Stone Fruit Tart with Almond Crust

First let me say that this recipe got me way more Ooohs and Aaahs than I expected. I certainly got more credit than I deserved considering how easy this was. The plums were from the CSA and the peaches were from the farmer's market. But any stone fruit would do. There are currently 5 or 6 different kinds of plums at my farmer's market. I chose the peaches because I though they would be a bit sweeter than the tart plums.

I got the recipe for the tart shell from a recent post at The Nourished Kitchen which I only recently discovered. I was actually so inspiried by the gorgeous picture she took that I went out and bought a tart pan the very next day and this was the first time I used it. The shell contained:

2 cups of almond meal

1 egg white

4 tablespoons of butter (half a stick)

2 tablespoons sugar

The Nourished Kitched calls for a stand mixer to mix the ingredients, but my stand mixer is all covered with stuff in the only crummy pantry I get in my tiny apartment, so I opted for a potato masher instead. And you know what? It worked just fine. By the way, thanks to my dad for takin' the pics. I was so happy you came to town for a visit!! Plus, I never get a photographer in the kitchen! It was really fun.
I worked all the ingredients together. When the dough came together I put the whole lot of it in the tart pan and spread it out into the pan. Just squish it out evenly and press it into the corners to move it out. The almonds have alot of fat so it gets a little messy. It is also nothing like a wheat based dough, there is not springiness to the dough. It is more like a paste, so just be gentle and sread it out evenly.
The tart is not totally gluten free because I did put a little flour in with the fruit to soak up the juice. But if you have gluten sensitivity just omit it. I mixed about a quarter cup of brown sugar in with the cut up fruit and placed it in the unbaked tart. Then I baked the tart at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes of until the whole house smelled like almonds. Yummy.Here is what it looked like after I served it.

That piece got eaten. There were no leftovers. That is when you know you've got a hit: no leftovers.

Washington Heights Peach?

Last week, because of their birthdays, I had to take my Things to their annual pediatrician appointment. As we were walking home (everyone is good, healthy and growing) my big guy noticed that one apartment building had a peach tree planted in the small flower bed in front of their building. To my amazement the tree was full of nice big ripe peaches. Thing 1 stopped to check it out, because he loves peaches. I think he was a little surprised to see peaches on a tree since he usually sees them at the Farmer's Market or the grocery store.

We do alot of sharing in our city life. We have to share the sidewalk, our playground, our park, our hallways and elevators. With a little brother now, we share all toys and books. I like the idea that our set of toys is communal. We never had too many problems with "mine-itis" and I think that is because we are always sharing things with other people. But this peach tree was not for sharing. We are at an age now when we are talking alot about other people's property, what is appropriate to touch, whose toys you can play with (those abandoned in the playground) and whose you shouldn't (those in someone else's hands).

As we were stopped, having a conversation about the peaches on the tree, the building's Super overheard me saying that Thing 1 shouldn't take a peach from the tree because it belonged to the people who live in that building, nor should he take the peaches off the ground because they were icky or had worm holes. The Super told me that he had just picked some peaches from the tree and that we should take some home. In his truck nearby he had a big bag of peaches, which he told me to go home and wash because of the prickly peach fuzz. As he left to back inside Thing 1 shouted "THANK YOU!" and the Super called after me "These are organic you know, no pesticides or fertilizer or nothing." After dinner Thing 1 reminded me that I had the peaches in my bag and we all ate them for dessert.

What a special treat this was. I read local food blogs all the time and I love the spirit behind supporting your community's food. I love the connection to regionality and where one is on the earth that comes from eating local and indigenous foods. But to me in New York City, eating local means eating foods that were grown 100 miles north in Columbia County, in Northern New Jersey or Long Island. There is alot of amazing food that comes out of these places, but it is not exactly my backyard. It is unfortunate that the patch of earth that feels my footprints every day will likely never sustain me.

There are a few people who have windowsill herb gardens. I know of some friends that are planting some veggie plants in pots in quiet, out of the way outdoor places. There are a couple of community gardens in the city, and there are some very cool people working on a whole roof top farm in Brooklyn. The interest in Urban Farming is growing in our community, but in the borough of Manhattan it is different. Most buildings do not have any outdoor space, and of those that do, most of them are paved areas in the back of the building with little light because of adjacent buildings. I am fortunate that my building has a full backyard and shrubs and a flower garden, but I share this garden with about 1000 other people and I can't just go and rip up the ground for my own personal use. We would all have to agree that that is what we want to do. Our roof is off limits because of liability and insurance issues, but somehow I am going to find a way to have a tomato plant next year...without pissing off my neighbors...I will just have to keep at it and think of a way.

So to sit with the kids on a lovely cool evening with the windows open and a breeze coming in, and eat peaches grown and serendipitously found in Washington Heights, well it was sublime. For us in the concrete maze we call home, to eat from this land is especially sweet.

Pickled Peaches

Last week the CSA gifted us 20 peaches. That is far more than two adults, one child and one baby with 5.5 teeth can possibly eat in a given week. After all, I must assume that I will get an equal amount of these perky orbs next week.

A friend recommended pickled peaches. I had never heard of these wonders.My friend said she adored them and that they were amazing. Each website that she suggested to me was written by people who loved these peaches. What did I have to lose except 14 peaches and some sugar? Besides, canning doesn’t scare me!

This recipe is from allrecipes.com, it is entitled Nana’s Southern Pickled Peaches.

Original Recipe Yield 4 quarts
Ingredients
4 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons whole cloves
4 pounds fresh clingstone peaches, blanched and peeled
5 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks

Directions
Combine the sugar, vinegar and water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Press one or two cloves into each peach, and place into the boiling syrup. Boil for 20 minutes, or until peaches are tender.

Spoon peaches into sterile jars and top with liquid to 1/2 inch from the rim. Put one cinnamon stick into each jar. Wipe the rims with a clean dry cloth, and seal with lids and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal, or consult times recommended by your local extension.
I did all of the above except that I made a half batch and I forgot to boil the peaches in the syrup. I just blanched them and quartered them and put them sliced in the jars like that. My jars were too small to fit whole peaches, so that is my excuse. But really I didn’t read that part of the recipe until the cans were in the water bath. I am sure that mine won’t be as good as yours. But I am getting another 4 pounds worth of fruit soon (really by the time this posts I will have already gotten more). So I am planning on putting these babies up until the fall or winter when I can crack them open and relive the glory days of 80 degree weather and warm breezes and kids that can stay up until 9 because it is still light out and everyone is in a good mood. Only thing is, I put a cinnamon stick in each jar so that they would look pretty-is that going to introduce bacteria and screw everything up?

I had a few peaches that wouldn’t fit into my jars, so they are in a Tupperware in the fridge. Those I will sample this week. Looking forward to it!! The syrup tasted awesome when I sampled it.