4th of July Recipe Brainstorming

The 4th of July is again upon us. As I’m sure you’re aware, things are a bit weird this year – we have a bizarrely bisected week with just one day off in the middle. Like the stay-cationer I am, I will be staying in DC, eating too much and spending too much time in the sun (per usual).

Last summer I satisfied my yearly yearning for pyrotechnics by watching the fireworks from Meridian Hill Park, but honestly, I’m really not interested in fireworks unless they are literally exploding above my head. Bonus points if I can smell the smoke. So tomorrow night I plan to be on the National Mall, directly under the explosives, and it will be excellent.

I’ve set my own 4th of July bar pretty high – two years ago I went kayaking and grilled and watched from the Mall, and last year in the span of three days I managed to attend two parties, two bar-b-q’s, and a picnic.

Tomorrow I am undecided on exactly what I want to do (besides the fireworks part – that is set in stone). My family traditionally starts 4th of July with a trail run and the Fireman’s Pancake Breakfast in Tahoe. Alas, there aren’t any easily-accessible trails from my house, and no firemen pancakes that I know of…but I’m thinking I will host the Mollie-DC version: I will go for a run, and then invite my friends over for a pancake extravaganza!

The menu

• Coffee (well duh)
• Spinach Feta Greek Yogurt Pancakes
• Peach or Nectarine Pancakes
• Frittata – possibly the sweet potato one? 

I might go to a bar-b-q in the afternoon, in which case I need to brainstorm something to bring. Here’s a list of some of my favorite potluck/picnic recipes, just in case you too need some last minute inspiration:

Real Foods:

Wheat Berry Cous Cous Salad

Chicken, Mein, and Vegetables in Creamy Szechuan Dressing

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread

Jalapeño Hummus 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Fried Plantains with Black Bean Dip and Guacamole

And desserts of course: 

Fresh Strawberry Tart

Key Lime Cake

Red Velvet Brownies

Dark Chocolate Ganache-Filled Red Velvet Cake

S'Mores Layer Cake

S'Mores Cookies

Summer Peach Chantilly Cake

Cherry Peach Honey Cake

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Cupcakes

Cherry Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting

Mocha Pillow Cookies

Choco-Coconut Peanut Butter Bars

Rustic Rhubarb Tarts

Happy 4th of July everyone! Any recipe recommendations for me?

Weekend Report: Eggs and Pool and Soccer

In case you can’t tell from my elaborate and prolific Weekend Reports, I love weekends. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my weeks too, but there’s something truly wonderful about 6pm Friday through Sunday: 48 hours of 100% Mollie-time in which I have no real responsibilities or obligations and  I can do whatever I want.

And this weekend was the epitome of that principle. I started Friday (which was record breaking temperature-wise) with some evening pool lounging in Foggy Bottom with LLC. I’m pretty sure that 6-8pm is the most magical time to be pool-side – it’s still hot but not brutally sunny and the pool area is almost empty except for the most dedicated loungers (i.e. my favorites to people-watch).

I was comfortably couching by the time the storm hit. At first I glanced out the window – oh it’s kinda windy out there. A few minutes later the lightning and thunder and downpour began. Unlike far too many people in the area, my power stayed on, so I had no idea how bad the storm was until I left my apartment the next morning. Trees down, cars crushed, and power-lines out…it’s pretty surreal to wake up to a beautiful summer morning and see so much destruction.

(This is right by my apartment.)

But our summertime plans were undeterred – LORT-Emily, 6x6, and I headed to LLC’s apartment where she cooked us a most glorious leisurely brunch.

First course: coffee and peaches and raspberries.

Second course: Yotam Ottolenghi's Skillet-Baked Eggs with Arugula, Garlic Greek Yogurt, and Sage Butter, lox, and sourdough toast.

Third course: Rustic Rhubarb Tarts.

(I think one of the reasons I love weekends so much is that weekends tend to involve brunch.)

