What we're eating right now :: caramelised garlic tart

It's easy to grow good garlic in Tasmania.  The winter provides plenty of chilly nights resulting in those prized fat purple heads.   Yesterday I sowed next year's garlic crop.  About sixty cloves that should, by Christmas all going well, turn into sixty fat heads of purple garlic.  

 

Although we're not self sufficient in much food wise, roosters and garlic we never have to buy.  We always manage to grow enough to eat for most of the year, along with saving enough cloves to sow for the following season.

It's about this time of year however, when the stored garlic starts to sprout.  The cloves go soft and start to dry out and they don't make very good eating.   I have to regularly pick through the basket and cook up, or sow any with green shoots emerging.  The stores are still on track though to have enough to last until spring, then we can start picking the green flower stalks or scapes that will have grown from the cloves sown this week.

This tart is based on the recipe from Yotam Ottelnghi's book Plenty. I've edited it slightly in the spirit of thriftiness, and using three whole heads of garlic, it's a delicious way to use up those sprouting cloves.

Caramelised Garlic Tart

1 sheet of puff pastry - although I made my own rough puff based on this recipe

3 whole heads of garlic, cloves separated and peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 cup of water

100g goats cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1/2 cup of pure cream

A few sprigs of thyme

Line a 20cm loose bottom tart tin with puff pastry and blind bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes or until pastry is golden.  Remove from oven and set aside, but leave the oven on.

Meanwhile, put the cloves in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water.  Bring to a boil and blanch the garlic cloves for about 3 minutes, then drain and dry off cloves. Dry the saucepan and pop the cloves back in with the olive oil and heat over medium heat for a few minutes until garlic starts to colour.

Add balsamic and water, increase heat to high then once boiling, reduce to a simmer.  Cook at a gentle simmer for around 10 - 15 minutes, then add thyme, sugar and a pinch of salt and continue to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and the cloves are coated in a thick syrup.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.

To assemble the tart, crumble goats cheese evenly over the base of the tart shell. Then spoon cloves and syrup over the cheese.

Make a custard by beating the eggs, creme fraiche and cream together adding a little salt and pepper in a small jug and pour over tart filling, making sure the custard fills in any gaps.  You still want to see garlic and cheese poking up through the custard.

Bake tart in the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes or until top is golden and custard is firm.

Allow to cool a little, and serve warm.

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What we're eating right now...

Over the years I've realised that some vegetables grow really well in my garden, and others, not so much.  I'm not sure why, perhaps it's the soil, the amount of sunlight, the axis of the moon, or maybe a combination of a lot of things.   Brassicas, garlic, rhubarb and kale all seem to thrive, but I've never managed to grow carrots very well.  And English spinach, whether seed or seedling, it doesn't like it here at all. Despite many attempts, year after year.  Which is a shame because it's a favourite.

Now beetroot, thankfully is on the winning side.  That I can grow.  Which is a good thing because it's also one of my favourite vegetables.   This time of year we have a great crop growing and the green tops take over where spinach fails and the roots are roasted and turned into salads or a spicy dip. 

But I reckon the best way to eat them is this roasted beetroot soup.  This is a super easy recipe, eaten hot unlike it's Eastern European cousin borscht.  We serve this with a perfectly soft boiled egg, a fair dollop of yoghurt or sometimes crumbled goats cheese.  Then finished with some snipped chives from the garden.  I would use dill but sadly, that's on the "does not grow well" list too. 

Roasted Beetroot Soup

5 or 6 whole beetroot

1 or 2 onions or leeks diced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 litre or so of vegetable stock or water

Apple cider vinegar to taste

To serve 

4 soft boiled eggs, peeled

chives or dill or both 

yoghurt or creme fraiche 

Wash the beets and leaving them whole, place in a baking dish then drizzle them with olive oil and salt. Cover the dish tightly with foil and roast in 180 degree oven until tender.   (You could do this when you're using the oven to cook something else, then store the beets in the fridge until you're ready to make soup)

When tender, allow to cool then rub off beet skins with your fingers. (You might like to use gloves because the beets do stain your fingers.)  Dice beets then set aside.

Meanwhile in a saucepan big enough for soup, melt a generous knob of butter over a medium heat and sautee onion for a few minutes until soft then add garlic stir through.  Toss in the beets then add the stock.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for five minutes.   Then remove from heat and blend until super smooth with a stick blender. Taste for seasoning, adding a little splash of vinegar and salt and pepper. 

Ladle soup into bowls, break a boiled egg in half and add to the bowl, and a generous dollop of yoghurt and then the herbs.  

I thought I might start sharing a few recipes based on what's growing in the garden.  What we're eating right now. This is the first one. 

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