I’m entirely fed up with my current kitchen now that I’ve got a kitchen with granite countertops a mile away, waiting for me to move in. Come May 1st it’s all mine (and Eric’s too—my indispensable sous chef) and I am beyond excited about cooking ALL THE TIME. I’ve easily spent most of my packing and moving prep time planning out and buying things for the kitchen…ya know, things like a matching Le Creuset kettle and utensil crock. Important things.

Naturally, because it’s the way I work, I’ve been cooking a lot lately due to this excitement. I’ve also been organizing my recipes and buying new cookbooks and saying things like “I can’t wait to bake fresh bread all the time!” So now, before you stab me, I’ll share with you this recipe I found for an asparagus Gruyere tart. I used Jarlsberg since it was cheaper than Gruyere at Jewel today and, as written above, I’ve just bought some Le Creuset items and shouldn’t be spending too much cheese on cheese.

Recipe

Adapted from Everyday Food: Great Foods Fast

Original blog post here

Ingredients

14 oz. Frozen Puff Pastry (The puff pastry I bought was in two 9 oz. sheets so I fused them together)

1 1/2 C. Gruyere cheese, shredded

Approximately 2lb. Asparagus

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Thaw the puff pastry as recommended by the packaging (for me it was 40 minutes on the counter). Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out the pastry dough on a floured work surface to about 11x14 inches. I rolled mine out to fit my favorite cookie sheet. With a sharp knife score a 1 inch border around the dough being careful not to cut all the way through. Then, using a fork, poke holes all over the inner rectangle—roughly 1/2 inch apart. Bake until golden, 10-15 minutes.

While that cooks, trim the asparagus spears. Remove the puff pastry from the oven and top with cheese and then the asparagus spears. The asparagus spears should alternate direction and get packed in very tightly because they will shrink a bit as they cook. Brush asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on the tart.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are beautifully browned and the asparagus is tender.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Now that I’ve made this tart and it’s sitting in my kitchen and I’ve already had a hefty slice (and a little bitty slice) I am realizing my excitement about this recipe. It’s really really simple, really really cheap, really really (relatively) healthy and infinitely customizable.

The dominant flavors of this tart are dill and green onion but don’t hesitate to substitute other herbs and vegetables. Maybe an artichoke, rosemary and prosciutto tart is in order. Or possibly a smoked mozzarella and roasted red pepper tart…Or! mix in some Kalamata olives, feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. You can really do anything and this tart is the perfect format for such experimentation since it’s really basic and forgiving. 

I’m not one to get excited about cutting corners because I prefer to do everything from scratch. (I know I’m nowhere near raising my own sheep for the purpose of spinning my own yarn and I have yet to get started on my cheese-making endeavors, but when I can I like to be in charge of every step in the kitchen.) That being said, the crust of this tart is nothing more than store-bought refrigerated pizza dough. I’m not even ashamed to admit it and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because pizza dough is one of the things I have yet to comfortably master in the kitchen. Years ago I had a fail-proof recipe that was absolutely amazing. It’s been lost, however, and I haven’t produced a workable pizza dough since.

Don’t let me stop you from making your own pizza dough, though. Hell, make your own ricotta while you’re at it. That’s what I’m going to do the next time I tinker around with this recipe. Smitten Kitchen has super simple instructions for making your own ricotta. It takes two simple ingredients, a thermometer and some cheesecloth.

This tart is amazing warm, cold and room temperature for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pair it with a side salad, some vegetables or some fruit and you have a pretty impressive meal lined up! Also, it’s from Cooking Light so it’s way better for you than it looks.

Recipe

From Cooking Light

Ingredients

1 (11 oz) can refrigerated pizza dough

 Cooking spray

2 cups thinly sliced green onions

1 1/3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup thinly sliced chives

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 egg white, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano

Preheat oven to 375°

Unroll dough, and press into bottoms and up the sides of a 9-inch round spring-form pan or removable-bottom tart pan that has been coated with cooking spray

Heat medium skilled over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Cook green onions for five minutes, stirring occasionally

Combine ricotta, green onions, chives, dill, salt, eggs and egg whites and then pour mixture into prepared crust.

Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until the center has set. Let cool for five minutes before serving.

Serves: 6

I swear I don’t top all my baked good with salt. I am, however, thinking it might be one of the greater things a person can do to certain treats.

I was inspired to make oatmeal cookies after wandering into the Dill Pickle Food Co-op in Logan Square the other day on walk. They have an amazing bulk food section (among other things!)  and I’m a sucker for large containers full of grain.

I’m also a sucker for baking when it’s absolutely beautiful outside, as it was the other day. Don’t ask me why, while being on a walk in the beautiful, unexpected, afternoon sun, I thought to myself “I’d enjoy this day much more if I was in my kitchen.” I can’t explain it, but damn does it make me even happier. (Continued…)

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I know we all want to be done with soup season. We are several days into March, the month that is supposed to usher in Spring, and maybe, just maybe, if we put away our giant soup pots it’ll warm up before June in Chicago. It’s akin to wearing flip flops into November out of principle. I, however, the biggest wuss about the cold there is, cannot tear myself away from my soup pot just yet. (Even if the temperature will be flirting with 50° this weekend). (Continued…)

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Cucumbers and tomatoes awaiting the yogurt

I’m sure many of you have been to Sultan’s Market. It’s easily one of my favorite places in the city to eat for many reasons. Here are three of them: 

1) The cauliflower in the salad bar. Seriously, I make cauliflower all the time and I always prefer theirs. And I know it’s probably the simplest preparation ever which is what is so alluring about it. Cauliflower from Sultan’s + Sriracha. Sublime.

2) The falafel sandwich. It’s under $4 and monstrous. I know many people argue that there is far better falafel in the city and I’ll admit I haven’t explored many other options. To be honest, I don’t even know how much I love falafel on its own. It’s the sandwich that truly makes me weak in the knees. Pita, hummus, falafel, Jerusalem salad, hot sauce? They come together in a way that is almost inappropriate. I know that makes no sense but it’s the only way for me to articulate it.

3) Rice and Lentils topped with Jerusalem salad. So much of the food I eat is based around whether or not it can be a vehicle for Sriracha to get into my mouth. The rice and lentils at Sultan’s are perfect for such a task. Topped with the cooling yogurt and cucumber salad they call Jerusalem salad, it is the ultimate balance. (Continued…)

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This is my test post for my blog! I’m having issues uploading the versions of the photos I want so in the future I will have more pictures and they will be larger. I am also lacking a consistent camera so posts will be sporadic for a while.

I know it’s utterly insane to make cookies just days after Girl Scout cookies started being delivered and, as comforting as homemade cookies are, there’s something special about cookies obtainable just once a year. So here I am, with two dozen of the richest cookies in my repertoire sitting on my counter not five feet from the four (4!) boxes of my very own Girl Scout cookies I have “hidden” in my cabinet. It’s really not something to complain about, I guess. “Oh that poor girl with 108 cookies in her kitchen…” However, it may have made more sense to wait until Girl Scout cookie season died down slightly even though I am so incredibly fond of this recipe. But, having succumbed to one of my “baking fits”, I sit with twenty-four heartbreakingly decadent cookies that need a home. (Continued…)

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