Zippy Chipotle Tomato Pie

Now this was tasty! It is an off shoot of the other tomato pie I posted last tomato season http://hearthandhospitality.blogspot.com/2010/08/fresh-tomato-tart.html. Last year's version was savory with cheddar cheese and turkey bacon, this one is much spicy and smokey with chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.
You will find canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the Mexican section of most grocery stores. You only need a small can and not even all of that. I freeze the remainder in a small container for future use, this stuff is way too good to waste!

You can use a basic pie crust or a ready made crust from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, or the tart crust from the above recipe link.
Filling ingredients:
2-3 large, meaty tomatoes
1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 cup queso fresco, crumbled
1 cup monterey jack, shredded
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely minced
1 chipotle pepper, finally minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
salt
Place the prepared crust in the pie pan, set aside in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 400F. I did not blind bake this crust because it was quite a bit thinner than the first tomato tart. If you liked that recipe then use the crust recipe and follow those directions changing the cheese ingredients.
Mix both cheeses, cilantro, chipotle pepper, and adobo sauce in a small bowl.

Spread 1/2 the mixture in the bottom of the pie crust.

Arrange the sliced onion then tomato on top of the bottom cheese layer.

Spread the rest of the cheese mixture on top of the tomatoes.

 Fold the edges of the crust over the edge of pie pan.

Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, and crust is golden.

I think I want a salad and a glass of raspberry tea with this...yum! Or grill some chicken to go with it, you have so much flavor in the pie anything simple will be a great accompaniment.

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake batter is like a playground, or a freshly prepared canvas just waiting for inspiration to be applied. I can rarely leave it plain, even though plain is so good too. I was in a blueberry mood, a bag Ghirardelli white chocolate put it over the top.

I took this to dinner at my friend Gail's house with an Espresso cheesecake too, there were a lot of us that evening, and it is never good to run out of dessert with children looking at you waiting for their piece.
First I should say that I forgot to take photos of the crust, sorry, I was rushing, not good because then you forget things...like pictures.
Second, cheesecake is always best when made a day in advance, like lasagna, the flavors develop over night--it's a beautiful thing ;)
I used a classic pate sucree for the crust because I don't care for graham crackers, a good pastry crust is so much better tasting  and looking. This is very easy in a food processor. Come on, don't let the name scare you, it's a glorified pie crust (tastes better though).
Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold butter, cut in chunks
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water or milk
Into the food processor, or a large bowl with a pastry cutter, put the flour, salt, sugar. Pulse/mix. Add the cold butter pulsing/cutting until it looks like coarse crumbs. Pulse/cut in the egg yolk, vanilla and water or milk. Continue to pulse until it balls up into a nice soft, workable dough.
Using fingers, press it over bottom of 9 inch springform pan lined with parchment paper on the bottom and up the side. Prick with a fork so it doesn't bubble up and put in fridge for 25 minutes. 
Preheat oven to 375F. Bake crust for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden. 
Brush with egg white and return to oven for 2 minutes, this seals the crust so it doesn't get soggy.

Batter:
3 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 bag white chocolate chips
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, add the sugar, mixing well then the eggs, one at a time mixing well after each addition. 
Add vanilla.

Sprinkle 1/2 the bag of chips on the bottom of the crust.

Pour the batter in.

Swirl the rest of the chips into the batter. Then, with a large spoon, drop 1/2 the blueberry pie filling on the top of the batter, dropping in four circles. 

Carefully swirl a knife through the blueberry just a few passes is all you want to do otherwise it just mixes in instead of having a pretty swirl pattern.

Pretty. Oooh, aaah.

Bake in preheated oven at 450F for 10 minutes then turn down the temperature to 250F and continue to bake for 40 minutes. It should be jiggly but not loose or liquidy. Is liquidy a word?

Very nice. Serve with the rest of the pie filling on the side. Hmm , maybe some whipped cream too. 
That's an espresso cheesecake beside it, that was really good too ;).