By 3pm we rolled ourselves to the pool for an afternoon of lounging and napping and sitting in the water (the best thing ever is the every-30-minutes “kids break” because yay we’re not kids, so double-yay we get the shallow end to ourselves for 15 minutes!).

I felt like quite the sloth on Sunday – I slept in until 11 am!!! I NEVER sleep that late. It was glorious. But I redeemed myself for my laziness by heading to my local indoor pool for a 60-minute pool run (note that this was a pool workout, no lounging included).

At 2:45 I met up with LOTR-Emily and a group of friends to watch the final Euro game. It was ungodly hot and sweaty on the patio of Biergarten Haus (if we look over-heated it’s because we are) but I managed to pay enough attention to see every goal Spain scored – yay!

And that, my friends, was that. Hope you all had a relaxing weekend too!

Best of the Week #65

In workout news for the week:

• I climbed three 5.10-rated routes Wednesday night;
• Played pick-up soccer on the Ellipse last night (!!! I know, right? Who is this person I’m becoming???);
• And ran 6.3 miles this morning. 

So basically what I’m saying is that summertime = outside-time and I love it.

My most popular post this week was a random flash-back to last summer: Going to India, which I published the day before Sister2 and I began our epic Indian adventure...that was FUN.

I want to go to this restaurant for amazing Korean food. STAT. Whyyyy is Annadale so far from DC???? (And by that I mean more than a walk/metro/bus ride from my house.)

Interesting: "One One-Hundredth of a Second Faster: Building Better Olympic Athletes"

• For elite athletes, traditional training is no longer enough. To go from great to the best in the world, it’s now essential to optimize every bit of performance, even if the gain is just a hundredth of a second. So in addition to relying on their coaches and teammates, they work with biomechanists, physiologists, psychologists, nutritionists, strength coaches, recovery experts, and statistical analysts. 
• Jones is attended by 22 scientists and technicians, paid for by Red Bull, her sponsor. 

I’ve never made a cold soup before, but with summer in full force maybe it’s time I try. This NYT Magazine interactive feature has good-looking recipes. 

This has been my gchat status all week: “Hire good people and leave them alone.” (It’s a short article about introverts.)

Aah FP and your photo essays: “Life Inside Little America in Afghanistan.”

• Photos from a time when tiki bars and afternoons at the pool dominated the lives of Americans in Afghanistan. 
• "It was an enchanting time," remembered Rebecca Pettys, who lived there for six years starting in 1958, when she was 12 years old. Her father, an Afghan who received a doctorate from the University of Chicago and married a Finnish-American woman he met in Illinois, moved his family to Helmand so he could participate in the development effort. "We had parties and danced," Pettys said. "Everything about our lives was American."

Language lesson of the day: "Defining the perimeter of our parameters."

• It's when people use parameters to mean "limits" or "characteristics" that they get into trouble with the usage cops.
• A usage note in the American Heritage Dictionary reads: "The term parameter, which originates in mathematics, has a number of specific meanings.... Perhaps because of its ring of technical authority, it has been used more generally in recent years to refer to any factor that determines a range of variations and especially to a factor that restricts what can result from a process or policy....

Well this is kinda depressing: “Now or Never? Nine Places to See Before They Slip Away.” Topping my list are Glacier National Park and Mt. Kilimanjaro...is it vacation time yet???

"Killer Whales 'Wave Wash' Seal."

• A pod of orcas, or killer whales, cooperate to wash a Weddell seal off an ice floe. This sequence, filmed for Frozen Planet, marks the first complete filming of killer whale "wave washing" behavior. 

This is just silly but I like it: "Dogs Who Like to Surf: Photos"

• Dog surfing trainers say the dogs who like the water and the beach are in the sport and that dogs who fear the water are not even trainable.

Happy 4th of July warm-up weekend! I will be at the pool, per usual. 

Back on My Feet: Growing the Running Community, One Step at a Time

Well guess who loves seeing her name in print?

