Sunday Farmer's Market Brunch for Ten... Part Five: Almondberry Tarte

 

Potato Leek Gratin, Farmer's Market Quiche, Almond Berry Tarte, Nectarine/Plum Pound Cake, Herb Infused Breakfast Meats.  Served on vintage, hand-painted, artistan signed plates from the Tonalo region of Mexico, 1940' s green Seneca Driftwood glasses, vintage Coorsite ball pitchers, crystal cake pedestals all from my collection.  All vintage wares come from my spelunking on ebay and in flea markets for a fraction of their worth. Shall I blog about my spelunking???(Ikea flutes bought on sale for less than $1 each... I have about 50 stored away for parties.)

 I should have made two of these Almondberry Tartes because this one dissappeared faster than I could blink!

No, there is no such thing as an Almondberry, so don't bother googling it!  The berry farmer at the farmer's market was kind enough to let me sample his berries Sunday morning.  The blackberries were tart, the blueberries were mild, and the raspberries were just right.  I decided to take a basket of each of them home, not quite sure what I would do with them.  I'd also purchased a lovely little plastic container from the Almond growers, filled with naturally sweet, fresh ground almond paste.  I didn't know what I would do with that either.  But I knew that marzipan was one of the austrian's favorite things from back home.

This pie/tarte looks pretty on the table, but I must warn you that structurally, you won't be eating this in neat little wedges because it falls apart.  You'll have to serve it with a spoon.  The berries are made into a compote then layered over a cream cheese/sour cream mixture, with almond paste in the very bottom.

 

 

THE PLAYERS:  

Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries   You'll need about 6 cups total, and you can use any combination of the three, two, or one kind of berry.  Demerara Sugar  I try not to use white granulated sugar when I can avoid it.  If you can't find Demerara or Turbinado sugar, the same amount of regular granulated will work as well.  Vanilla  I used Vanilla Bean Paste which you can find in most larger Whole Foods or other gourmet shops.  You can also use the same amount of pure Vanilla Extract.  Flour Pie Crust I don't mind making my own crusts when I have the time, however, you can also get perfectly good ready made pie crusts in the refrigerator section where you find the cookie dough, biscuit, croissant doughs in those tubes.  The one I use is not frozen, and is sold in a box with two crusts ready to go into your favorite pie dish or tin.  Sour Cream 1/2 cup.  Cream Cheese  Get the spreadable kind in the tub.  You'll need 8 oz. for this recipe. Egg  You'll need one egg... farm fresh?  find them at your local farmer's market! Almond Paste You'll find this almond paste sometimes in the form of marzipan in some larger grocers, almost all middle eastern, mediterranean, or international grocers.  Or use the links above to purchase online or make your own a day or so ahead of time...

PREPARATION:

Prepare your crust by placing it in a tarte dish/pan and turning in the edges so that they don't hang over the edge of the pan. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread the almond paste into the bottom of the pie crust and press into place with your fingers and smooth and place the dish on a cookie sheet covered with foil. 

In a medium size sauce pan cook berries, 1/2 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and a teaspoon of cinnamon over medium heat. 

While berries are cooking, make the cream cheese filling.

In a mixing bowl combine egg, cream cheese, sour cream, and vanilla until well combined.  

Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the almond paste in the pie crust. 

Your berries should be cooked down and a syrup formed.  Don't over cook, you want them to be softened but not completely broken down. 

Spoon the berries over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Save extra berries and syrup for serving at the table or use at another time over pancakes or waffles.

Bake your tarte for about 40 minutes, until crust edges are nice and golden. 

Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.  

Sunday Farmer's Market Brunch for Ten... Part Two: Farmer's Market Quiche

 Potato Leek Gratin, Farmer's Market Quiche, Almondberry Tarte, Nectarine/Plum Pound Cake, Herb Infused Breakfast Meats.  Served on vintage, hand-painted, artistan signed plates from the Tonalo region of Mexico, 1940' s green Seneca Driftwood glasses, vintage Coorsite ball pitchers, crystal cake pedestals all from my collection.  All vintage wares come from my spelunking on ebay and in flea markets for a fraction of their worth. Shall I blog about my spelunking???(Ikea flutes bought on sale for less than $1 each... I have about 50 stored away for parties.)

 

This is the second of a five part blog mini-series about the brunch I hosted for my sister and her friends this past Sunday.   The other recipes will all be posted today as soon as I can get them each written.   Where you see the little book icons, you can scroll over the book and a window will pop up with additional info about ingredients or techniques or tools and such. 

