post58 // roasted winter citrus

wahoo!!!! it’s friday. time to weekend a.k.a. sleep and eat and do all the fun things.

it may not feel very bright outside but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the brightest, sweetest, best-looking part of the winter blues: winter citrus!! last week my french host mom, martine, brought home a gigantic grapefruit. seriously, the biggest grapefruit i’d ever seen! it reminded me how tasty our citrus is this time of year and that this ingredient needs to be recipe-fied.

enter roasted winter citrus. sound weird to you? it isn’t. roasted citrus is one of the best desserts to eat right now and luckily it checks all the boxes for your dry january/whole30/diet efforts/lol i’m actually out here eating cakes every day lifestyle!

i modeled this recipe off an easy one martine puts together with roasted apples in place of citrus. above, you can see all the citrus i used! lemon, clementine, orange, blood orange, and grapefruit. i found that those with a tarter taste (lemon, blood orange, grapefruit) had an even tangier taste after roasting. brushed with a blend of melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and honey, these slices will fulfill all your wildest sweet and sour dreams.

and you may notice that foodstuffs has a brand new look this week! the lovely sarah ku, cousin of the equally as lovely eunice choi (my former colleague at food52), helped me get one of her beautiful banners up on my website this week. along with martine’s apple recipe, the colorfully fruity banner helped inspire my recipe for this week! that’s what i like to call a win, win.

i served my citrus slices with just a light topping of honey, but there are many other options! some sweet ideas: serve alongside uncooked slices for a contrast of flavors, with a sprinkling of fresh herbs (e.g. basil), or with yogurt, cheese, ice cream, etc. some savory ideas: a sprinkling of herbier herbs like rosemary and thyme or as a garnish for a main dish cooked with citrus elements (e.g. veal or pork chop). you really can’t go wrong here.

anddd in this week’s other stuff!

a beautiful quote shared by a certain butterfly in my life

i’m on the overall bandwagon (has anyone else been seeing them everywhere?!)

you should dance to this throwback song all weekend

that’s all for this week folks. short and sweet (and sour)!

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roasted winter citrus

serves 4

fixings

4-5 medium pieces of fruit, be it oranges, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, clementine, etc.

2 tablespoon butter (1/4 stick)

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

the lowdown

1. heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit, 180 degrees celsius.
2. wash fruit well and slice to medium thickness, 1-2cm worth.
3. heat butter in a small saucepan. once melted, add honey, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. mix to combine.
4. brush each slice with butter blend on both sides and place on baking sheet.
5. roast for 20-25 minutes! once out of oven, brush with butter blend one more time to give some shine. top with a bit of honey to serve.

post48 // ricotta and tomato tart

hello friends and happy friday!! despite the arrival of pumpkin season and my month to ideate halloween costumes, tomato season is not yet over! and from what i hear about the weather back stateside, it sure doesn’t feel like fall there either.

last week my french host mom brought home a bevy of bright green tomatoes after visiting a friend’s farm in bourges, a city south of paris. yes, she casually spent her day picking tomatoes, foraging for mushrooms, and drinking wine. #frenchlifestyle like wut?? anyhow, i wanted to put these tomatoes to use! in my pastry courses at le cordon bleu, we’ve been baking many tarts that have me reminiscent of my homemade pies and their ever-buttery pie crusts. i decided to try out my pie crust recipe from the states in a french kitchen and turn it into the base for a tomato tart.

learnings:

1. my american recipe for a double pie crust didn’t even fit (!!) in my french mixing bowl. (see all that spilled flour?) this isn’t the first time i’ve noticed how my reference point for portions is far bigger than france’s.
2. as a twist on the recipe, i used some of my french host mom’s leftover chestnut flour that she had in the pantry! the chestnut flour gave the pie crust a nutty and slightly sweet flavor that i’d highly recommend! i’m not sure where you can find chestnut flour in the states, likely at a whole foods or specialty foods shop. but if you can’t find it, don’t fret! the recipe is superb with regular ap flour.
3. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, weighing ingredients is far superior to the endless cup and spoon measurements we make back home! i learned this while working at bread furst this summer and i’m never turning back. but don’t fear, i *do* include them for you below. i know this is how a lot of home cooks bake!