I just wrote this Charity Profile for the July/August Washington Running Report (a local print and online magazine).  It's about Back On My Feet, a super-cool local running charity that works with homeless and underserved populations. Empowerment through running= enius!!!

If you're in DC you can pick up a copy in one of the local running stores. Otherwise you can read it online (you have to create an account - free - then go to page 18). 

Morning Running: The Accountability Factor

I try not to make a habit of talking to inanimate objects, but this morning when my alarm went off I couldn’t control the Noooooooo…shhhhhhhhhh…I’m still sleepy!!! that came out of my mouth. Impervious to my pathetic pleas, the relentless chirp-chirping continued until I finally gave in. Oooooook, okokokok…here we go. 

I could have called across the hall  SpeedyKate, I don’t wanna run, go without me. But I was awake, with no good reason not to run (tiredness does not qualify as a good reason), plus I knew that SpeedyKate pushed back her ideal start-time to accommodate my preferred sleep-time, so damn roommate accountability (which I am actually super-happy about) got me going.

I think that a lot of people imagine that as a runner/blogger I hop out of bed every morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, joyously lace up my shoes and embark on a run surrounded by rainbows and sunshine and pop music. Ha.

It's more like: I ungraciously roll out of bed, bleary-eyed and half awake, put on the closest non-smelly running ensemble, and throw myself out the door with a hope and a prayer that it’s not that bad.

And to be fair, usually it’s not. This morning's run wasn’t bad at all! If I’d been alone it could have been a very different story, but in contrast with my curmudgeonly introverted office-work style, I always prefer working out with company. SpeedyKate and I chatted, and at the end of 40 minutes we’d run about 5 miles. 

The secret to this morning’s success was the accountability factor. I strongly recommend:

• Living with someone who runs your pace as often as you do. (It’s taken 25 years, but I am finally living this dream!)
• OR
• Making running plans with friends. 

Seriously guys, it makes all the difference in the world. You will be waaaaaay more likely to actually roll out of bed if you have to meet someone. Plus the run itself will be better because even if you’re tired, at least you won’t be tired and lonely!

(View route on MapMyRun.)

We finished our run, spent some living room time doing abs and stretching, and then proceeded to start our respective days. Wash, rinse, and repeat until...forever? 

Cake of the Week: Earl Grey Lemon Bars

The first time I made lemon bars was for my 8th grade French class. I am now (and must have/should have been then) fully aware that lemon bars ne sont pas français (though calling them barres du citron and translating the recipe into French was good enough for my culture points!). Despite the cultural inconsistency,  my bars stood out among the baguettes and brie and Nutella and crêpes and I was subsequently asked to make them for every fête français for the rest of my French class career (i.e. through 10th grade).

So we know that lemon bars are not French. But what are they? Well, I think it’s safe to say (from some preliminary googling) that these are a decidedly American creation. Lemon curd and shortbread both originate in Old England, but apparently it took until 1963 for the team at Betty Crocker to put them together into this match made in heaven. These “bar cookies” (or "little bites of lemony joy," as I prefer to call them) have been gracing picnics and potlucks and grandma’s tables ever since. Love.

As a nod back to the ingredients’ English roots, this lemon bar recipe adds a bit of the aristocracy – there’s Earl Grey Tea in both the crust and the lemon curd itself. Earl Gray is a black tea flavored with bergamot orange, a winter citrus fruit grown in Italy. The tea flavor is subtle but definitely adds something to these already delicious bars.

I made these for a work potluck, so I doubled the recipe and baked them in a 9x13 pan.

