It’s been a long winter. And spring for that matter. I
don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved to feel the warm sun rays and cool
breezes of June in Seattle. The bright rhododendrons, juicy red strawberries and
beers on the deck at sunset make life feel a bit normal again.
You see, just as the last couple of Valentine’s Day
chocolates were being hidden away for future late night sweet treats, we got
some horrible news. My step had been having severe headaches and nausea every
day for the last couple months and nothing seemed to be helping. We thought it
was migraines or maybe that he had been playing too rough during soccer
practice, perhaps a wheat allergy. However, the MRI images told a different
story: a large grey mass in the middle of his brain. It was a tumor, and the
neurosurgery team told us it needed to be removed immediately.
After a six-hour surgery, lengthy hospital stay and six
weeks of radiation, here we are. We’ve still got a long ways to go. More
chemotherapy and hospital stays are on the schedule, an aggressive treatment
for an aggressive type of brain cancer.
Needless to say, there hasn’t been much time or energy
for cooking. Heck, even grocery shopping was put on hold for a while. Lucky for
us, we have an amazingly supportive community of family and friends who brought
us some delicious meals: bubbly mac and cheese, fresh vegetables and fruit,
stews, soup, homemade lasagna, some excellent curried salmon and even a few
bottles of wine.
So, rhubarb tarts. There wasn’t a birthday or graduation
or even a special dinner planned tonight. Just a chunk of five hours today, all
to myself. Rhubarb season is reason enough to celebrate, and these cute little
jammy tarts show it off beautifully. Some of the rhubarb is cooked with berries
into a thick compote, with the remaining rhubarb folded in at the end so it
retains its shape. A dash of rose water adds a delicate floral note enhances
the subtle, tart rhubarb. The tart dough is forgiving and tender, with a
buttery crumb thanks to the golden kamut flour that lends a mild, sweet flavor.
Just what the doctor ordered on a perfect June afternoon.
Makes 10 tarts
230 grams (½ pound) berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, whatever! Frozen is fine too)
200 grams (1 cup) sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon rose water
80 grams (1/2 cup) fine cornmeal or semolina flour
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
113 grams (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits
60 grams (¼ cup) plain yogurt (whole milk is best)
40 grams (2 each) large egg yolks
Rhubarb Rose Tarts
with Golden Kamut Crust
This recipe was inspired and tweaked from the excellent
book, Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce.
If you don’t have kamut flour, experiment with other whole grain flours or even
a combination of flours. I’ve used a mix of kamut, amaranth and semolina flour
with excellent results.
Ingredients:
Rhubarb Rose Filling:
700 grams (1 ½ pounds) rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into
large chunks230 grams (½ pound) berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, whatever! Frozen is fine too)
200 grams (1 cup) sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon rose water
Kamut Tart Crust:
125 grams (1 cup) all purpose, unbleached flour
125 grams (1 cup) kamut flour 80 grams (1/2 cup) fine cornmeal or semolina flour
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
113 grams (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits
60 grams (¼ cup) plain yogurt (whole milk is best)
40 grams (2 each) large egg yolks
Cook the filling. In
a large saucepan, combine 2/3 of the rhubarb, berries, sugar and salt. Bring to
a simmer over medium heat, and cook until the fruit breaks down completely and
thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail in the bottom of the pot. Scrape into
a bowl, stir in the remaining rhubarb and rose water and set aside to cool.
Make the tart
dough. In a food processor, pulse the flours, sugar and salt together.
Sprinkle in the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is the size of small
peas. Whisk together the yogurt and egg yolks and pour over the flour mixture.
Pulse until crumbly, but comes together when pinched between the fingers.
Shape the dough. Dump
the dough onto a floured surface and gather it together. Cut the dough into 10
pieces (60 grams each if you are so inclined). One at a time, flatten the dough
into a 6-inch diameter circle of even thickness, scraping the bottom up with a
bench scraper or metal spatula to loosen it. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Line two baking sheets with a silicone-coated mat or parchment paper and
transfer five pieces of dough to each, evenly spaced apart.
Fill the tarts. Scoop
¼ cup of filling into the center of each round. Fold the edges up around the
filling (don’t worry if the dough crumbles a bit, just push it back into
place). Place the tarts in the freezer for 1 hour or up to 2 weeks covered in
plastic.
Bake the tarts. Preheat
an oven to 375⁰F and
bake the tarts for about 35-40 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. The
tarts are done when the edges are golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Serve
warm or room temperature and keep any extras (should there be any) covered in
an airtight container for up to two days.
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