My Farmer's Market Quiche is a great alternative to normal scrambled eggs.  Especially if you're like me... finicky about eggs.  I don't like them poached, runny, sunny side up, easy over, or anything like that.  I like them well beaten, well boiled, well cooked, and well seasoned.  This is a very simple recipe that can be pimped easily once you learn the basic structure of this thing called a Quiche... basically it's a savory egg tarte, made with beaten eggs, veggies, cheese, and if you want, meats, and all ingredients except for the crust and the eggs are optional and interchangeable.  If you do as I've always suggested and read through the entire recipe completely prior to even shopping for ingredients, you will be able to make this recipe happen in about 40 minutes, including baking. 

THE PLAYERS: (your grocery list)

The quantities listed are for one Quiche.  In my estimation, the perfect Quiche has certain variables always... a flaky flour pie crust.  You can make your own, or, for time economy, like I did, just buy it in the grocery store.   The ones in the refrigerated section where you find those biscuits and croissants in a tube, ready to bake are much much better than the ones in the freezer section... Pilsbury makes a pie crust that comes in rolled circles without the pans.  I have my own pie and tarte dishes so, this is better for my purposes... about 8 farm fresh eggs(that's means what, class?  that's right! farmer's market!!!). I prefer large brown... As for the veggies I use 1/4 cup of diced ingredients from each of the following categories: and as for specific ingredients, it depends on my mood, and what I find in the farmer's market that week, and what flavor profile I want, mexican, french, italian, etc....  Some sort of diced onion, brown, red, green, shallot, leek, etc... for this particular recipe, I used Vidalia onions for their savory sweetness.   Some sort of peppers... green, red, yellow, sweet italian, pepperoncini, jalapeno, chipotle, etc... I used 1/2 red bellpepper and 1/2 yellow bellpepper per Quiche.  Some sort of herbs... thyme, oregano, basil, sage, etc... In this one I used fresh oregano, thyme, and rosemary to compliment the herbs I used in the other dishes for this meal.  Some sort of coarsely chopped greens... spinach, kale, bok choy, cilantro, etc... For this one I used sweet pea greens, which you may not find... use spinach if your farmer's market doesn't have them.   Some sort of semi-hard cheese... parmesan, aged gouda, romano, manchego, asiago, cheddar, etc... I used 1/2 cup of shredded Emmentaler cheese.  Optionally, you can also add 1/4 cup per Quiche... diced and previously sauteed meat of some sort... salmon, bacon, shrimp, ham, ground chicken, crab, lobster, turkey... pretty much any protein you like can work if paired with the right accompanying components above... I used 1/4 cup of diced and sauteed Canadian bacon for  two of our Quiches, and I left the third Quiche completely meat free.  That's everything I used for our Quiches on Sunday.  But you can add mushrooms, asparagus, marinated artichokes, broccoli, peas, to your sauteed veggies, and pretty much anything you like.  It's also a great way to use leftovers that aren't enough to make a whole new meal.  But for this particular time, just try it my way before  you try to experiment.

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees if it's not already on from putting the potatoes in.

Dice your ingredients.  

Saute all of your vegetables (and meat) except for the greens in a pan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, over medium high heat just until onions become transparent.

Prepare the pie crust.  Place it in pie tin or dish and create a scalloped or crimped edge. As you can see, from my photos, it doesn't have to be flawless to look beautiful.  The imperfection of your work will add a rustic look to the end result.  (and it won't make a darn bit of difference to the way it tastes!!)

Place your sauteed veggies (and diced meat) in the pie crust and spread to cover the bottom. 

Spread your fresh chopped greens over the top of that. 

Then your fresh herbs. 

Then 1/2 of your cheese. 

In a separate bowl, vigorously beat your eggs with a whisk until whites and yolks are completely combined. 

Add 1/4 cup of milk to the eggs and whisk again just until combined.

Pour egg mixture over the ingredients layered in your pie crust. 

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Grind a bit of black pepper and sea salt over that. 

Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, then check for doneness.  

Quiche should be golden on top and fluffy but firm, crust should be just golden.  Keep an eye on this, and if the crust looks like it's done but the egg part seems to not be done, use a strip of foil to to wrap around the crust edge to prevent it from burning.  

Serve hot or at room temperature.