Roasted Tomato & Cheddar Tart

I was so bummed when I realized last Tuesday snuck up on me without creating a beans and greens post for Summerfest. I vowed not to let the same thing happen this week because this week is all about my favorite fruit/vegetable of all time, drum roll please............the Tomato! It's true, if I had to pick one thing in the fruit and vegetable category as my favorite, it would be the tomato every time. From salads to soups to sauces to this tart, for me it might be the most perfect food. Sure, I could go on and on about the tomato but I'll cut it short and get to why you are all really here, the recipe.

This is something that was inspired by an Iron Chef episode when Chef Art Smith took on Iron Chef Cat Cora in Battle Cheddar and made a delicious look Cheddar & Tomato Pie. He didn't win the battle, sorry if it's a spoiler but it aired awhile ago but that Tomato and Cheddar Pie has stuck with me every since. It appeared to be a bit on the sweet side, while I decided to make my tart more savory, it only seemed right to give a nod to my inspiration.


Cheddar Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup aged cheddar - grated
1 Tbsp white vinegar
5 Tbsp iced cold water
1 egg

1. Cut shortening, sea salt and flour together with a pastry cutter or two knives. When it resembles a coarse meal, gently mix in grated cheese.
2. Whisk together water, vinegar and the egg. Pour into flour mixture and mix until dough forms a ball. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.


Roasted Tomato & Cheddar Tart

4-5 medium sized tomatoes
3/4 cup 3 year old cheddar
10 sprigs of fresh thyme - leave removed from stems
Cheddar Crust
sea salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice tomatoes into 1/4" - 1/2" rounds. Make sure you have enough to cover a 10" tart. Place rounds on prepared sheet sprinkle with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and olive oil. Roast for 30 mins until the edges begin to blacken ever so slightly.
2. Remove from oven and let cool to handle. Roll out 1/2 of the cheddar crust (reserve the rest for another use) into a round large enough for a 10" tart pan. Press into pan and prick all over with a fork. Place tart pan onto a cookie sheet cover with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or rice or dried beans. Place in heated oven and bake for 15 mins. Remove foil and weights and bake for another 7 mins.
3. Remove tart shell from oven and cover bottom with almost all of the cheddar and 1/2 of the thyme leaves, reserve a Tbsp or 2 to sprinkle on top. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 mins until cheese has melted and begins to brown slightly.
4. Remove from oven and lay tomatoes in a overlapping pattern. Top with remaining thyme leaves and cheddar. Bake for another 10 mins. Remove from oven, let cool to room temperature before serving.


The roasted tomato is what makes this tart work. They are so rich and flavorful and not at all soggy. I think alot of the flavor can also be attributed to the fact that they are perfectly fresh, grown right in my own backyard. The very first of our tomato harvest! I loved the cheddar crust, so deliciously savory that I will likely adapt it for my next apple pie. All in all I'm a fan of this one. One note, resist the urge to add more salt to the finished tart, between the cheese and the salt used to roast the tomatoes no more salt is needed. I think a drizzling of olive oil would be nice, but it truly was exactly what I was going for as is.

Don't forget to check out what the other Summerfest hosts did this week:

Matt Armendariz of Mattbites
Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen
Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple

with guest appearances from:

Shauna and Daniel Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl
Simmer Till Done’s Marilyn Pollack Naron
Paige Smith Orloff of The Sister Project.

Enjoy!

Peach & Radish Salsa

I first heard about Summer Fest 2009 from Jaden Hair, one of the organizers, via her blog Steamy Kitchen. I love the idea of this cross blog celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food. Each week there is a different topic, I missed out on last weeks fresh herbs but am jumping in with this week fruit from trees. See below for more info on Sumerfest and how you too can participate.

One of my favorite fruit from trees are peaches. I have sung the praises of peaches here before so I won't bore you, other than to say I was ecstatic to find that peaches are grown right here in Ontario and I found this past weekend that they are now in season here in Ontario. On a stop at a local farmer's market on our way up north I acquired some gorgeous local peaches, radishes, peppers and jalapenos. As we continued on our way to the cottage I decided to make a peach and radish salsa, not only to use the beautiful fruits and veggies from the farmer's market but also because I've been challenging myself lately to make at the very least mostly local dishes, with the goal being completely local. I have yet to wean myself from spices yet and as there is no salt or pepper local to Ontario it may be a awhile before I go completely local.



Peach & Radish Salsa

4 small peaches
4 large or 6 small radishes
1 small orange bell pepper
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 handful fresh cilantro with stems
1/2 lime - juice
salt & pepper

1. Blanch cleaned peaches in boil water for 1 minute, then immediately place in a large bowl of iced cold water. Let sit in water for 2 minutes or until cool enough to handle and carefully remove the skins.
2. Cut peach flesh away from pit and cut into a 1/2 inch dice. Wash radishes and cut into a 1/2 inch dice.
3. Wash & seed orange pepper and cut into a 1 inch dice. Wash & seed half a jalapeno pepper and mince finely. Roughly chop cilantro.
4. In a non reactive bowl toss together peaches, radishes, peppers, cilantro and lime juice. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately or it will get soggy.


This was a deliciously sweet & savory salsa with the sweetness of the peaches pairing nicely with bite of the radishes. I'm not a huge radish fan but really enjoyed this. We ate the salsa with just some multi grain tortilla chips, but I think it would also be delicious on a grilled hot dog with some shredded cheddar.

How you can join Summer Fest

Summer Fest 2009 is a four-week, cross-blog celebration co-created (alphabetically listed) by A Way to Garden, Matt Armendariz of Mattbites, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, with guest appearances from Shauna and Daniel Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl, Simmer Till Done’s Marilyn Pollack Naron, and Paige Smith Orloff of The Sister Project. And from you—that’s critical. Your contributions are desired, and needed.

Will you play along? Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting today, with the subject of herbs, you can contribute in various ways, big or small. Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:

Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the juicy Summer Fest 2009 tomato badge (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites).

Summer Fest 2009 Schedule:

• Tuesday, July 28: HERBS. Any and all.

• Tuesday, August 4: FRUITS FROM TREES (also known as stone fruits, but we won’t scream if you toss in a berry or another fruit, promise).

• Tuesday, August 11: BEANS-AND-GREENS WEEK (either or both, your choice).

• Tuesday, August 18: TOMATO WEEK. How do you like them love apples?

Hope you'll join in or at least check out what some of the other participants are doing. Enjoy!