Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Tart

There is something to be said for comfort foods: the kind of warm, sumptuous meal that feels just right on chilly fall evenings. Like anything else (especially where food is considered), it is a personal preference. For some, it is a food that takes them back to when they were kids; to others, it might be food that reminds them of a place they once lived. But to me, this creamy, earthy mushroom tart is quintessential comfort food.

The first time that I made this tart, I was frantically surfing the web looking for just the right recipe to showcase the wonderful grab bag of wild mushrooms that I'd picked up at our local farmer's market. Hazel Dell Mushrooms is the it mushroom maker of Boulder County, if there can be one. All the chic farm-to-table restaurants nearby proudly list Hazel Dell on their menus, and for good reason. Hazel Dell sells beautiful organic mushrooms, and when you pick up one of their pre-mixed bags, you get to sample everything that is available. Shiitake, lion's mane, cinnamon cap... you name it.

 Eventually I stumbled upon a recipe from Whole Foods which was my jumping point. I already knew that I would use our own easy as pie tart dough, and I had gruyere in the fridge, so that was no question. And doesn't gruyere just beg to be paired with wild mushrooms? The answer is yes, and I've made this recipe several times since that first evening. I know I'll be making it plenty more times too.

Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Tart

Serves 4-6

• 1/2 recipe of tart dough (you can only make half, or you can save the other half for another tart or pie)
• 1 cup gruyere
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 to 3/4 lb mixed wild mushrooms, roughly chopped (such as oysters, chanterelles, hedgehogs, lion's mane. Or do half buttons)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Pre-bake your crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the dough to 1/8" or so, and then transfer to tart pan. Line the dough with foil, and then fill with a layer of pie weights (or dried beans that you use for this purpose.) Bake for 15 minutes, and then remove the foil and weights. Return to the oven and cook for 5 minutes more.

2. Heat butter and oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper, and cook until soft, 8 or so minutes.

3. Add broth, and cook, stirring, until broth evaporates. Add cream, and again cook while stirring, until it has mostly evaporated. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of gruyere onto the pre-baked tart shell. Pour in the mushroom mixture and spread around in an even layer. Add the rest of the cheese on top.

5. Bake the tart for about 20 minutes. The mushroom mixture will be bubbly, and the crust will be a golden brown. Let it rest for a few minutes, and then cut into slices to serve.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is one that is in regular rotation in my kitchen. If I get a butternut squash in my CSA, I always have the other ingredients on hand to make this easy and satisfying soup. As a bonus, my toddler just loves it. You can try just about any winter squash in this soup, and I've had great success with acorn squash and kabocha squash.

Based on a recipe from my old favorite Joy of Cooking, this has been even further simplified from what was already a pretty easy rendition of butternut squash soup. The result is a soup that is smooth and creamy (but dairy-free), and it even has the potential of being vegan if you use oil and veggie stock. There is very little hands on time, and the bulk of cooking is just roasting the squash. Once that is out of the way, the soup comes together in very little time.

If you are feeling fancy, you can roast the butternut squash seeds (which are taste just like pumpkin seeds but are teeny and darling) and use them as a garnish. But let's be honest, this is just the perfect recipe when you aren't feeling fancy at all. And that is okay.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 medium to large butternut squash, halved and seeded

• 3 tbs butter or vegetable oil

• 1 large onion, chopped roughly

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger 

• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

• 1 tsp salt

• parsley or cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Place squash with the cut side down on an oiled baking sheet. Roast for about an hour until it can be pierced easily with a fork. Once cool, remove and discard the skin, leaving only the pulp.

2. Heat butter or oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and the ginger, and cook, stirring, until tender (about 5 minutes).

3. Stir in the roasted squash and the stock. Simmer and cook, breaking up the squash a bit, for around 20 minutes.

4. Puree the soup until smooth. I use my immersion blender (which I adore!) because that involves the least amount of clean up. You could also use a blender or food processor. Add salt to taste, and reheat. Add your garnish, and serve!

