A few of my friends make this tart and they have variations that involve adding feta cheese and all are great adaptations, but here’s the original.

Fresh Tomato Tart

• 1 10-inch pie crust
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 3 tbs chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1 large clove garlic, sliced into 8 slivers
• 6-8 plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional

Place piecrust in tart pan or glass pie plate.  Generously prick bottom and sides of pastry, bake at 400 for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle cheese in pie crust.  Top with 2 tbs basil, sprinkle garlic across cheese and basil.  Arrange tomato slices on top. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place baking sheet on lower rack in oven.

Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes(this time varies, mine took 30 minutes tonight). You may need to cover with foil as the crust turns golden brown to prevent burning. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Optional-top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

With the motivation to keep the tomato tarts coming in the early years, we now have enough children to empty the pie plate in one sitting!

And plenty of volunteers to hold the food for blog pictures.

I don’t have a picture of the fully cooked recipe, so go ahead and make your own and send me a picture when you get a chance.

Hop over here to get the full, printable recipe.

Notes: We skipped the tabasco during the cooking phase and added it at our plates, in order to keep this kid friendly.  If you’re feeling brave in this New Year, go for the spice from the start.  The finished pot also needed an extra toss of salt and pepper.  We tried serving these over cooked rice the first night and it was fine but they were actually much better on their own, no stingy rice trying to dull down the flavors.
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Last week we jump-started the oven with two days of cranberry recipes to appease the growing dissatisfaction of Mr. Darcy.

Our mission came to a standstill Wednesday when Christmas preparations took full attention.  For our Christmas dessert I had hoped to gain back the momentum with the recipe he’d asked for all along, Apple Cranberry Crisp, but the day ran away from us(as we made Chicken Crepes and steamed carrots with nutmeg) and we ended up with leftover coffee cake and ice cream.  The day after Christmas we lived off of our couch, leftover crepes, and the chocolate in our stockings(okay, apricots for the husband, do you see a fruit theme here?).

Today, Mr. Darcy simply didn’t rise from bed, so like the good wife that I am (ahem, ignoring the cranberry recipe neglect accusations), I made him a special breakfast: Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal. I’m finally starting to understand his love for cranberries in the same way he now, after 10 years, doesn’t turn his head at a few bites of cookie dough and brownie batter.  We’ve enlightened each other.

The recipe is from King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking Cookbook.  It’s actually the same recipe as the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal posted in the spring, so I’ll just show you some pictures and mention how to make this variation, then you can head over to the original post for the details.

It’s best if the now awake husband is willing to clean the dirty dishes involved in making his special, surprise breakfast.

Oatmeal Cranberry Variation(see Blueberry Baked Oatmeal for complete recipe)

Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries(we used about 3/4 cup fresh, chopped cranberries) and replace blueberries with 1   1/ 2 cups of peeled, diced apple.  Replace 2 cups of the water with apple juice or cider.

I knew I was in trouble I just wasn’t sure for what offense I’d been discovered. Mr. Darcy huffed and puffed nearby.  I thought about my extra purchases in the last two weeks and the household chores I’d ignored while making cookies with the kids.  Maybe he didn’t like my new haircut and couldn’t even look at me, so he was staying in the kitchen to save us both the embarrassment.

“It’s the cranberries,” he finally sputtered.

My first thought, “What cranberries?” was quickly replaced by, “Whew, he doesn’t know how much I’ve spent yet!”.

“What, honey?” I still needed to find out the source of his aggrivation.

“I’ve looked forward to this season all year long and now it’s almost christmas and you haven’t made me even one cranberry, apple crisp.”

“Well,” I thought hard, scrambling,”Are you sure? No, I’m sure I have.”

“Not even one, ” his chin jutted out further.

“Yes,” I said, thinking myself saved,”We made you a pear, cranberry crisp.” It was true, we had.

He dismissed that quickly, “Well, I don’t remember it.”

My relief in realizing this confrontation was over cranberries and not cash was waning, I started to feel quilty.

His arms crossed together tightly, “Not even one cranberry recipe.”

I squirmed and squeeked, “I’ll make sure christmas dessert has cranberries, honey.”

