A Tart Little Tart

What a beautiful thing a blood orange is.  Deep garnet in color and exquisitely tart in flavor, these gems can brighten anybody's rainy February day.  As a fanatic for fruit, I'm especially taken with them during these lean months.  The colder it is outside, the more my body craves a good jolt of citrus.

A few weeks ago my friend at http://butterdate.blogspot.com/ cooked us a wonderful multi-dish meal that ended perfectly with an orange tart.  Delighted,  I devoured quite a few pieces, and then a few more the next morning.  Gorgeous splashes of citrus are nestled in an indulgent almond cream (one really cannot go wrong when almond cream is involved) and baked atop a flaky, buttery crust.  Pure winter tart heaven.  And quite handsome to boot.

My only mistake was not immediately begging her for the recipe, which is from the beautiful Big Sur Bakery cookbook.  Instead, when the craving hit,  I scanned multiple versions online and finally made sense of the full recipe by taking bits and pieces from each.  Every step was attempted with a little trepidation - I only had so many oranges and going to the store in the rain was not an option - but in about two hours flat I had a dazzling blood orange tart that was deemed wonderful upon the first bite.  Nothing like a tart little tart to perk up your Tuesday.

BLOOD ORANGE TART 

Adapted loosely from Big Sur Bakery

Serves 4 - 8

For Almond Cream: 
1/3 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
3 tbsp salted butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp all-purpose flour

For Tart Dough: 
3/4 cups (12 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes  
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
grated zest of one orange 
5 - 6 tbsp orange juice

For Assembling the Tart: 
1/3 cup orange marmalade (or any marmalade you fancy)
3 - 4 mixed oranges, or more if needed
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Spread almonds on a baking tray and toast until fragrant and just browning, about 7-8 minutes.  Be careful not to burn them.  When they are cool, chop them coarsely.

Prepare your tart dough: in a medium sized bowl, combine butter, flour, sugar, salt, and zest.  Using your fingers, cut the butter and combine it with the dry ingredients until the butter is crumbly and the size of small peas.  Add the orange juice a few tablespoons at a time, mixing as you go until the dough is forming a ball and staying together.  It should be just a little sticky.  Turn out onto a well-floured surface and kneed until a smooth ball forms, about a minute.  Cover it with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until very cold. 

Make the almond cream: combine softened butter, powdered sugar, almond extract and salt using an electric hand mixer until well blended and fluffy.  Slowly, add the egg yolk and then the flour.  Mix until well combined.  Fold in the chopped almonds.  It should be almost the consistency of peanut butter.   Keep at room temperature. 

Set your oven temperature to 375 F. 

On well-floured parchment paper, roll out the tart dough.  Don't worry about it looking rustic and misshapen, that's half the fun!  Transfer to baking tray.  Using a spoon, top with the marmalade, leaving a one inch border around the edge.  Cover the jam with a layer of almond cream.  Fold in the edges creating a crust to prevent the jam from oozing out.  Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

Prepare the citrus: using a paring knife, cut off each end of the orange.  Following the curve of the fruit, cut off the pith and peel.  Slice the oranges into thin rounds, removing seeds as you go.  

Assemble the tart: remove it from the refrigerator.  Top with citrus rounds.  Brush crust with beaten egg and sprinkle the whole thing with sugar.  Dot the oranges with butter to avoid burning.  

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until the crust and almond cream are a toasty golden brown.  Cool before serving.  Fabulous for breakfast the next day. 

And every good morsel deserves a delicious sip of something, don't you think?  In this case, I went with color - because why not - and popped some Loire Valley pink bubbly.  I was feeling all sorts of celebratory and knew that a little sparkling rose would do the trick.  This particular bottle is one of my favorites.   From biodynamic Clos de la Briderie, the Purete de Silex Brut Rose is made from Pineau d'Aunis, Pinot Noir, Grolleau Gris, and Groslot Noir - major players in the Loire Valley.  It is smashingly bright pink, the color of the day!  Ripe strawberry, zest, hints of cranberry, a subtle toastiness.  Best sipped while dreaming of spring's promise of sunshine or relishing in winter's citrus bounty.  And for under $20, this bottle is a complete steal.  All smiles.

