Fresh From Oregon

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Fresh Oregon Berry Tart

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Fresh berries in all shapes and colors are now ready in Oregon.  The fruit stands are overflowing with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries red raspberries and tayberrries.  You will always find a pint or two of berries in my refrigerator ready to create a sweet dessert or muffin or just to top off my Sunday morning pancakes or serve with some yogurt.  The sugar cookie crust in this tart is sweet and crisp and much firmer that a traditional pie dough crust making it last a few extra days in the refrigerator without getting soggy.  The sweet taste of the lemon filling with the sauce from the tayberries and the mountain of berries creates layers of flavor from top to bottom.

What is a Tayberry?  Its a cross between a blackberry and red raspberry and the fruit is sweeter than a blackberry and much larger than a red raspberry.  The name comes from the river Tay in Scotland.

Fresh Oregon Berry Tart
Sugar cookie crust:
8 Tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Lemon filling:
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
¼ cup whipping cream
juice from 1 large lemon
¼ cup granulated sugar
Topping:
2 cups Tayberries or Red Raspberries, slightly mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
2-3 cups mixed berries, washed
To make the sugar cookie crust, place the butter and sugar in a standing mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on high. Add the egg and mix on medium until fully incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt all at once and mix on medium just until no spots of flour remain, about 20 seconds, do not over mix. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray fluted 9 1/2″ removable bottom tart pan with cooking spray.
While the oven is preheating, make the lemon filling by whisking together the eggs, egg yolks, whipping cream, lemon juice, and granulated sugar until smooth. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator.  Press  dough it into the tart pan evenly on the bottom and up the sides.  Pour the lemon filling into the crust. Bake until the filling is set and the crust begins to turn golden, 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake – pull the tart out just when you see any golden color on the crusts.  Make sure the lemon filling is cooked by inserting a toothpick in the center and checking to see if it comes out clean. Allow the shell and filling to cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
To prepare the topping add tayberries or red raspberries and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in another small bowl combine cornstarch and cold water; whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to raspberries and whisk to combine. Bring to boil and continue boiling 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce is as thick as you like. Set aside to cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
To assemble spread raspberry sauce over the lemon filling and place mixed berries on tart and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve chilled.

 

New Years Traditions ~ What’s yours?

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Pot of Black-eyed peasWhat’s your family’s favorite New Year’s food tradition?  Around the world many people celebrate the new year with many food traditions.  On New Year’s eve you will smell a prime rib roast cooking in my oven.  At midnight my family will share a piece of a New Year’s Pretzel. 2013.12.29@17.34.30._K5I0976 New Year’s Pretzels are said to bring good luck and prosperity in the new year and are to be eaten at midnight or before breakfast on New Year’s Day. There are a few different stories about the origins of the New Year’s Pretzel.  Some say that the New Year’s Pretzels were fashioned after the way in which German monks prayed. By crossing arms across the chest in the traditional prayer style, the German monks would pray for peace, health and prosperity for everyone in the surrounding village.

On New Year’s day a pork roast covered with my homemade sauerkraut will be slow roasting in my dutch oven pot.  I will serve the pork roast with creamy mashed potatoes.  This is a tradition both my husband and I have celebrated since we were children.  We were always told this would bring us good luck for the coming year.

This year I wanted to try a recipe the southern branch of my family prepares every year, black-eyed peas.  I had a ham hock left over from Christmas and this will be perfect to flavor the dish.  According to Southern folklore, the first food to be eaten on New Year’s Day for luck and prosperity throughout the year ahead are black-eyed peas.  The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally believed to date back to the Civil War.  Here are some ways people serve them:

  • Served with greens (collards, mustard or turnip greens, which varies regionally), the peas represent coins and the greens represent paper Tin cup Black-eyed Peasmoney. In some areas cabbage is used in place of the greens.
  • Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold.
  • For the best chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.
  • Black-eyed peas eaten with stewed tomatoes represent wealth and health.
  • In some areas, actual values are assigned with the black-eyed peas representing pennies or up to a dollar each and the greens representing anywhere from one to a thousand dollars.
  • Adding a shiny penny or dime to the pot just before serving is another tradition practiced by some. When served, the person whose bowl contains the penny or dime receives the best luck for the New Year, unless of course, the recipient swallows the coin, which would be a rather unlucky way to start off the year.

How ever you serve them they are tasty and will be on my table this year.

Black-Eyed Peas with a Ham HockPot of Black-eyed peas
1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 ham bone or ham hock
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning*
salt to taste

 Sort the beans and remove any stones or bad beans. Rinse with cold water and set aside. In a stock pot, bring ham bone or ham hock and 1 quart of stock to a boil; simmer for 1 hour before starting to cook beans. Add the black-eyed peas into pan with ham hock and add the other quart of stock and enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches.  Add onion, garlic, pepper and creole seasoning. Bring back to a boil and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Add salt. (If you are using ham hock, omit the salt. The ham hock will give the peas a more complex flavor and enough salt.) Allow beans to rest for @ 30 minutes before serving.
* I did not have this creole seasoning so I made my own up using this recipe ~ Creole Seasoning
There will be plenty of extra left so save to season chicken, seafood or your favorite southern dish.
Sources ~ About Travel and Just a Pinch

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Recipe Master: Carrie Trax Editor: John Trax
Photographer: John Trax

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