What a Tart!

Now that I'm finally back in town for a few weeks, I figured it was time to devote some time to my favorite hobby - cooking.  I had a 4-day weekend, so day one I headed to Central Market, an upscale specialty grocery store about 20 minutes from my house.  Starting in the produce section, I got some shitake mushrooms for some mushroom risotto, arugula, and fingerling potatoes.  This store even has fresh figs, which I tried for the first time while in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago!

Rounding the corner to the meat section, I spied ground lamb and ground veal.  I didn't have the first idea what I'd do with either one, but I got a pound of each (later I figured out what to do with both - homemade gyro meat).

In the dairy section I picked up some European style butter, Mascarpone cheese, Greek Yogurt, and cream.  In the cheese department (yes, they have a whole department dedicated to cheese!) I got some Parmesano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, fresh mozzarella, and Gruyere.  The deli department sliced up some prosciutto and pancetta for me, and in the chocolate aisle I got lots of dark chocolate.

That night I made fingerling potatoes with garlic, parmesan, and truffle oil that I brought from Italy.  The next day I tried something a little more challenging (but not much).

Giada has a recipe for a breakfast tart that I revised a bit.  Instead of a 9 inch tart pan, I had an 11 inch pan, so I rolled out the (frozen) pie crust dough to fit, brushed it with egg white, and popped it in the oven for 10 minutes.  As I took it out of the oven, I realized that I had missed a simple but crucial step - I forgot to prick holes in the bottom and sides so that the crust wouldn't rise up.  I started over, but didn't want to take the time to wait for the pie crust dough to come to room temp, so I popped it in the microwave for 20 seconds on defrost.  Now I had HOT pie crust dough!  I was still able to roll it out to fit my tart pan (sort of - it wasn't the prettiest presentation ever), and this time I remembered to prick the bottom and sides with a fork.

After it cooled down, it was filled with pancetta I had fried to a crisp, Gruyere and Mascarpone cheeses, eggs, green onions, and my own addition to the recipe - arugula.  I have fallen in love with the taste of arugula, especially in my Italian recipes.  18 minutes later a beautiful tart came out of the oven ready to eat.  It was delicious, if I say so myself.

Day three I used the veal and lamb to make gyro meat - it's all sliced up into individual portions and in the freezer for when I crave a good Gyro with tomatoes, feta cheese, onions, and Tzaziki sauce.

Today is day four of my weekend, and I'm considering an apple tart or cookies to bring to work tomorrow, or mushroom risotto with those lovely shitakes I have in the fridge.  How to choose...