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Friday, August 21, 2009

Two Cheese & Rosemary Tart


Dear Stephanie Alexander, I ♥ you. The Cook's Companion has never failed me. Okay there is the date scone recipe which I swear has a typo in it because the dry to wet ratio never seems to work for me no matter how many times I retry it, but ignoring that it's my old faithful. The orange teacake recipe is the basis of my cupcake recipe and am always pulling out the chocolate self-saucing pudding, sticky date pudding and banana cake recipes when I am in need of comfort desserts. Much love, from another Stephanie :)

Originally I bought some cheese with wild fantasies of whipping together a fabulous two cheese souffle, after being challenged to bake one by Peter Pad Thai, my Iron Chef judge. But that particular night I was was getting bad vibes from my kitchen (does that sound insane?) and was feeling a little tired. So I lost my nerve and went with a slightly safer but equally yummy option. Stephanie's gruyere tart caught my eye. Shortcrust pastry and melty cheesy innards, you can't go wrong with that. Obviously I replaced the gruyere with the cheeses I had in my fridge which happened to be a wheel of double cream brie and my most favourite cheddar, a Tasmanian cheese mixed with fresh wild wasabi.

Two Cheese Tart with Rosemary
(Adapted from Stephanie Alexander's recipe from A Cook's Companion)
1 sheet shortcrust pastry (I used Stephanie's recipe, will post it up soon)
250g of cheese of your choice (I used 100g wild wasabi cheddar and 150g brie)
1 cup cream
salt
freshly ground pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

Line a 22cm loose-bottomed flat tin with pastry and blind bake at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes and then bake uncovered for 5 minutes. Allow to cool

After blind baking

Cut cheese into tiny dice and scatter over pastry.

Warm cream in a pan over low heat and season it with salt, pepper, rosemary and nutmeg. Mix eggs and egg yolk into cream and pour gently into pastry case.

Okay so my pastry was a tiny bit wonky
Bake at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes or until the top is golden and the middle is just set. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting.


Mmm melty...
The tart puffed up a tiny bit and was light, airy and full of small pockets of gooey cheese. The shortcrust pastry recipe I used was so buttery and short and so easy to make that I instantly fell in love with in. I even had enough leftover pastry to make a sweet dessert, but I'll save that for another post ;)

I would definitely recommend buying some of the wasabi cheese for this tart, it was a lovely surprise of flavour to find in the tart and the rosemary matched it quite well, which was unexpected (I only added the rosemary because I have too much of it and needed to use some up).

My only complaint was that it was still a little too eggy for a tart filling, I think next time I might increase the amount of cheese and not use that extra egg yolk, so feel free to try doing that if you use the recipe above.

16 comments:

  1. OOhh this looks so good! And wasabi cheese? Hmmmm interesting! But yes... I totally get you when you said "bad vibes in the kitchen". Sometimes I get those really bad days when nothing I cook or bake work!

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  2. Mmmmmm that looks incredible! I'll definitely have to give that one a go.

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  3. Ahhhhh cheesy goodness gets me every time... This looks amazingly good. A perfect light lunch (or pre-lunch snack... or after-lunch snack... or)

    Yum!

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  4. Yay for the 2 Stephanies! Your tart looks unbelievable - and the wasabi cheese sounds like it would be delicious in it.

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  5. Wasabi cheese with brie! Brilliant combo! I'm salivating now.

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  6. Oooh, that looks so delicious!! The wild wasabi cheddar sounds interesting, but I'm drooling over the double cream brie!

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  7. I like S.A. as well although I do not have that book ;). But I have heard so many raves about it, I might pick it up and force my hubby and sister to learn from it. Like this tart by the way. Definitely my sort of food. And wasabi cheddar, wow!

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  8. You know every day I look forward to seeing what you're up to! That tart looks so soft and melty :) I do like The Cooks Companion but haven't picked it up for ages. And isn't it funny how one feels a bond with someone because they have the same name? I do with all other Lorraines :D

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  9. Ummm I love my egg tarts and there's no such thing as too eggy ;P Damn now I'm craving...

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  10. I love cheese tarts!!! what could be better than cheese and pastry??

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  11. What a pretty tart! It is making my mouth water, which is no mean feat given I'm hepped up on antibiotics and painkillers right now! Perhaps you've stumbled across my miracle cure :D (by the way, I really like your blog and it's being added to my reader right away!)

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  12. I love this book too. My sister gave me a copy over 10 years ago and it is so well worn. Completely agree with you about the recipes. They are foolproof. But I've not tried the scones - must do that! I love the look of this tart. The pastry is so flaky and delicious!

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  13. I really love your site and it's become one of my daily must-visits since I've discovered it. Makes me wanna cook and bake too! It's amazing how you can create or adapt recipes for both sweet and savoury goodies. Everything looks absolutely homey yet tantalizingly delicious!

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  14. Trisha - LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets the bad vibes :)

    Lis - Hehe thanks! Let me know how it turns out if you do!

    shez - haha or anything really! I'm a little addicted to cheesy goodness at the moment, just had a grilled cheese sandwich :S

    Belle - it's my fav cheddar cheese and I was a little worried it would be too weird in the tart but it was lovely!

    Ellie - :D Thanks!

    Rilsta - I love my brie, I can eat so much of it!

    Anh - Ohh that book is THE book! I don't have the new edition, I have the old orange book and I loves it.

    Lorraine - Aww you're too sweet! Thanks :) Haha yeah I do tend to take more notice of my namesakes!

    Karen - Ohh by too eggy I just meant it was a little bit more like a quiche than a tart. Still delicious though!

    Anita - I totally agree! They're a match made in heaven :)

    Conor - Ohh no, antibiotics and painkillers are no fun :( Get better soon! Thanks very much!!

    Julia - Yay :) My brother bought the book about that long ago when he was in a cooking phase and it became our encyclopedia for food. Let me know if you get the scones to work, I never can!

    Chrissy - Oh thank you so much! You're too kind :) I've slowed down a bit recently rather than updating everyday but I will still be posting regularly!

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  15. This is too much for me. I love cheese, and i think this is so delicious. It is real art.
    I also made some watermelon cupcakes...

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