Earl Grey Lemon Bars

(Original recipe from I Can Cook That.)
Printable recipe.
For the Crust:

• Cooking spray 
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar 
• 2 Earl Grey tea bags, divided 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
• 8 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces 

For the Filling:

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 or 2 lemons’ worth)
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. First prepare the crust. Line a 9-inch square metal baking pan with foil that extends over the edges. Spray with cooking spray. 
2. Combine the flour, 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon tea leaves from a tea bag, and salt in a bowl. If there is more than one teaspoon of tea leaves in the tea bag, just discard the remaining leaves. 
3. Add the pieces of the butter to the flour mixture.
4. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or food processor or your fingers) until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
5. Add the mixture to the pan and press down. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
7. While the crust is baking, zest your lemons and set aside. Squeeze the lemon juice into a medium microwave-safe bowl. (I squeezed them over a mesh sieve to catch all of the seeds). 
8. Microwave the juice for 30 seconds on high. Steep the remaining tea bag in the hot lemon juice. Cover the bowl and steep for 10 minutes.
9. Squeeze out all the juice from the tea bag back into the bowl. Add the lemon zest and eggs to the juice. Whisk until combined.
10. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and the baking powder.
11. Add the sugar mixture to the lemon mixture and stir with whisk until well combined.
12. When the crust is finished, remove from the oven and pour the lemon filling onto the hot crust.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes, or until set.
14. Remove the pan from the oven, and place on a wire rack. Let cool for 30 minutes. Remove the squares from the pan by lifting the foil. Remove the foil from the squares, and cut into 16 equal bars.
15. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Printable recipe.

Weekend Report: Big Easy Express and CAR Party

On Saturday night I saw Big Easy Express at the SilverDocs Film Festival and it was awesome. Essentially it was an an hour-long music video of three incredibly talented bands I like, shot on film so it was beautiful. (Weekend soundtrack.)

Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show took a thousand-mile train tour from Oakland to New Orleans, with six concert stops along the way.  It was excellent. The best part was when they enlisted the Austin High School marching band to play with Mumford and Sons -- the audience applauded and it was so happy!

After the film two of the producers answered questions, moderated by NPR’s All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. They talked about how lucky they got to have the film come together the way it did, and also that one of the main factors was that all the musicians involved are extremely talented. Agreed.

 I highly recommend seeing this movie. Unfortunately it looks like SilverDocs was its last film festival screening, but it’s being released on iTunes on June 26th.

On Sunday I puttered the morning away until it was high noon and high time for some exercise. I then proceeded to embark on my most epic bike ride yet – two hours and ten minutes, 48 miles!!! I went from Eastern Market past RFK Stadium, through the Southwest Waterfront, then to Mt. Vernon and back. It was long and hot and by the end all I wanted to do was drink an entire liter of Diet Coke and lie on my floor. I did neither – but cold water, my couch, and a bowl of pesto pasta did the trick quite nicely.

Too soon it was time to head out for the bi-annual Capital Area Runners Happy Hour. I have been quite the MIA on the running scene recently, SpeedyKate providing my only link to this group of friends, so I had a lot of people to catch up with on life and running and all things in between.

From the sound of things all is well with my CAR friends – a few injuries but also some new faces and great recent performances. Thinking and talking about track workouts makes me want to workout like woah…it’s only a matter of time till I’m back at the track! :)

Best of the Week #64

Guys. I’m getting a trampoline. Not even kidding.

Sister2 is working here this summer and sent me this text last night: “We’ll give you a trampoline. Probs not for a few weeks though.” So I’m going to test it and blog about it and it’s going to be awesome. (Look forward to my dreams of being the cool kid in the neighborhood with the trampoline fulfilled…I AM SO EXCITED!!!)

So there’s that. Happy Friday to me (and to you too)!

My most popular post this week was “Hip Flexor and Piriformis Stretching and Strengthening.” You know what’s not fun? Injuries. You know what’s even less fun? Injuries you could have prevented by a few simple stretches and exercises. Just saying….

And now for Best of the Week!

Awesome architecture. (more)

Worth the read: “Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.” I don’t totally agree with all his points, but overall this is a great commencement speech.

• I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
• Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
• There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
• Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
• I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
• Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Remember my friend Chris who visited? This is his first news story in Nashville. "Sales Of Oversized Caskets Rise With Obesity Problem." Watch it here!

Well this is adorable: "The Face Baby."

A book review by The Wall Street Journal, “The Hidden Obama.” Agreed.

