Day 35: Supper Tart of Red Onions, Greens, and Grapes

The piano tuner is here so I am more than a little distracted by his tinkling of the keys.

Supper Tart of Red Onions, Greens, and Grapes

If you want to impress a crowd, there is nothing like puff pastry to help you out.

This is a lovely and simple tart and it is very fast to make.

Defrost on your counter I package of puff pastry (2 sheets). It will go faster if you take the sheets out of the box and lay them side by side to thaw.

Take 1 light-packed cup of greens of your preference---I used spinach---and tear them into bite-sized pieces. Toss in a bowl with a half cup plus of green grapes, 1 slivered medium red onion, shredded zest of 1/2 lemon, 1 chopped garlic clove, chopped fresh thyme, salt, and pepper.

Once sheets are thawed, lay them side by side, overlapping by 1/4 inch or so on a large baking sheet. Press the overlapping edges to seal and pinch the outside edges to create a rim. I actually rolled my sheets out a little bit to make the tart a little larger. You should end up with a sheet about or larger than 7" x 17".

Fill the tart with your onion and greens mixture and spread it out evenly.

Now the authors say to bake this at 500 degrees on the bottom rack for 15 minutes. I know my oven is extra hot so I put it on the middle rack for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.

While it is baking, blend1 cup shredded cheese (they recommend Asiago) and 1/4 cup heavy cream. OK OK I just used half and half and it turned out fine.

Pop the tart out of the oven and spoon your cheese mixture all over the tart. Bake for an additional 6 minutes. Serve warm. YUM!
This is easy and in a pinch you can get away with whatever cheese or veggies you have on hand.

60 recipes down in How To Eat Supper.

Day 28: Oven-Crisped Pork, Peppers, and Greens

I made a variation of this already with lamb, but I think the pork works best.

Oven-Crisped Pork, Peppers, and Greens
Turkish Almond Sauce
Now if you haven't discovered the joy of cooking with a pork tenderloin, drop everything right NOW and go to the store and buy one! They are inexpensive, easy to prep and cook and take any type of spice, sweetness -or whatever flavor you choose- brilliantly.

All you do is slice up a pork tenderloin, a few peppers (hot and sweet of your choosing), and an onion. Now mix that with a handful or two of mixed greens, plus oil, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, and allspice and toss it on a pre-heated baking sheet and throw it into a HOT 450 degree oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally.

This is sooooooo easy. The pork comes out very crisp, just like the title says. When I made this with lamb, it was gamey and tasty, but it wasn't crisp. This is also easy to double so that you could serve a crowd.

Key to this recipe is to serve alongside Turkish Almond Sauce. First combine chopped garlic, a few tablespoons fine chopped sweet onion, and two tablespoons white wine vinegar. Set aside to mellow. (I did this step first, then prepared the pork.)

Next, beat 1/4 cup of olive oil into your garlic mix until creamy. Add salt and pepper and then stir in 1 cup of plain yogurt (I used half non-fat/ half regular and it was just fine), 1 cup chopped almonds, and a lot of chopped cilantro. They always say, cilantro is optional, but I disagree! Cilantro is key! And this sauce is delicious and really brings everything together.

I served it with homemade flat bread, corn on the cob slathered in butter, and a cheap Washington Cabernet Sauvignon. Yum yum!

51 recipes down in How to Eat Supper.