Fresh Tomato Tart

This tart makes people swoon, really. Of course my son pulls the fresh tomatoes out-go figure, what is it about kids who love spaghetti sauce but won't go near a fresh tomato? I got the original recipe from the lady who trims my hair, Deb is a real treat.
I started with a cream cheese pastry crust that was so tender I am imagining all kinds of different fillings for next time. Add to that thick slices of fresh tomatoes, cheesy goodness and crumbled, smokey turkey bacon. If you want a vegetarian option just omit the bacon and add 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, either way it's just plain  good.
Cream Cheese Pastry
4 oz. cream cheese, chilled
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (white spelt flour works well too)
Filling
2 large, meaty tomaotes
1/3 cup minced red onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar
3 tablespoons mayo (to bind the cheeses together)
1/2 pound turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled and/or 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Start the pastry a few hours or the day before your meal so it will be well chilled before rolling out.
Put into the bowl of a food processor the flour, sugar and salt.

Pulse this a few times to mix. Then add the butter and cream cheese, pulse just until it forms a ball, no longer or it will be a tough crust.

Form into a thick disc and wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least an hour to chill well.

About an hour before serving, remove disc from refrigerator, sprinkle rolling surface with bench flour (a fancy term for the flour you sprinkle on the rolling surface),

and roll the dough about 3 inches larger than the tart pan (or pie plate). Be sure to use enough flour that the dough will not stick to surface when lifting.

Gently fold dough in half,

then in half again and place point in the center of tart pan.

Unfold and work the dough down into the edges of the pan being careful not to stretch it but keeping it loose so it doesn't shrink when baked.

Fold the excess over on the inside, it won't show once the filling is in.

With a fork, prick tiny holes on the bottom of the dough, this will allow steam to be released and keep it from bubbling up.

We are going to "blind bake" this dough which simply means to bake the dough empty, this way the juicy tomatoes won't make it soggy.
Put a piece of foil on top of the dough, fill it with a cup or so of dry beans or pie weights.

Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn golden, remove foil, if bottom is not cooked return to oven for another 5 minutes (without the foil or beans).
While the crust bakes,slice the tomatoes thickly,

and place on an old towel. This is what I keep that ratty old dish towel for that my daughter tries to throw away.

Now sprinkle with good salt, I like Celtic Sea salt or Real salt because it has lots of trace minerals instead of a blast of sodium. The salt will pull some of the liquid from the tomatoes so it won't soak the crust. Just give each side a nice sprinkle, perhaps a pinch on each side.

Cover and refrigerate until crust is done.
 Mix the cheeses, onion and mayo in a medium bowl and set aside.

When the crust is done, uncover the tomatoes, they should look considerably drier.

Layer 1/2 the cheese mixture on the bottom of the crust,

Place the tomatoes on top of the cheese so the spaces are all filled.

Top with the remaining cheese. And last, the bacon.

Bake 350F. for 10-15 minutes until melted through and bubbly.

Allow to cool for 8 or 10 minutes to set. Remove from tart ring and cut into wedges or cut in pan if not a 2 piece pan.

Serve with salad or fruit.

No, I did not take a bite, the crust was so tender the tip broke off, nothing went to waste, mmmmm!

Blueberry Crostata

A crostata is a rustic tart baked without the traditional tart pan, rather, free form on a sheet pan. Last night I wanted something sweet but have been trying to eat less sugar, this pastry dough has only 1 tablespoon of sugar and the filling only 1/4 cup. The leftover piece was really good with a cup of coffee this morning.

The pastry was made from a pate brisee dough, tender, flaky, the kind that melts in your mouth. It was so easy in the food processor.
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1-2 tablespoons COLD water
Put all the dry ingredients into the processor.

Whirl it a couple times to mix. Then add the butter, cut into small bits.

Pulse a few times until it looks like coarse crumbs.

Add the water one tablespoon at a time until it forms a ball.

Remove from the processor bowl and pat into a small disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready.
For the filling:
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/4 sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Put the blueberries and sugar in a medium  size heavy sauce pan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, simmer 15-20 minutes until thickened.

Add the lemon juice. Refrigerate until cool.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400F. Remove dough from refrigerator.
Lightly dust counter with with flour for rolling the dough.

Roll dough a couple times then dust and turn over and around.Roll some more, turning and dusting lightly until you have an eleven inch circle.

I obviously need more practice rolling.
Transfer to the parchment lined sheet pan.

Remove blueberry filling from the refrigerator and spoon into center, spread to within 2 inches of edges.

I can't get this photo to turn so you will have to cock your head to make sense of it.
Now fold the edges toward the center, pleating them as you go.

Fabulous! Now bake it at 400F for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.
Cool, or not.

I couldn't decide which photo I liked more...

What do you think?