• When one co-worker, knowing that Mr. Obama was a runner, suggested that they jog together after work, Mr. Obama declined, saying: "I don't jog, I run."

I have hereby pleged not to comment about the weather anymore. It’s hot. We will deal. "How to Stop Complaining and Love This Heat Wave."

• We move with less aggression and purpose through the streets, simply because we can't speed up; our limbs have become slow and molasses-like and inadvertent, like Gumby-limbs. Just making it into the office is a triumph for which you get an A. Trudging to whatever after-work activities you have planned for later, an A+. Basically, you win, just for signing in.
• Things like "lateness," and "tiredness," and "excessive perspiration," are no longer actually issues because we are all faced with them. Things like, "your makeup dripping off your face," "upper-lip and pit sweat," and "feeling like you might pass out," these are the problems of everyman. We all look awful, like mice the cat dragged in from a neighborhood pool. We all smell. We all want our ice coffee and we're sipping it like it's an IV. But there is solidarity in this community, and there's no one to impress, here.
• If you want to only eat ice cream you can, because your metabolism has gone into overdrive, so heated is your core. Even your slow movement from the subway to the office is a workout. So, yay. No need for squats today.

My artist/illustrator friend Caitlin Heimerl. So talented!

Some interesting trivia for you: “Why are cities in Angola and Chad so expensive?”

• Alongside notoriously pricey places such as Geneva and Tokyo, there is Luanda, Angola — a country where 41 percent of the population lives in poverty — holding down second place on the list. And N’Djamena, Chad — capital of a country where 55 percent of the people live below the poverty line — is ranked eighth.
• In Luanda, day laborers make roughly $50 per month, but a hamburger meal costs $12.62, and a two-bedroom apartment is $4,114, according to Mercer’s numbers. So how did these African outposts get so costly?

The singing is a bit painful, but WOW the dancing is impressive. “Young Ryan Gosling Sings And Dances In Mormon Talent Show.”




Love this tumblr: “The Daily Typo. Because copyediting isn’t dead yet." I aspire to have the attention to detail this author does…

I am very bad at this, but “invest in your rest!”

1. It’s good for your memory. 
2. It’s good for your weight. 
3. It’s good for your overall health. 
4. It’s replenishing emotionally. 
5. It’s replenishing physically. 
6. When you enter a deep sleep state, your brain releases repairing hormones that improve your very existence. Your skin, your eyes, your fingernails. All these things need time to repair from the damage we inflict upon them during the day. 
7. You know how you REALLY want to watch a movie TONIGHT at 11PM, because you won’t have time tomorrow? Well, the hours you’re saving tonight are being shaved off your life. It sounds dramatic, but it’s true. People who sleep for the recommended 7-8 hours per night live longer. 
8. Your attention span is reportedly at least 30% better when you are rested. 

What’s your state’s sandwich?

This is really helpful for us non-photographer food bloggers: “Food photo-editing tips.”

A tragedy, but some good reminders about running safety:

• Always tell someone where you are going.
• Stay on well travelled and well lit roads. Don’t take short cuts through woods, poorly lit areas, etc.
• If possible, run with a dog, a group or at least one other person.
• Ditch the headphones.
• Bring your phone.
• If someone looks shady to you, cross the street or go the other way.
• Vary your routes. Don’t be predictable.
• Know where you’re going. Looking confused and lost can make you a target.
• Don’t be distracted. Perpetrators specifically look for people who aren’t 100% aware of their surroundings.
• Consider taking a self defense class. You never know when you might need these skills.

And finally, my own little WTF Friday: "'Bored' Belgium fans sell themselves to Holland on eBay for Euro 2012."

• A group of Belgian fans who put themselves up for sale on eBay after their team failed to qualify for Euro 2012 have been bought by an anonymous Dutch buyer for £2,400.

That's all. Have a great weekend!

Beet Risotto

Three weeks ago my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) started, resulting in an explosion of vegetables in my life!