Top 5 Fourth of July Recipes

It’s coming up! Are you ready to celebrate and hang out in your friends’ backyard?  Here are our five favorite Fourth of July recipes in case you’re in need of inspiration:

Strawberry Infused Bourbon & Mint Julep

We love Kathryne & her fresh original recipes (mostly vegetarian, with some booze thrown in for good measure)
http://cookieandkate.com/2012/strawberry-infused-bourbon-and-mint-julep/

Bacon Potato Salad

A Two Tarts creation that turned a potato salad hater to a lover (Dulcie’s husband).  I think it’s the bacon… http://www.two-tarts.com/2012/06/bacon-potato-salad.html

Grilled Fish Tacos

Eating something grilled is a requirement on the 4th, and these fish tacos look mighty tasty.
http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/02/grilled-fish-tacos.html

Green Bean Potato Corn Salad

It’s hot, so enjoy some cool veggies with lovely bright colors.  Also – Love & Lemons is a great blog to check out if you haven’t already!
http://www.loveandlemons.com/2012/07/02/green-bean-potato-corn-salad

Mixed Berry Cake

A red white and blue cake that’s beautiful and not tacky? Made with real berries rather than jello, food coloring, or other fakey stuff? Thanks Bakers Royale!  You are one of my favorite dessert blogs.
http://www.bakersroyale.com/cakes/4th-of-july-dessert-mixed-berry-cake/

Agave Margarita

Cinco de Mayo is this weekend, which, in my mind at least, kicks off margarita season. For the last several years, I had been making margaritas based on the same recipe. It was pretty heavy on the lime juice and the triple sec, making it both sweet and overly acidic. I don't know why I kept using that recipe except that I liked it, but I didn't love it. Well, I've just found a margarita recipe that I love: the agave margarita.

This recipe comes from the pages of the most recent Bon Appetit. Tequila takes center stage here, so try to use a decent one. The lime juice gives just the perfect amount of tartness, while the agave syrup replaces what is traditionally triple sec or Cointreau. 

  Because there isn't too much lime juice in there, you can hand squeeze what you need pretty quickly. I was a little worried that they wouldn't be lime-y enough or that there would be something lost without the flavor of the orange liqueur. But this margarita has great flavor, and it goes down very, very easily. (Don't say I didn't warn you!)

Agave Margarita

• kosher salt

• ice

• 1/4 cup tequila

• 2 tbs light agave syrup

• 2 tbs fresh lime juice

• lime wedge, for garnish

1. Place the kosher salt in a shallow dish. Moisten the rim of your glass with a bit of lime juice, and then  turn the glass over onto the dish of salt.
2. Place ice into the glass. Pour in tequila, agave, and lime juice. Stir, and garnish with lime wedge. (You could also place ice, tequila, agave, and lime juice into a shaker, shake, and strain into a margarita glass.)

 

Heart-Shaped Jam Cookies

I don't know about you, but Valentine's Day has never been a favorite of mine. Whether I was in a relationship or not, or even now that I'm married to the funniest and smartest dude I know, V-day kind of seems like a drag. The only reason I acknowledge it at all is because it is a great excuse to make sweet things. And oh, how I love sweets.

Here's a fun recipe for a tasty shortbread cookie that is oh-so-perfect for Valentine's Day. But of course, you could do it in any shape at any time of year. They are a close kin to the raspberry jam thumbprints we made around the holidays. But this time we used strawberry jam (my new fave), and you should take it upon yourself to use whatever jam you are currently loving.

Our two-year-olds were entranced by these cookies. From the moment they realized we were making cookies filled with -- toddler-favorite -- jam, until the moment we passed each of them a cookie, they were in a spell of anticipation. Fortunately, this recipe (found at Bread & Honey many moons ago) is quite easy to make, even with grabby toddler hands about.

Heart-Shaped Jam Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Strawberry jam

1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt: add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in vanilla extract. Divide dough into 2 equal portions; wrap each portion in plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove from fridge and let soften for a bit then roll cookie dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. (You may need to add a little more milk if it seems dry.) Cut with a heart-shaped cutter, and place on greased baking sheets. Cut center from half of cookies with a 1-inch round cutter or smaller heart-shaped cutter or any small cutter of your choice.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Spread 1/2 teaspoon jam on solid cookies; top with cutout cookies.

