Delicious Food

I am a lover of good food, as many of you know. :)  I took a few gourmet cooking classes at College of Dupage community college out near (Dave Lombardi is the coolest teacher- take his class if you can! ;) Ever since those classes, I've enjoyed making gourmet food, and eating gourmet food. I have recently been reading a cool blog called the Amateur Gourmet by Adam Roberts. I enjoy the fruits of Adam's blogging labor-the ideas, the detailed instructions he gives and the pictures that have me drooling over his sumptuous dishes. One of the things I always like are the pictures with all the ingredients in them as a before picture and then a picture of the end result. It kind of puts it all in perspective- such as, only these 6 ingredients were needed to make something this delicious! :)

I was recently making some puff pastry savory tarts (above) for my Book Club (left)to enjoy and decided to take a page out of Adam's book (blog ;) and take pictures while preparing, as well as the finished result. Below are the very easy recipes for anyone who would like to try them. The Tomato Onion tart I give credit to Dave Lombardi for teaching me in class, the Spinach and Goat Cheese tart was of my own invention (but still based on what I learned in the gourmet cooking class).

Tomato Onion Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed for 20 minutes (before opening)
About 3 tomatoes
About 2 onions
Fresh or Dried Thyme (if fresh, all the little pieces pulled off the stem first)
1 egg
olive oil
salt
fresh cracked pepper
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425.
Spray non-stick cooking spray on stoneware or baking sheet.
Unfold thawed puff pastry sheet on stoneware or baking sheet.
Don't prepare over the warm oven, but on a separate surface if possible (the cooler the dough when going into the oven, the flakier/better it will taste).
Crimp the edges (as show above) with your fingers all around about 1/2 inch.
Take a fork and pierce the dough all over on the bottom of the tart- so that it looks like it has a bunch of holes in the bottom (called "docking" the dough, so that it doesn't rise in the middle while baking).
Baste the dough with a tablespoon or two of olive oil (with a pastry brush or your clean fingers).
Slice tomatoes and onions into thin, uniform slices. You want about 10-12 of each.
Drain the tomaotes and a paper towels.
Arrange the tomatoes and onion in alternating rows (as shown in picture above), trying to make it look uniform and pretty (it will taste the same even if it is not, though! ;)
Sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper.
Mix egg with about 1/4 c water and brush mixture on edges of dough (where it is crimped) with a pastry brush (or your clean fingers).
Bake at 425 until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Tart
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed for 20 minutes (before opening)
1 small round package of goat cheese (or I used herbed goat cheese)
1 bag of baby spinach
1 garlic clove
1 shallot (or 1/4 small onion)
pine nuts
1 egg
olive oil
salt
fresh cracked pepper
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425.

First, preare the spinach mixture in a large pot which has a lid:
Dice the shallot/onion and garlic.
Heat a large pot over a medium flame.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil to hot pan.
Add shallot/onion first and stir for 30 seconds - 1 minute.
Add garlic for another 30-40 seconds or so.
Have lid out and ready.
Add ENTIRE bag of spinach to pan and stir to coat with oil, onion and garlic.
Put lid on the pot, then turn off the flame.
Wait 3-4 minutes and spinach should be completely wilted.
(If not completely wilted, add a bit more oil and turn the heat on for 30 seconds, stir and cover again, turning flame off).
Season with salt/pepper to taste BEFORE adding to the tart.

Prepare the tart:
Spray non-stick cooking spray on stoneware or baking sheet.
Unfold thawed puff pastry sheet on stoneware or baking sheet.
Don't prepare over the warm oven, but on a separate surface if possible (the cooler the dough when going into the oven, the flakier/better it will taste).
Crimp the edges (as show above) with your fingers all around about 1/2 inch.
Take a fork and pierce the dough all over on the bottom of the tart- so that it looks like it has a bunch of holes in the bottom (called "docking" the dough, so that it doesn't rise in the middle while baking).
Baste the dough with a tablespoon or two of olive oil (with a pastry brush or your clean fingers).
Cut goat cheese into thin circles or half circles (goat cheese tends to crumble) and reserve some crumbles for the top.
Arrange around edge of tart (as show in photo above).
Pour spinach mixture into center of tart and spread to fill in the center.
Sprinkle goat cheese crumbles on top of spinach.
Mix egg with about 1/4 c water and brush mixture on edges of dough (where it is crimped) with a pastry brush (or your clean fingers).
Bake at 425 until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

While baking, toast the pine nuts:
Heat a small dry pan.
Add nuts and rustle them in pan until golden.
This should take a few minutes and they will burn quickly, so be vigalant and rustle the pan often.
Top spinach tart with toasted pine nuts and serve immediately.

Enjoy! :)