A CSA is like a farm subscription. “Members participate in their own food supply by committing to share in the harvest of a local grower. By joining a CSA, you express your support for locally grown, ecoganic food, and to the farmers who grow it.”

Way back in the winter when the growing season began, LOTR-Emily and I opted in and paid our money up front -- $15 per week buys one mini-share, i.e. one medium-sized bag of veggies, which we split, from June through mid-November. (Trust me, a mini-share is plenty of veggies for two people.) The shares are delivered to her office every Tuesday afternoon.

Our farm grows mostly vegetables and herbs. Other CSA farms operate in different ways: some include meat and dairy, some you buy week by week.  I like the subscription method, just because there’s no forethought required on my part – I will receive large quantities of vegetables all summer and fall and that is that. And for the cost of just $7.50 per week, I don’t need to buy any produce at the grocery store for 5 ½ months. Lazy-Mollie = winning.

I especially enjoy the creativity my CSA forces on me. I try vegetables I’ve never heard of, wouldn’t usually buy, or maybe don’t particularly like. I find myself googling phrases like “kohlrabi recipes,” “how to roast turnips,” “can I eat fennel raw?” and “vegetables on the grill.”

So far I’ve had yellow squash, zucchini, red potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, escarole, garlic scapes, green onions, kohlrabi, basil, Swiss chard, turnips, and lots and lots of beets.

If you think of beets as those sad squares at the salad bar, think again. Fresh beets are super-flavorful, dazzlingly colorful, and absolutely delicious. I eat them in all things, recently focusing on risotto preparations. The first time I made beet risotto, I used farro as my grain of choice, but it took FOREVER to cook.

The following recipe uses a Trader Joe’s box risotto. If you use regular risotto rice (aka Arboria rice) instead, I suggest adding some herbs or spices or at least a veggie or chicken broth for extra flavor.

Beet Risotto

Printable Recipe.
Ingredients:

• 3 medium-sized beets, cut into 1/2 –inch cubes (about 2 cups) I leave the skin on, but you can peel them if you want.
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 box Trader Joe’s Mushroom and Herb Risotto (OR 3 cups risotto/Arborio rice)
• 3 cups water, or chicken broth, or vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat oil. Add risotto rice and green onions and toast while stirring occasionally until the rice is browned (2-3 minutes). 
2. Add 3 cups water or broth of your choice and TJ’s flavor packet (if you’re using the box mix), and beets. Bring to a boil, then turn to a simmer. 
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed. If the rice is still crunchy, add more liquid, ½ cup at a time, until it’s done. (If you’re using the box mix, this should take about 20 minutes. If you’re using Arborio rice, it might take up to 45 minutes.)
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy! 

Serving suggestion: On top of spinach with an over-easy egg. (i.e. Mollie's Bowl O'Dinner!)

Printable Recipe.

Cake of the Week: Rustic Rhubarb Tarts

I cannot get these Rustic Rhubarb Tarts out of my head. Maybe my judgment is clouded by the consumption context (stoop-time on a perfect summer evening with three of my absolute favorite people after eating pesto pizza), but I really think this is the best dessert I’ve ever had. 

LLC has been winning at dessert baking recently, which means that as the primary eater of her efforts, I’ve been winning as well.

Let’s start with the crust. If I could eat this crust – encasing everything from fruit to vegetables to cheese to eggs  – every day for the rest of my life, I would be completely content. It is hands-down the lightest, buttery-est, most delicious thing in the world. It has corn flour and a little bit of fine cornmeal, which I suspect adds to the texture and buttery flavor (you know how good fresh corn can taste like butter?).

(before cooking)

And then the filling. Well, we all know how I feel about rhubarb, so clearly it’d be hard to go wrong with this. The original recipe is an only rhubarb compote, but LLC went with strawberry rhubarb instead. Strawberries and chunks of tart rhubarb-y goodness. Not too too much sugar, so the tarts stay tangy.