He grunted.

“I promise!”

He looked me in the eyes for the first time.  I could tell I would have to earn his trust back again.

“Okay,” he said.

This morning I told the kids how I let their father down.  I told them we had to make it up to him.  I suggested we start with Cranberry muffins and end with a cranberry, apple crisp.

“We’ll just have to make cranberry recipes every day until he finds it in his stomach to forgive us.”

We ended up making cranberry, orange bread instead of muffins.  This recipe was perfectly suitable, just be careful not to overcook.  Dry quick breads are not the way to soothe your man’s cranberry deprived spirit.

Orange Cranberry Bread

• 2 cups flour(we used half whole wheat)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup squeezed orange juice
• 1 tbs grated orange zest
• 2 tbs canola oil
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

2. Whisk together, dry ingredients.  Whisk together wet ingredients.  Add wet to dry, stir just until combined.  Stir in cranberries.

3. Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Spread evenly, bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cook for 15 minutes on rack. Remove from pan, cool completely.

Notes: I didn’t have the orange zest on hand, and the bread still had a good flavor.

Here’s a dessert guaranteed to impress your friends & family! It will elicit wonderous “ooooh’s” and “aaaah’s” from just about anyone who spies or tries it! This recipe has become a family holiday tradition at our house and it is as fun to make as it is to eat. (Ooooh’s and aaaah’s are included, of course!)

The Recipe:

• 1. 75 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 0.25 cups finely ground pecans
• 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick (0.5 cup) of unsalted butter, melted
• 3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 0.25 cup heavy cream
• 1 (14-oz)  can of pumpkin pulp or 1.75 cups of fresh pumpkin pulp
• 0.25 cup caramel sauce (our one cheat… bought at a store)

Directions: the pumpkin

The steps for baking a pie pumpkin, from whole pumpkin to pulp.

First, why cook a pumpkin over buying canned pumpkin at the store? I guess that depends on you and what your time and kitchen fortitude allow. Many feel both get you the same result. Some reasons I decided to take the plunge are: (1) at $1-2 per pumpkin, you get more pumpkin pulp for your money  (2) plus, though many disagree, I think the end result simply tastes better because it’s freshly made. And now for the best reason of all, (3) you may think I’m crazy, but I swear it’s fun!

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Take a pie pumpkin, available at most farmers markets or produce stores during the fall/winter season, and cut it into quarters.

3. Scoop out the seeds and cut your quarters into 4-inch pieces.

4. Place the pieces of cut pumpkin into an oiled roasting dish, rind side down, cover tightly with foil, and bake for about 1 hour or until the pumpkin is soft and cuts easily with a fork or spoon.

5. Pull it out of the oven, allow it to cool, and then with a spoon or knife, scrape the pumpkin flesh away from the rind as shown in the bottom two photos above. The pumpkin flesh should easily come apart from the rind leaving a pile of empty rind and a bowl full of fresh pumpkin.

6. Puree the freshly cooked pumpkin and set aside for later.

Note: If after you puree the pumpkin, the final consistency is wetter than what you’d normally see in a can of pumpkin, wrap in cheese cloth and strain a little bit of the excess water from it until the consistency looks right.

Directions: the cheesecake

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. If you are starting with whole pecans, place them in a food processor and pulse them until they are finely ground. Then add the graham cracker crumbs to the food processor with the cinnamon and pulse once more to quickly blend.

3. Pour the crumb mixture into a medium bowl and add the melted butter. Stir until combined.

4. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and about half way up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan.

Note: I like to take a butter knife and even up the edge of the crust all the way around the pan. It will make for a better presentation when it’s done.

5. For the filling, combine cream cheese through vanilla in a mixer bowl. Beat until fluffy.

6. Add eggs and yolks all at once, beating on low just until combined.

7. Fold in the cream and the pumpkin pulp. Don’t worry if it appears broken and not mixed in. Leave it that way. It will bake beautifully.

The filling just before folding in the pumpkin and heavy cream.

8. Pour into the crust lined pan.

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan.

9. Place on a shallow baking pan in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the center appears nearly set when shaken.

