Plum Tart

A couple of weeks ago we had a sublime meal at Canal House Station, a restaurant run by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hershimer in Milford, N.J. Melissa was co-owner of Hamilton Grill Room in Lambertville, N.J., and was food stylist and recipe developer for many publications, including Cook's Illustrated, Martha Stewart Living and Saveur, where she became food editor. Christopher was food and design editor for Metropolitan Home and co-founder of Saveur, and is a photographer and writer who has written four cookbooks. That's Christopher on the left and Melissa on the right (with yours truly in the middle) in the photo below.

Together they opened their charming restaurant along the Delaware River in a former train station and have published a series of seasonal cookbooks featuring recipes they serve to the public. Each course of our meal was so fresh and flavorful we were nearly licking the plates clean. Dessert was the beautiful and delicious plum tart in the photo above.

I knew immediately that I wanted to recreate it in my kitchen, especially since my Italian chit-chat group was meeting at my house in a few days. But I changed the topping somewhat to add sliced plums, rather than plum halves, and beneath the plums I dabbled a bit of almond paste - totally optionally, but wow, what a great taste combination. 

The time to make this is now, since Italian prune plums are in season for only a short while longer. Of course you can use the easier-to-find typical plums, but do search out the Italian prune variety while they're still available.

Purchased puff pastry makes this an easy dessert recipe. The photo below is of one sheet from a package of Pepperidge Farms' puff pastry, which contains two sheets. I used both sheets and pinched them together since I was having a crowd, but you can cut the recipe in half and use only one sheet. Roll each sheet out to about 10" x 10" and lift up the edges about 1/2 inch to create a border. Prick the pastry with a fork to keep the interior from puffing up too much.

If you want to add the almond paste (and why wouldn't you?), just break off some pieces, flatten them out and dabble them over the pastry. The almond paste also keeps the pastry from getting too soggy from the plum juices.

Slice the plums, (or keep them in halves if you prefer), place them over the almond paste, and add some dabs of butter. Sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the plums have softened.  Serve with whipped cream.

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Plum Tart

Inspired by Melissa Hamilton's and Christopher Hershimer's recipe in Canal House Cooking

2 sheets puff pastry (I used one box of Pepperidge Farm pastry, which contains two sheets), defrosted

1/4 cup flour

6-8 tablespoons granulated sugar

10-14 Italian prune plums (depending on size you may need more or less)

1 tube of almond paste (optional)

2 tablespoons cold butter, broken into bits.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the pastry until each of them is about 10" x 10".

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place each piece of pastry on the parchment paper next to each other. Squeeze the edges of the pieces together in the middle. Lift the edges all around to form a kind of "frame" to keep the juices from running over the sides. Prick the interior of the pastry all over with the tines of a fork.

Sprinkle half the sugar over the pastry. Place dabs of the almond paste all around, then slice the plums and arrange over the almond paste (or just cut them in half and place halves over the almond paste, in which case you may need more plums). Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake for about 30 minutes or a little longer until the edges of the pastry are browned.

Serve with whipped cream.

Romano Beans, Potatoes and Pancetta

 

If you've never tried Romano beans, you have been missing out on one of best vegetables ever. They're sometimes hard to find, and are available for only a short time in late summer/early fall, so if you see these in your local supermarkets or farmer's market, grab a bunch.

They're common in Italian households, but not so much in the U.S., unless you come from the South, as does my friend Emily, who said they are called pole beans there. Her husband Tom curates a beautiful garden in Hopewell, NJ, growing all kinds of fabulous produce, including agretti, practically unheard of here in the U.S. but another of my favorite seasonal vegetables in Italy. He even sells to a few high end restaurants, and I am occasionally the beneficiary of some of their goodness, including this latest batch of Romano beans.

These beans were simply prepared with small white potatoes, a little pancetta, some garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Be sure to use quality ingredients since when a recipe is so simple as this, each ingredient really needs to shine.

Start out by boiling the potatoes and about ten minutes before they're done, add the beans. Cook until the beans and potatoes are soft through and through. This is not the time for crunchy beans. They need to be soft enough to smush a bit with a potato masher. Then drain everything in a colander.

Meanwhile, saute some pancetta and shallots (Tom also gave me some Belgian shallots he grew) until the pancetta has rendered its fat and the shallots are wilted. Add the garlic and let it soften too.

Add the potatoes and beans, salt and pepper, and "smush" everything together with a potato masher or a sturdy fork. Add a little more olive oil if you like (and I like).

Serve with a nice glass of wine. This was dinner for me and my husband, and was very filling, but you might like to add a salad if it's not enough for you.

Romano Beans, Potatoes and Pancetta

(For two people)

Ingredients:

about 8-10 tiny white potatoes

about 1/3 pound Romano beans

1 thick slice of pancetta (about 1/2" slice)

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely diced

1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

salt, pepper

Instructions:

Boil the potatoes in water until almost cooked through. Add the beans to the water (after de-stringing them if they are stringy) and boil until they are cooked through - about 8-10 minutes. Drain everything.

Place the pancetta in a pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Cook until the fat starts to render, then add the shallot and cook until wilted. Add the garlic and cook until wilted, then put the potatoes and beans into the pan, season with salt and pepper. Smush the potatoes and beans somewhat using a potato masher or sturdy fork. Add more olive oil and mix everything well.