pan will be heavy and hard to get into the oven). Be sure cake pan is taller the pan for the water bath.

In a very large bowl break the cream cheese into smaller pieces and add the sugar and vanilla. With electric beaters, cream the cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl frequently during mixing so that no lumps remain. Blend in sour cream.

Pour the filling into prepared pan. Place the pan in the roaster and put it in the oven. Then carefully pour hot water into roaster so that water comes 1" to 1-1/2" up the sides of pan. Bake at 300° for at least one hour and 45 minutes. At that point, check the cake and see if it is set. The cake will be a little jiggly in the center but will cook while cooling.

To unmold the cheesecake, carefully remove cake from the bath and cool it to room temperature on rack, then refrigerate overnight. To unmold, pop open the springform shell, and peel off the parchment.

To serve, dip a thin-bladed knife in hot water and slice. Wipe blade clean and dip again after each cut.

Optional Raspberry Glaze
14 oz. pkg. frozen red raspberries
1 cup red wine
1/3 cup sugar
10 oz. jar red currant jelly

Combine berries, wine and sugar in saucepan over a medium heat. Crush thawed berries with back of spoon.

Strain raspberry juice through fine sieve; discard seeds and return juice to saucepan. Simmer over medium heat about 25 minutes until reduced to 1/2 cup and very syrupy. Whisk in currant jelly until melted. Cool to room temperature.

Pour about 1/4 cup cooled glaze on cheesecake. Spread lightly, leaving a 1/2" margin around edge. For an extra pretty presentation, randomly arrange 3 cups assorted fresh berries on top. Serve immediately.

Raspberries in Port Wine Sauce

This was also a nice side to the cheesecake recipe. Originally it was designed for strawberries, but raspberries were calling out to us so....

1 cup Tawny Port
1/2 cup sugar
i small basket raspberries

Bring the port and sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and boil, uncovered, until slightly syrupy and reduced by about half, about 10-12 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes (sauce will thicken as it cools). Transfer to a small bowl and serve drizzled liberally over the berries.

The sauce can be made 1 day ahead and cooled to room temperature, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Couscous with vegetables and stuff

We threw this couscous side dish together without too much fuss at all. Basically we went down to the Farmer's Market in the morning and picked out whatever vegetables looked good. All measures were pre-etty approximate, but this recipe will make a heckuva a lot.

Olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 small zucchini, cut into 2 inch quarters
1 basket cherry tomatoes, cut in half
handful of golden sultana raisins
3 cups of couscous
4 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
butter to finish it off

Heat the olive oil in a large pot, and then saute the onions and garlic until the onions start to turn nice and brown. Add the zucchini, tomatoes and raisins and cook for several minutes to bring out the flavors. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat, add the couscous and stir well to combine. Cover and allow the couscous to soak up the liquid. Fluff the cooked couscous with a fork and add salt, pepper and butter to taste.

Summer vegetable pickles

For Bill's birthday this year, Eric did his famous Shrimp Roman Style. Someday I'll wrest the recipe from him --- yum!

This was my contribution though -- Pickled Summer Vegetables. It first appeared in Bon Appetit several years ago, but I've been making a nice big batch every summer to take on picnics.

For brine
3 1/3 cups distilled white vinegar
3 1/3 cups white grape juice
12 large fresh dill sprigs
8 small dried red chilies, halved
8 whole star anise
4 3x1/2-inch strips lemon peel
4 large bay leaves
2 1/2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon salt

For vegetables and seasonings
24 white and/or purple pearl onions (about 7 ounces)
24 baby carrots (about 7 ounces)
18 small cauliflower florets
15 baby yellow pattypan squash (about 8 ounces, halved)

16 1/3-inch-thick slices from 1 large unpeeled cucumber
1 cup stemmed seedless green grapes
2 1-quart or 1-liter wide-mouth jars

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces
24 small firm cherry tomatoes (about 8 ounces), stemmed
6 whole star anise
6 bay leaves
6 large fresh dill sprigs
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 red or green jalapeño or serrano chilies with stems, halved lengthwise


Make brine:
Combine all ingredients in large nonreactive* saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Strain into bowl; return brine to same pan and set aside.

Make vegetables and seasonings:
Pour water to depth of 1 inch in medium pot; place vegetable steamer rack in pot. Bring water to boil. Place onions on rack. Cover pot; steam onions until just tender, about 5 minutes. Using spoon, transfer onions to bowl. Cool and peel onions. Steam carrots until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes; transfer to separate bowl and cool. Steam cauliflower until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes; transfer to separate bowl and cool. Steam squash until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes; transfer to separate bowl and cool.

Place half of grapes in bottom of 1 jar. Arrange half of bell pepper pieces atop grapes. Continue to layer half of each vegetable (including tomatoes) in jar, pressing layers firmly to compact and evenly distributing half of star anise, bay leaves, dill sprigs, garlic slices and chilies among vegetables. Repeat layering with remaining grapes, vegetables and seasonings in second jar.

Bring reserved brine to boil. Ladle enough boiling brine into each jar to fill completely. Close jars tightly.

Let pickles stand at room temperature until completely cool about 3 hours. Chill 2 days. (Can be made 1 week ahead; keep refrigerated. Brine may become cloudy.)

* Nonreactive cookware interiors that will not adversely affect foods include stainless steel, anodized aluminum, enamel linings, and nonstick surfaces.

Unhappy cows

So throughout our travels in France, we saw happy cows -- no make that smug cows -- lovely blissed out, buddha cows, nestled cat-like in fresh green clover atop the rolling hills of Normandy or Alpine hillsides.

So when we returned to San Francisco, I was naturally anxious to see how our famously happy cows looked. So on our trip to Bolinas, we continued up the coast past Point Reyes Station and looked in on the Giacomini family dairy, suppliers of milk to the makers of the Point Reyes Original Blue cheese.

I can't describe the extraordinary dimensions of the foul smell that resided right next to the cows, but let's just say that these did not look like any sort of happy cow. Let's go on to say that I won't ever be able to taste the Point Reyes Blue the same way again.

What do we do to the creatures that feed us?