10. Cool 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the pan and cool for 30 more minutes.

The pumpkin cheesecake just after baking.

11. Chill for 4 hours before serving.

12. Decorate with a drizzle of caramel sauce over the top of the cheesecake or over each individual slice. A sprinkle of powdered sugar makes a lovely garnish, too.

Drizzle with caramel sauce and, if desired, a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Occasionally I get tired of the lunch routine at our house.  A quick sandwich, a luna bar, maybe a warmed up can of soup, and on the really good days, leftovers.  Today I couldn’t face the pile of bagels I saw laying on the counter(especially with no cream cheese in my dairy free life at the moment), so I moved dinner up to lunch.  Now we’ve enjoyed a warm, fall lunch with a lot of leftovers for tonight.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite and most versatile cookbooks, How to Cook without a Book by Pam Anderson.  I recommend it.  The dish highlights a seasonal favorite of ours, the butternut squash.  If we didn’t entice you with the fall pie, maybe this will be the one.

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Bacon, and Thyme

• 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1 pound pasta(short and stubby, like rotelle or orechiette)
• 4 tbs rendered bacon fat from 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 medium garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• Parmesan Cheese to taste
• Black Pepper to taste

1.In the skillet, fry bacon over medium heat until crsip, about five minutes. Remove bacon with slotted spoon; set aside.  Saute garlic and thyme with the rendered bacon fat.

2.Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water to a boil over medium-high heat in a soup pot; add 1 tbs of salt and pasta to the boiling water. Using pasta box guide, cook pasta, partially covered and stirring frequently, until about five minutes from doneness.  Add the prepared butternut squash and continue cooking until pasta is done and vegetable is tender.

3.Drain pasta and squash, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

4.Add pasta mixture back to pot, along with contents of skillet, and cooking liquid. Toss to coat.  Add bacon with parmesan cheese, toss to coat.  Add pepper to taste.

note: I cut my squash into 1 inch cubes, rather than reading the directions more carefully.  Stick with the medium dice, it will work better because it will cook quicker with the pasta and blend more easily with the flavors.

I promised a few friends that I would post the pumpkin butter recipe mentioned in this post.  It’s our first year of pumpkin butter and it’s already a favorite, destined to be a fall tradition.  While the rest of the family enjoyed their pumpkin butter on pancakes(pumpkin, of course), I tried my portion on some plain oatmeal cooked on the stove.  Instant, delicious success.  So today I served it up in mugs with the oatmeal, pumpkin butter, and topped with toasted walnuts.  Fall goodness!

Pumpkin Butter
from the Book of Days, Autumn 1

2 cups puree(from one pie pumpkin or 1 can)
3/4 cups white sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a small pot and put on stove over medium heat.

2. Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until the pumpkin butter is thick, like pudding. Ladle into clean canning jar.  There will be some that won’t fit in the jar, but we’re pretty sure you’ll find a good use for it! It’s great on waffles, muffins, toast, and spoons.

If you’d life to make a few extra batches, you can freeze them, as long as you leave a half an inch or so at the top of the jar so that the butter has more room to expand as it freezes.

• 1 crisp autumn breeze
• 1 cup orange and yellow leaves(maple, preferably)
• 1 warm wool sweater, not too hot
• 3 children jumping in leaves
• 1 trip to the farmer’s market
• cinnamon to taste

Hmm, but how to serve that pie?  Well, we made one tonight that captures the feel of my whimsical fall pie.  We found it in our new favorite baking book, Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  Already smitten with butternut squash, we felt more than willing to give this less common(okay, I’ve never heard of anything like it) pie a try.  We knew by the ingredients-the squash, pears, dried cranberries, orange zest-that it was going to be good.  But until we took the first bite………

Oh, sorry, I was still thinking about that first bite.

This pie is a beautiful thing.  I see the future of this pie on our table next fall, and then the fall after that, and then the fall after that….