Top 10 New Year's Eve Cocktails

Wishing you a very happy New Year with many delicious celebratory winter cocktails!

Maybe you’d like to cozy up to the fireplace with a glass of cider rum punch.
 
by Verses From My Kitchen

The Vanilla, Pear, and Vodka cocktail is made with fresh vanilla beans, pear nectar, and vodka. The flecks of fresh vanilla meld with the sweetness of the pear for a very special New Year’s treat.
by Two Tarts

The Rosemary Gin Fizz, a fresh tasting sparkly cocktail that manages to be bubbly without champagne.
by Cookie & Kate

The Ruby Yacht combines the classic New Year’s Eve beverage – champagne – with fresh pomegranate juice and simple syrup.  The intense pink color in the final cocktail is gorgeous!
Oh, and don’t miss our tutorial on how to juice a fresh pomegranate without using any gadgets!
by Two Tarts

Ciderhouse Whiskey is simple winter deliciousness: cider syrup (which you can easily make yourself) plus whiskey.
by Saveur

The Dark and Stormy is perfect if your New Years Eve looks to be cold and blustery.  The warmth of the rum and the spice of the ginger beer makes for a classic winter combo.
by Cocktail me Ready

Pear juice and Prosecco spiced with cardamom.
by Big World, Small Kitchen

Pear and cranberry juice combine to create a pretty-in-pink bellini.
by Martha Stewart

This fabulous cocktail combines apple cider with amaretto.
by Chat and Chew

Fragrant and warming mulled wine.
by Zoom Yummy

And last but not least, this isn’t a cocktail but if you’re in charge of bringing dessert to a New Year’s Party check out this glittery raspberry cake.  It sparkles!
by Spoon Fork Bacon

Ruby Yacht Cocktail

Pomegranate juice and champagne are sweetened with some simple syrup to create this beautiful and festive holiday cocktail. Look at how supremely pink it is -- it might just make the perfect bridal shower drink too.

I found this drink in one of my many new cookbooks specializing in using seasonal ingredients. (This is the benefit of having a very bookish husband -- he'll use any excuse to spend more time in the bookstore or library, and now he's getting familiar with the cooking section. Score.)

This is one of the few drinks from Eating Local by Janet Fletcher. It caught my eye because I received three pomegranates in my organic delivery box, and aside from placing a few seeds on a salad, I was a bit at a loss as to what to do with them. Well, you can't go wrong with this beautiful cocktail which is as easy on the palate as it is on the eyes.

Ruby Yacht

• 1/2 oz (1 tb) fresh pomegranate juice*

• 1/2 oz (1 tb) simple syrup (see below)

• 4 oz (1/2 cup) chilled Champagne

• 1 orange twist

Put the pomegranate juice and the syrup in the flute, then top with Champagne. Add orange twist and serve at once. (Serves 1.)

*And just how the heck do you juice a pomegranate, anyway? See our little tutorial here. 

Simple Syrup

• 1/2 cup boiling water

• 1/2 cup superfine sugar

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over superfine sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and the syrup becomes clear. Chill thoroughly. Keep leftover syrup in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (Makes about 3/4 cup.)

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

We made these classic cookies with melted 90% dark chocolate, so they’re super chocolaty - almost fudgy - with a crispy, crackly exterior. 

They’re not difficult to make – the main thing to keep in mind is that this dough needs to be chilled, because at first it’s so soft that you can’t roll it into balls.  That’s due to the (warm) melted dark chocolate we add, but the extra wait in the fridge is worth it for all that chocolate goodness.

The coating of powdered sugar crackles so prettily in the oven – you really don’t have to do anything – it just happens!  The contrast makes for a beautiful cookie that’s not fussy at all.

