Spring for Fun

Since I started a serious vegetable garden a few seasons ago, the spring has new meaning. Late winter can be melancholy; the larder of cellared local vegetables begins to dwindle, it’s gray and dark and wet outside, and according to our Wisconsin calendar, we still have months of unofficial winter to bear. What brings me hope and gets me through those dark days are seed catalogs, the plans for next season’s garden and the jars filled with preserved fruits and vegetables that still line my pantry shelves. So when spring finally arrives (let’s be realistic and say mid-May) I feel new energy and excitement for local food.

By this time, my seeds are well underway. Certain seedlings like kohlrabi and kale I am preparing to transplant outside, and the rest I’m about to direct seed in the garden. I may even have sprouts of spring greens like arugula, mustards, dandelion, and spinach emerging or in full effect in my cold-frame. My mouth starts watering for that first delicate salad of sorrel and spinach with herb vinaigrette. I like to keep it simple and savor these initial pickings, so cooking these greens is not in my plan. A basic entrée salad with a simple poached egg can still appear gourmet.

A fun way to celebrate early spring’s modest bounty is to invite a few appreciative companions over to help prepare dinner or some light hors d’oeuvres. I have learned from a couple of close friends who like to entertain that I don’t have to be completely prepared when my guests arrive. My theory has always been that if I work ahead I can sit down and enjoy a beverage and conversation knowing that the first load of dishes is done and our appetizers are in the oven. This stems from the “clean-as-you-go” training I received in school and isn’t all bad. But when you’re entertaining at home, it’s smart to take it easy. Chances are you’ll be more apt to entertain again if you aren’t completely wiped out after a one-person show. Getting friends involved in chopping, tearing, and piping is a terrific way to interact. Let everyone grab a glass of local wine or craft beer and invite them to pick up a knife or pastry bag. Perhaps you can have some of the recipes (like the pastry dough recipe below) underway, but your company can help finish. I will warn that they may learn some of your tricks and shortcuts for being a budget gourmet; they’ll realize you weren’t sweating in the kitchen all day carefully hand-cutting and shaping all of those tiny tart shells, but it’s likely that they’ll marvel at you nonetheless for working so cleverly to create an upscale meal.

The tartlet recipe to follow requires a couple of special pieces of equipment: a mini-muffin pan and a two to three-inch round cutter. A pastry bag with star tip and a tart shaper (wooden dowel with two rounded ends that looks like a dumbbell for a baby) are also handy tools, but not necessary. I use my mini-muffin pan for making mini muffins, but also for tartlets, mini quiche, and tiny cupcakes. The round cutter may come in a nested set of 11 or 12. Aside from cutting out tart shells, you can use these for making crackers, cookies, or for getting fancy when plating starches or vegetables; use the cutter as a “mold” for your plate presentation, remove before serving. The tart shaper is mildly useful for a sturdier tart dough that will be rolled out. It’s much more necessary if you’re shaping a soft, scoopable sugar dough to be pressed into the pan rather than laid into place.

Goat cheese and tomato preserve tartlets
Yields about 40 tartlets.

Herb pastry:
4 oz. unsalted butter
1 c. all-purpose flour
salt and ground black pepper
1 t. dried thyme
cold water, to mix

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Season and stir in the thyme, then mix to a firm dough with cold water. Press the dough into a disk, cover and let chill about 30 minutes. This can also be expedited in a food processor. Pulse the butter with the seasonings and flour then add cold water and pulse until the dough comes together. This dough can be made ahead and frozen or refrigerated.

Filling:
8 oz. soft goat cheese (chevre), softened at room temperature
1 oz. fresh herbs (chives may be popping up in the early spring garden), chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. Tomato Mountain Sungold Preserves (tomato jam)
Fresh herbs for garnish

(Pull out the tart dough and let it relax at room temperature while you make the tart filling). Combine the chevre and fresh herbs in a medium bowl. Mix until herbs are well distributed. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Set aside while preparing the tart shells.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease mini-muffin pan and set aside. Roll tart dough 1/8-inch thick and cut out several two or three-inch rounds depending how deep you want your tartlets to be. (The deeper they are, the fewer you will get out of one recipe. I feel that two-inch rounds make the perfect bite-size hors d’oeuvres.) It is possible to re-roll the dough after cutting out several rounds, but repeatedly re-rolling causes the dough to tighten up. Let it relax for a while at room temperature before trying again.

Line each hole in the muffin pan with a pastry round. You may have to put a slight tuck in the round for a good fit. Press the tart dough very gently into the pan to avoid shrinking during baking. Prick the bottom of each shell with a fork before baking. This will prevent air pockets from forming underneath. Bake for approximately 7 to 8 minutes or until light golden. Let cool completely before filling. Carefully remove from pan.

Place about 1/2 teaspoon of sungold preserves in the bottom of each shell. If available, use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe about 1 tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture on top of the preserves. Without a tip you can carefully spoon or scoop a dollop onto the tomato jam (or see tip below.) Place an additional 1/4 teaspoon of preserves on top of the cheese. Arrange on a serving tray. Cover and chill up to four hours. To serve, garnish with fresh herbs.

To make your own decorating bag, fill a plastic bag with the cheese mixture and snip off a corner. The more you snip, the larger the opening.

Local eating hint
If you haven’t already, plan your preserving schedule for the season. If you will plant a garden, carefully think about what you can grow to can, freeze, dry, or ferment later in the season. Preservable items in my backyard include carrots, beets, green beans, and cucumbers for pickling; paste tomatoes for sauce making; herbs and cherry tomatoes for drying; spinach, swiss chard, and kale for blanching and freezing for a soup or vegetable lasagna; zucchini for shredding and freezing for a quick bread recipe; corn that can be ground into meal and dry beans that can be jarred and put away. Now is also the time to pick up a 2009 Farm Fresh Atlas of Southeastern Wisconsin, which is a wealth of information about farmers’ markets, farms that sell direct and U-pick farms, as well as restaurants that support local producers.

Sources
Sungold Preserves
Tomato
Mountain Farm
Brooklyn, WI • 608-862-3446
tomatomountainfarm.com

Chevre
Capri Creamery
Blue River WI • 608-604-2640
capricheesery.com
e-mail.
Cheesemaker Felix Thalhammer uses traditional artisan techniques from his Swiss heritage to create handmade goat cheeses in Wisconsin’s Driftless area. His goat milk is from a small group of Wisconsin organic Amish dairy farms. He sells his cheese at the Dane County Farmers’ Market as well as Outpost Natural Foods.

Spinach (in case you don’t have a garden bounty this spring)
Ruegsegger Farms
Blanchardville, WI • 608-523-4705 naturalmeats.org
e-mail.

Although Ken and Sherrie Ruegsegger specialize in pastured, hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats, they also sell a limited amount of vegetables in the Milwaukee area. During the winter they sell spinach from Snug Haven Farm near Madison, but in the spring they have their own delicious greens. They deliver to homes in Milwaukee regularly and take orders through their web site. Group orders are appreciated in order to make the trip more fuel-efficient. Of course, Outpost Natural Foods also carries local spinach.

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