the perk of this recipe is that you can make your tart base and use the baking time to prep your toppings. instead of making a completely green, wicked-themed tart, i went to the farmer’s market and picked up a couple more tomatoes in different colors for a rainbow effect. i chose ricotta cheese as the bed for these tomatoes, drizzled with honey, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. i used to make a bowl of ricotta just like this for meetings back at food52! throw same basil on top and voilà!

you can see that one of my tart crusts is a bit browner than the other. i used a higher ratio of chestnut flour in the dough for this tart and that’s why it browned easier. what are your favorite alternative flours to use? i’d like to do more testing with them.

if you’re looking to hold onto summer as long as you can, this recipe is a surefire way.

and in this week’s other stuff, i have lots of goodies!

• four people sent me this article this week. if you have any interest in bread and butter you should give it a read.
• these slippers are everything. (h/t @allthatisshe)
• my brother shined in an interview with death & taxes magazine this week.
• vote for kindred restaurant and the town of davidson in southern living’s south’s best awards!! they’ve been nominated and it makes me oh so happy.

until next week! xx

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ricotta and tomato tart

makes two tarts

fixings

crust:

2½ cups ap flour // 320 grams (*i used 160 grams ap and 160 grams chestnut flour)

1 teaspoon salt // 6 grams

1 cup (2 sticks) well-chilled unsalted butter // 225 grams

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan // 64 grams

extra butter or oil to prep pan

toppings:

6 beefsteak tomatoes, in various colors

16oz ricotta cheese // 500 grams

8-10 basil leaves

lemon, honey, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper for seasoning

tools

bag of rice or beans for par-bake

tin foil

tart pan (like this one) or a 9-inch pie pan

instructions

crust (adapted from Kate Lebo’s, Pie School):

1. preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. fill a spouted liquid measuring cup with about 3/4 cups of water, plop in some ice cubes, and place it in the freezer while you prep the following steps.
3. in a large bowl, mix the flour, parmesan and salt. drop 1-tablespoon pieces of butter into the flour and toss the fat with the flour to evenly distribute it.
4. place your palms up and curl your fingers back to scoop up the flour and fat. rub, rub, rub it between your thumb and fingers, letting it fall back into the bowl after rubbing. make sure you reach into the bottom and around the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the flour into the fat, until the mixture is slightly yellow, slightly damp. it should be chunky—mostly cherry-size pieces, the smaller bits resembling coarse cornmeal.
5. take the water out of the freezer. pour it (slowly!) in a steady thin stream around the bowl for about 5 seconds. toss to distribute the moisture. as you add a bit more water and toss, the dough will become a bit shaggy and slightly tacky to the touch. press a small bit of the mixture together and toss it gently in the air. if it breaks apart when you catch it, add more water, toss to distribute the moisture, and test again. if the dough ball keeps its shape, it’s done.
6. split the dough into 2 and form each ball into a thick disk using your palms and thumbs. wrap both disks in plastic wrap. refrigerate for 30 minutes to 3 days before rolling.
7. once rested, take the crust out of the fridge and roll to fit your tart or pie pan. before transferring to the pan, make sure you’ve buttered or oiled the pan. fit to the mold.
8. layer a sheet of tin foil on the crust. pour the beans or rice onto the tin foil to prep the crust for par-baking.
9. bake the crust for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 15 more minutes.

assembly (while your crust is baking!):

1. finely chop the basil leaves. add half of the chopped leaves to the ricotta cheese and reserve the rest for decoration. add a hefty drizzle of lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and honey to the ricotta. season with salt and pepper.
2. wash and slice your tomatoes. you’re looking for a width around 1cm. i also peeled my tomatoes but it’s not mandatory!
3. once crust comes out of the oven, let cool completely. to speed things up, you can put it into the fridge or a quick dip in the freezer for cooling. (but don’t freeze it!)
4. once cool, spoon a thick layer of ricotta on the crust. then layer the tomatoes on top. season to finish!

 

all photography by catherine o’donnell/foodstuffs