Tart of the Month - Apple and Caramelized Onion

If I've learned one thing from my Tart of the Month series, it's  this: Keep frozen puff pastry on hand and you can whip up a tart for dinner, breakfast or appetizers any time. 

We are moving to a new house at the end of the month so we have been very busy for a while now. So this tart is extremely easy and uses ingredients we always have on hand.  It's just apples, onions, sour cream and puff pastry. 

Here's what you need for these easy, tasty tarts:

The Beer Baron - Hunting Local Treasures

The Beer Baron is back! This post comes from Matt and you can find him on Twitter & Instagram @geekcanuck

When you think of great craft beer cities, you probably don’t think of my hometown of London, Ontario. While it may not be San Diego, Bruges, Grand Rapids or even nearby Guelph, Ontario, London does boast one of the province’s best craft beer bars (Milos’ Craft Beer Emporium) and a great little craft brewery (Forked River Brewing Company). It is also smack dab in the middle of some pretty wonderful agricultural land, so there is no shortage of locally sourced food to enjoy with our beer here.

So, when my Dad visited recently from Calgary and we had an afternoon to kill, I knew exactly where I wanted to take him. Even though both the Clockwatching Tart and I have loved their cheeses since first trying them at the London Wine & Food Show a few years ago, we’d never made it to visit Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese.

If you click the above Food & Wine Show link, you’ll see we had pretty wonderful things things to say about Gunn’s Hill upon discovering their cheese – “I think the tastiest thing I tried at the whole show was the Five Brothers cheese from Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese in Woodstock” – and those feelings still stand.

Fall Chicken & Apple Stew

This is a very simple fall stew quick enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for company, which is my favourite category of recipe!  

Also, this recipe makes a ton of stew and the leftovers are great!  The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.  Here's what you need for this quick fall stew:

Tart of the Month - Apple Pie

For Thanksgiving this year I was in charge of making apple pie. I know this is not technically a tart, but I prefer apple pie with crumble topping, rather than a double-crust pie, so it's very close to a tart.

I used The Food Lab's easy pie dough recipe to make the dough ahead of time and kept it in the fridge for a few days, then assembled and baked the pies the day of our dinner.

The dough is very easy to make in the food processor. I've been afraid to attempt pie crust in the past but I'm finding it pretty simple these days.  As long as you keep things very cold it isn't scary at all!

Here's what you need for two apple pies with crumble topping:

Traditions: Meatsticks (aka City Chicken)

Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend, so I thought I'd share one of my family traditions with you.  I'm not Ukrainian by birth, but my eldest aunt has been married to a Polish/Ukrainian man for over 45 years, and my uncle's culinary traditions made their way to our Canadian table.

Every year for Thanksgiving we have the usual turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie, but we also have pierogies, cabbage rolls and meatsticks.

My family has always called these fried, breaded pork skewers "meatsticks", but in many parts of North America where Eastern Europeans have settled, they're called City Chicken.  Believe it or not, chicken was once such a luxury item that this imitation drumstick was created from cheap cuts of pork. 

And they are SO delicious. If you're keeping track, we serve three kinds of meat at our Thanksgiving: turkey, pork and beef in the cabbage rolls.  But the meatsticks have long been my favourite and they're great any time of year (we have them at Christmas too).

So here's my family recipe for meatsticks, courtesy of my wonderful aunt.

Tart of the Month Autumn Round Up

It's been a very busy month around here, so I didn't have time to make a new tart in September.  Instead, I thought I'd browse the archives for seasonal Autumn tarts I've made in the past.

There are some real winners here!

This Butternut Squash Tart with Sage, Honey & Chilis is really easy and makes a tasty, fancy appetizer or light lunch.

Stone fruits are still in season here in Ontario, and these Plum Tarts with Honey and Black Pepper are a sweet and sour treat.

This Roasted Vegetable Tarte Tatin takes a little more effort, but it is so beautiful and delicious, it's well worth it. 

I can't get enough butternut squash at this time of year, so here's another Butternut Squash Tart, this time with mushrooms and Gruyere.

Little Beet, Cheddar & Apple Tarts on puff pastry are a simple treat for a savoury dessert or snack.

Tarte flambée, or Flammekueche is similar to pizza and makes a wonderful dinner when nights get cooler.  

Carrots are in season and I love the way this Carrot and Herb Tart uses a variety of coloured carrots with the green of fresh herbs. 

And, finally, it isn't really fall without some pumpkin spice. These Pumpkin Spice Tarts have a gingersnap crust I love. 

Get outside and enjoy the season!  

Happy Hour - Gin Martini

Wow, what a crazy few weeks it has been!  I know that September/back to school is hectic for parents and teachers.  We are neither, but I started a brand new job two weeks ago, with all the changes to routine that entails.  Plus, we just bought a new house and put our house on the market!  It's a very exciting time, but also very stressful and busy.  We often have to leave the house at dinnertime for showings, and keep it spotless between showings, so needless to say, we haven't done much cooking. 

We had to pack up some glassware to make our home look more spacious for showings, but I insisted on keeping my martini glasses and shaker.  In this stressful time, I'm not going to deny myself a martini!

This is a traditional gin martini with a twist.  You can use an olive instead, but I can't stand olives, and I love the way the lemon adds a little bitter, sour flavour to the drink.

A gin martini is full of gin flavour, so you want to use your very best, favourite gin.  My dear friend bought me Hendrick's Gin for my recent birthday and it would be fantastic in this. I used Bombay Sapphire East which is subtly flavoured with black pepper and lemongrass. You'll also need dry vermouth.  

There is some controversy over what makes the "perfect" martini.  The less vermouth, the more dry it is and some like it very dry. But I started with a 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth and liked it fine. If you are new to gin and/or martinis, this is a good place to start. You can fiddle with the amount of vermouth to make your perfect martini. 

For this martini, mix 2 ounces of gin and one ounce of vermouth in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake until the shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds.  

Use a zester or sharp paring knife to remove a strip of lemon peel from a fresh, clean lemon.  Twist the peel over the glass to release the oils, and pour the cocktail over a the lemon into a martini glass.

You can see this martini is cloudy, not clear. That's from shaking it, which causes ice crystals to make the drink opaque.  James Bond's "shaken, not stirred" causes this cloudiness which is not ideal for martini connoisseurs.  For a clear martini, stir the cocktail gently rather than shaking it.  I am not that picky. 

Since the ingredients are nothing but booze, this makes a very boozy cocktail, but it can be just the thing before dinner or after a long day. It is sophisticated and tasty which is sometimes just what you need.

Cheers!