Depths of Fall Butternut Squash Pie
recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

• Pie Dough from book or store bought crust(such as pillsbury)
• 1  1/4 pounds(2 cups) cubed(1 inch), peeled butternut squash
• 2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup moist, plump dried fruit, such as cranberries, raisins, or finely chopped diced apple or pears
• 1/2 cup(packed) light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• Grated zest of 1/2 orange
• 2 tbs fresh orange juice
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 tbs plain dry bread crumbs
• sugar, for dusting

To make piecrust-Follow directions in book, use your own recipe for double crust pie, or thaw store bought.

Getting Ready to Bake-

• Position rack in lower third of oven.
• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Pre-cook the squash in a microwave or steamer until almost cooked through. Pat it dry and toss into a large bowl.

• Add the remaining ingredients.

• Then turn them gently with a large rubber spatula (and a four year old if you’ve got one) to blend.
• Let the filling sit for 5 min. or so to give the sugar time to melt, then gently mix again.

• Coat the pie plate with a little bit of butter or margarine and place the ingredients into the pie plate. Then level it out and set it aside.

• Lay your pie crust over the top, trim and pinch into shape. Then make four slits with a sharp knife on the top. We used a cookie cutter for a more creative touch on ours.

• Then lightly brush the pie crust with water and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and juices from the pie bubble up through the slits in the center of the pie. Note: If the edges of your crust begin to brown before the pie is ready, cover the edges with foil leaving the center/top uncovered. This will prevent it from browning more and allow the rest of the pie to finish cooking.

• Serve with a little scoop of cinnamon ice cream and watch it disappear!

Notes: You might have noticed our version only used a top crust instead of a double.  We really liked it with the single, the crust didn’t overpower the amazing flavor of the filling.  Not finding an orange in the fridge, we used orange juice from the carton and skipped the zest.  Though the zest will be great next time, this worked in a pinch and no one refused their pie because of it.  If you don’t have an orange, but do have the rest of the ingredients, make the pie!

To make this pie dairy free, use a crust that is made with shortening, use dairy free margarine or cooking spray to coat the pan, and serve with dairy free ice cream.

Though I’ve come a long way(if I do say so myself) on my culinary journey, roasting meats still daunts me.  Images of tough, dry chicken and hard beef spring to mind.  About 5 years ago I started cooking a roast with veggies in the crockpot and it’s come out tender every time, so I thought I might get away with taking that route-forever.

But still it seemed rather shameful to be at a loss for roast all because of my broken crockpot.

Today I threw all caution to the wind and tried this recipe for Mom’s Pot Roast from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster.  Sprigs of rosemary combined with red wine and tender meat-I decided to sacrifice my time and energy and make it for Mr. Darcy, really, I did, selflessly, for him.

The good news-I can lift my head high! Moist, tender, rosemary infused meat and vegetables-and no crockpot in sight.

This is for you honey.  Would you like it for your birthday?

Mom’s Pot Roast
from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster
serves 4-6

• 1 3-pound beef chuck roast, at room temperature
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbs canola or safflower oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 6 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 4 to 6 cups beef broth
• 1 pound small red-skinned or fingerling potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Season the roast generously on all sides with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or deep, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roast and sear to a rich, brown color, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the roast to a plate and set aside.
4. Add the onion, 2 of the carrots, and the herbs to the pot you cooked the roast in.  Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are light brown and the onion is soft., 3 to 4 minutes.   Return the roast to the pan, add the wine and enough broth to nearly cover the roast, and bring to a low boil over medium heat.
5. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and place the meat in the oven to roast for 2 hours 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and the remaining carrots and continue roasting for another 40 to 60 minutes, until the meat breaks apart easily and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
6. Transfer the roast to a shallow serving bowl and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.  Remove the herb stems from the pot or skillet. Use a large spoon to skim the fat.  Pour the juices and vegetables over the roast, and serve warm.

Aimee’s Notes:  Rather than spend 7 dollars just on the herbs I cheated and bought the fresh rosemary and used dried thyme.  Though the rosemary gave the dish a wonderful aroma and flavor, I’m sure it would have been doubly flavorful with fresh thyme as well.  Do what your budget allows.  I cut up larger potatoes since that’s what I had on hand, but I’ve always wanted to try the fingerlings.  The roast was done before the time suggested in the directions, but didn’t suffer from slow-cooking a little longer while the veggies finished tenderizing.