And, in notes from the baker: “rustic” is the best adjective to put in front of any dessert you ever make. It’s like a baking free pass. Those cookies aren’t shaping up the way you expected? Call them rustic. Worried the crust won’t turn out perfect? Rustic. Plus in this age of farmers markets and foodie-isms, “rustic” is a shabby-chic adjective that is sure to draw a crowd.

No rolling pins, no tart rings, no damn-this-crust tears when it doesn’t come out perfect (ok maybe that’s just me). And the name is alliterative (ok, again, maybe just a thing for me): Rustic Rhubarb Tarts. Do it.

Rustic Strawberry Rhubarb Tarts

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.)

Printable Recipe.

Corn Flour Crust

• 1 cup corn flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Kosher or coarse salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 batch Strawberry Rhubarb Compote (recipe below)

If you’re using a food processor: Combine the dry ingredients in the work bowl of your food processor. Add the butter and pulse in short bursts, until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add heavy cream and egg yolks and pulse until combined; it will look crumbly but it will become one mass when kneaded together.

OR

If you’re using a stand mixer: Whisk the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, add the butter and turn the mixture speed to low (you’ll want to lock the top, so the mixture doesn’t fly about) and mix to break up the butter. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the butter is as coarse as cornmeal. Add the heavy cream and egg yolks and mix until combined. The dough will look crumbly but when pinched between your fingers, it will come together.

OR

By hand: The butter can also be blended into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender, or you fingertips. The cream and egg yolks can be mixed into the butter mixture with a wooden spoon. You’ll likely want to turn the dough out onto a counter to gently knead it into one mass.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

• 1 lb strawberries, rinsed and hulled
• 1 lb rhubarb, trimmed
• 1 lemon
• ¾ cup granulated sugar 

1. Select about 4 ounces of the smallest strawberries and cut lengthwise into quarters. These will be added raw to the cooked compote; set aside.
2. Cut the remaining larger berries in halves or quarters so that the pieces are about the same size. (You should have about 2 1/2 cups.) Place them in a medium saucepan.
3. With a paring knife, pull away and discard the strings that run the length of the rhubarb stalks. Cut the stalks into 3/4-inch pieces (you should have about 3 cups) and add to the saucepan.
4. Use a fine grater or a Microplane to zest the lemon. Add 1 teaspoon of the zest to the pan. Squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice and add it to the pan. Add the sugar and stir to coat the fruit.
5. Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. By the time the sugar has dissolved, the fruit will have released a lot of juice. Boil for about 4 minutes to reduce the liquid somewhat, then reduce the heat and simmer for another 2 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft. Don’t worry if some of the rhubarb falls apart.
6. Take pan off the stove and stir in reserved strawberries. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate in a covered container until cold. (This makes about 4 cups of compote, but the extra will keep for a couple of weeks and is delicious for breakfast.)

Shape the tarts: 

1. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Lightly flour a work surface and using the heel of your hand, flatten the dough into a rough circle. Continue flattening until it is approximately 5 inches in diameter. Try to work quickly, so the dough doesn't get too warm and soft, making it harder to handle. For more elegant edges, gently flatten the outer edge of the circle with your fingertips, making it thinner than the rest of the dough.
2. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the Strawberry Rhubarb Compote into the center of the dough. 
3. Fold the edge of the dough toward the compote and up, to create a ruffled edge; continue around the perimeter, letting the ruffles be their bad irregular selves. 
4. Slide a bench scraper or spatula under the tart and transfer it to a parchment-lined (or cooking-sprayed) baking sheet. Continue with the remaining dough. 
5. Freeze the tarts on their tray for at least 1 hour or up to 2 weeks, wrapped tightly in plastic.

Bake the tarts: Preheat over to 375°F. Bake tarts, still frozen, for about 35 minutes or until the edges of the tarts are brown and the rhubarb is bubbling and thick. Serve warm or at room temperature. The tarts keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Printable Recipe.

(I ate mine with a dollop of Greek yogurt. If only we had whipped cream or ice cream...)