California teeming.

Sorry for the short hiatus in posts, I've been out and about in beautiful Northern California.  We rented a car and took to the forest, exploring Sonoma for the better part of a week.  This is a very lovely part of the country, and my first time visiting.  Totally awed, I had many favorite moments, but one of our final days certainly tops the list.

Fork.  Oysters.  I love oysters.  I love the entire process of eating an oyster.  Shuck, season, slurp, swallow.  Don't forget to chew.  They can range from briny like the sea to clean as a cucumber.  Salty punches or mild pleasures.  Texturally, the differences between any two varieties is also amazing.  Some are creamy and relaxed, others gigantic and plump.  I prefer the oyster in the middle - ones with enough bite to remind me I'm eating an animal and enough sweet flavor to encourage slow chewing.  Nothing too salty please.

I've eaten oysters all over the place and found different rituals everywhere I go.  In Tallahassee they arrive on ice in a bucket, accompanied by tobasco, saltines and plenty of pitchers of PBR.  Many restaurants in New York City offer discounted oysters in the afternoon (thank you thank you), where the mignonette dressing and a squeeze of lemon are all you'll need.  New Orleans serves them fried, all spiced up, Creole-like.  And on the coast in Northern California, they encourage making use of the barbecue, a completely new concept for me.  

It turns out, oysters on the grill are fantastic.  And incredibly easy to prepare.  Take your oyster (choose a fatty), place it curved shell down (pictured below) directly over your hot coals.  Give them a few moments and they'll begin sputtering seawater and hissing loudly.  Be careful!  They tend to pop and spew very hot water everywhere.  When they are done, some will snap open, but others just won't, so grab them from the grill when they start getting very noisy and bubbly.  Let them cool a moment, then pry them open and eat with your favorite spicy barbecue sauce.  It's a revelation - smokey, tender, and a little crispy.  Oysters never get boring.
 

Glass.  There is an array of beverages that pair nicely with oysters, both raw or cooked.  Light beers and dry white wines are the most common.  I love sipping on Muscadet while enjoying a few raw on the half-shell.  The stoniness of the wine allows the individual flavors of the oysters shine.  But, as we were in California wine country and it was only 2pm in the afternoon, we decided to pop open a bottle of bubbly.  Let the festivities begin!

Although there is no shortage of sparkling white wine in Sonoma, one of the favorites is produced by Iron Horse, a vineyard tucked away in the Russian River Valley.  Drinking through their tasting flight while gazing at the endless view of yellowing vines and rolling hills, you feel like the luckiest girl in the world.  Of course we bought their Classic Vintage Brut.  A blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it is everything you want out of a bubbly - fresh and dry with a touch of cream and fruit.  A classic indeed.

Iron Horse vineyards.  Do visit.

Play.  The best way to prepare yourself for an afternoon of grilling oysters on the beach is to whet your appetite for the sea with a long long drive down the Pacific Coast.  We met up with Highway 1 just outside of Jenner, at the Sonoma Coast State Beach (home of the Goat Rock, which we failed to identify).  Keep driving south and you'll find amazing views of the ocean, the beaches, and the craggy cliffs.  Tiny seaside towns keep popping up, begging you to stop in for souvenirs, oysters, ice cream.  The land here is unlike anything on the East Coast, and reminded me most of the grand seascapes of Southern Ireland.  Lots of rocks and greenery, all spritzed with that cold cold ocean mist.

 

Go with lots of people for the best deal.

 Continue south until you hit Tomales Bay, just north of Point Reyes Station.  Be sure to bring napkins, forks, lemons and barbecue sauce.  Everything else can be purchased on site.  Oh, and don't forget the bubbly.  Plastic cups, a must.