French Tomato Tart

This is a recipe, that i should make more often, but never find the time for, even though it's very easy to make. But with all the summer tomatoes laying in my counter and a marinated flank steak in the fridge, tomato tart came to mind as a side for the steak.
And the mixture of a buttery crust, mustard, tomatoes and fresh herbs just screams rose, a light but dry french rose works wonders with this tart.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into slices

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

2-3 tablespoons ice cold water

11 inch tart pan with removable bottom

For the filling:

5 medium size tomatoes, sliced

2-3 tablespoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and fresh oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and fresh pepper

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour and salt until mixed. Add 1 piece of butter at a time and pulse after each addition. Beat egg and cold water and add slowly to flour/butter mix.

It should get thick and dough like. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to the size of the tart pan, placing on pan and pressing the bottom with your fingers.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Spread mustard evenly on bottom of pan(on top of dough), and if the love for mustard is there, by all means go for the full 3 tablespoons or more if needed. Let mustard dry out a bit, about 5 minutes.

Lay tomatoes on top of mustard. Pour olive oil over it and sprinkle with fresh herbs, salt and pepper.

Bake it for 30 minutes. Let it rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Lemon Curd

So after making a semifreddo this past week, i ended up with 6 egg yolks, and not quite sure what to do with it, i asked for help on facebook. Michele from La Belle Cuisine mentioned Lemon Curd, which right away brought me back memories from this delicious english lemon curd that i use to get in NYC. Had made it a couple of times before, but it had been years since the last time i made.

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks

1 cup of sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into slices and chilled

Place a saucepan on stove and fill with 2 inches of water. bring water to a simmer.

In a metal bowl, that is bigger than the pot with water, combine egg yolks and sugar and whisk until smooth. If the lemon juice doesn't reach 1/3 cup, add water. Add zest and juice to egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Place bowl on top of pot with water and bring temperature down. Whisk until thickened. It should take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter, a slice at a time, until all melted. Place in a clean jar and cover with plastic film immediately right on top of the curd. Refrigerate for 2-3 weeks.