Perfecting Corn Tart

It's been an unusually cold summer here, so we've only had fresh corn in the past few weeks.  Its late arrival makes it all the more welcome on the dinner table.  One of my favorite ways to eat corn is in a tart, and I just hit on the way to make the flavor sing.  It's so simple I'm sorry it took so long for me to figure it out.  When trimming the corn kernels from the cob, rather than slicing near the cob, I sliced near the tops of kernels. This trimmed about half of the kernel, and then I scraped the remainder with the back of the knife to extract the corn juice.  This resulted in a thick corn goop, rather than a tidy bowl of kernels.

When I leave the kernels whole, there is a nice crunch to the tart, but the surrounding egg custard doesn't taste like corn.  It's still tasty, but the corn flavor is subtle. By using the half-kernels and juice, the corn flavor infused the entire tart, and there was still a satisfying crunch from the kernel tops.  Yum.

Tarts are forgiving, so there is no one right set of ingredients.  Anything that goes with corn is a likely addition, so you could use chiles, bits of bacon or chicken (if you're so inclined), spinach, or whatever you like.  For me, the absolute perfect combination is onion, red pepper, and basil, with a tomato salad served on the side.

My recipe for corn tart

Recipe: Corn Tart

Recipe: Corn Tart

Cornmeal crust:

1 c. flour
1/2 c. fine cornmeal
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. water
2 T olive oil

Mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the wet ingredients.  Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes until the dough gets stretchy.  Roll and stretch into a tart pan, and blind bake at 350 for 10 minutes. 

Note: this dough wants to shrink back in, so when you blind bake, either weight it down or put a second tart pan inside the first so it doesn't shrink.

Note: this makes a great pizza crust, too.  Just roll it thin, top it, and bake.


Filling:

3 ears corn. Trim off the top half of the kernels with a knife, then use the back of the knife to scrape the remainder. 
1/2 onion, fine dice
1 small, or half large, red bell pepper, fine dice
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. fresh basil, rolled and thinly sliced to make a chiffonade
1/4 t. salt
good grind of pepper

While the crust is baking, saute the onions over a low heat to soften.  Add the peppers and saute for another two minutes to soften.  Remove from the heat.

In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients, then quickly stir in the vegetables.  Pour into the baked tart shell.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the tart sets.

Summer vegetables

I've been quiet on the blog for a while, not because we haven't been cooking and eating, but because of travels and work commitments.  It's been a busy few months.

Summer fruits and vegetables are in the farmers' market.  We ate grilled vegetables accompanied by yogurt and salad greens every day while in Turkey earlier this summer.  Since we've been home we've done much the same, grilling batches of vegetables for dinner, and eating them cold for a few days after. Eggplant is a staple. It was part of every meal in Turkey, and we've been eating the small Italian and Japanese varieties (the first to market) since being home.  We just toss it on the grill in slices, then dress with a bit of olive oil and salt after it's cooked.  Grilled summer squashes, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms are a staple in the house right now as well. 

We also keep batches of marinated and grilled tofu.  Our staple marinade is made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, a touch of oil, and Sriracha.  We also do a variation with soy sauce, lime, vinegar, green chile paste and brown sugar.   Both make a nice dipping sauce as well.

I've also been cooking batches of fresh tomato sauce, made with tomatoes onions and garlic, and seasoned with olive oil, salt, red chile flakes and basil.  It's great warm over the vegetables, and also cold the next day with eggs or a cold vegetable plate.