Oh, and a little warning from us to you:  these cookies require a glass of cold milk.  Hot coffee might work too…someone will have to let us know on that one.  We never made it that far.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Recipe inspiration thanks to Martha Stewart
Yield approx 36 cookies

• 6 oz melted dark chocolate (I used 90% dark)
  
• 1 1/4 c flour
  
• 1/2 c cocoa powder
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  
• 1 1/3 c brown sugar, firmly packed
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  
• 1/3 c milk
  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, for rolling

Don’t preheat the oven yet, this dough will need to chill for 2 hours or so.
Melt dark chocolate gently.  Mix dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt).  Cream sugar and butter together, then beat in eggs and vanilla.  Pour melted dark chocolate over the creamed butter and sugar, blend, then add dry ingredients & milk (alternating between the two to prevent puffs of flour getting all over the place).
The dough will be very sticky.  Cover the bowl loosely in plastic wrap and chill for approx 2 hours, or until dough is hardened and can be handled.
Preheat oven to 350. Scoop out spoonfuls of hardened dough, roll between your palms to form a ball, then toss the ball into a bowl of powdered sugar to coat it.  If the dough gets too sticky to handle, pop it back in the fridge or freezer to cool it back down.  Line cookie up on the sheet (not too closely – they spread) and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Raspberry Thumbprints

This is a no-frills cookie that is surprisingly delicious. We consumed almost the whole tray within 30 minutes after baking them. They are perfect for the holiday season and fun to make with kids. (This is one of those rare occasions where it is okay to smash your fingers into the dough.)

This cookie is very similar to a shortbread -- buttery and with tender crumb. The raspberry preserves add a bit of excitement. Usually, this style of cookie is rolled around in some chopped nuts before baking, but I didn't have any on hand (and I didn't miss them).

The ingredients (except for those pesky nuts) are the type of straightforward ingredients that you always have in your pantry and fridge. Perfect for some impromptu baking on a chilly day. These cookies were -- no surprise -- a huge hit with the kids. Sarah's finicky toddler was skeptical and would only eat the jam at first. But soon he realized the error of his ways.

Raspberry Thumbprints
adapted from Hay Day Country Market Cookbook

Yield was approx 20 for us, but the cookbook estimated 24 cookies.

• 8 tbs (one stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup raspberry preserves

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with a mixer until well blended. Add the vanilla, salt, and egg yolk, and beat until fluffy.
2. Add flour and mix until it forms a stiff dough. Scrape dough onto a large sheet of wax paper and roll it back and forth to make a long rope about 3/4 inch in diameter and 12 inches long. Roll it up tightly in the wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. (The dough can be prepared to this point up to 3 days in advance.) Remove from the fridge and let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature before proceeding.
3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Unwrap and slice chilled dough into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Roll them into ball shapes and space them 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a small indentation in the center of each one by pressing down on it with your thumb. Fill each hollow with 1/4 teaspoon of preserves.
4. Bake, rotating pan once, until very lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool. Careful: the jam is very hot!

 

Creamy Pumpkin Pie with a Hazelnut Crust

This recipe is a holiday favorite that I go back to year after year. It is so easy which is great when you have seemingly endless other dishes to prepare. Yes, we just posted about our favorite pie crust, but what makes this recipe so very easy is its cheesecake-style crust. No rolling, no chilling; just press it into the pan and go.

 I found the original version of this recipe at Allrecipes.com a hundred years ago, but they were calling it a pumpkin cheesecake pie. Really, it is just an extra creamy version of a pumpkin pie with a graham cracker and nut crust. I have changed it to a hazelnut crust because, well, I had hazelnuts on hand when I made it. Oh, and I just love hazelnuts.

Creamy Pumpkin Pie with a Hazelnut Crust

• Crust:
  1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  1/2 cup ground toasted hazelnuts
  2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  1/4 cup butter, melted
  Filling:
  1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  3 eggs, beaten
  1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin puree
  1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. To make crust: In a medium bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, ground toasted hazelnuts, and brown sugar. Mix well, then pour in melted butter. Stir until butter is evenly distributed. Press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside. 3. To make filling: In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then add eggs, pumpkin, and cream. Mix well. Stir in cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Pour mixture into pie shell.

• Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until set in center. Chill before serving.