Greetings Blaze Babes.

I won’t be around to chat on the 15th for the next couple of blogs. This month I’ll be on a cruise ship in Alaska, being served, seeing whales, being served, hiking glaciers, being served . . . do we detect a theme? Single Mom is ready for a break. Next month we’ll be on our annual trip to the wilds of Maine.

I just turned in a Blaze, the second book in an online-dating trilogy to be released next year in February, April and June. I played around with another different type of hero, and ended up just as in love with him as I was with my nerd hero, Edgar, from Surprise Me . . . I don’t know, maybe my subconscious is telling me to get over Gerard Butler already, whadya think?

This month we are progressing to the next course in our outdoor summer meal. This savory tart is fabulous on a buffet or as a vegetarian main course (both my sons went vegetarian this month, and after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I don’t blame them). It’s beautiful with the pattern of yellow and red tomatoes scattered with black olives, very tasty and can be made a little ahead.

Anyone scared of making pie crust, I’ve come up with a great method, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated and Shirley Corriher, the fabulous chemist/cook whose books, Bakewise and Cookwise analyze the scientific way ingredients act on each other.

Here is what I learned: Fat coating flour keeps the pie crust (or any baked good) tender, because the flour can’t form gluten bonds, which are good for nice, chewy bread, but not for pie crust. Alcohol helps similarly. Bigger fat pieces make the crust flaky, because they melt in the heat and leave holes. Tender and flaky are things we definitely want for pie crust.

Here’s what I do: In a food processor, add roughly 1/5 to 1/4 of the total fat (butter, lard, Crisco) in your recipe to the flour and whatever other ingredients (usually salt and/or sugar), turn on the machine and let it run, so the fat is completely mixed into the flour, no visible pieces left. This will make it tender. Then add the rest of the fat in pieces as you usually would, and pulse until they’re pea-sized or slightly smaller. Replace about 1/4 of the ice water in your recipe with vodka, sprinkle that over the fat/flour, and pulse until the dough forms clumps. Chill first or roll out immediately and chill after. I use a floured silicone baking sheet to roll out the dough and usually put the crust (in the pie plate) in the freezer while I’m making the filling.

Here’s the recipe! Bon Appetit!

Tomato and Onion Tart

Have a terrific summer!

Cheers,

Isabel
www.IsabelSharpe.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Isabel Sharpe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.