Tourte de Blette (Swiss Chard Pie)

In the "old town" of Nice is a cooking school that specializes in the art of Niçois cooking. Rosa Jackson runs Les Petits Farcis (meaning small stuffed things, as in appetizers) out of her beautifully renovated 17th century apartment. A Cordon Bleu-trained cook, Rosa is a cookbook author, contributor to several international food publications, an editor of Fodor's Guide to Provence and the Cote d'Azur, and runs the custom-designed itinerary service www.edible-paris.com. Here Rosa shares a recipes from her cooking school curriculum.

Blette (Swiss chard) probably wins the prize as the most popular Niçois vegetable, because it can be grown year-round in the area’s arid climate. In local bakeries you’ll come across two types of tourte de blettes, the savory one and a sweet version made with raisins, pine nuts and a little rum and topped with icing sugar. If the puff pastry used here is too rich for you, you can use the pissaladière dough instead, dividing into two and rolling it very thin. I usually don’t bother to make my own puff pastry, but I am careful to choose a brand made entirely with butter and free of additives.

Tourte de Blettes
(Contributed by Rosa Jackson)

Ingredients:
1 lb Swiss chard leaves
4 oz short-grain rice, such as arborio
1 onion
4 oz bacon
1 tbsp olive oil
3 eggs
2 oz Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 sheets ready-made puff pastry

Preparation:
Bring a medium pot of water to the boil and cook the rice for about 20 mins. Drain and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a small handful of coarse salt and blanch the chard leaves for about 5 mins. Rinse the leaves in cold water, squeeze dry and chop finely.

Chop the onion finely and cut the bacon into small dice. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and bacon over medium heat until the bacon starts to brown lightly. Add the chard and sauté for about 5 mins. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and add 2 of the eggs, the grated Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Place the pastry on a large baking sheet and spread out the filling to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Top with the second sheet of pastry and press the edges together. Beat the remaining egg and brush the pastry with the egg. Bake for 35 to 40 mins at 400 F.

Variation: Another popular tart in Nice is filled with zucchini (courgettes). Just replace the chard with finely diced zucchini and proceed exactly the same way. Alternatively, make the same recipe using finely diced pumpkin or squash instead of zucchini. Serves 6

Notes From Nice...

I have been in Nice (France) for a week. Saturday I spent the day visiting the Cours Saleya and Liberation farmers markets, with local chef and food writer Rosa Jackson as my guide. Nice, a city that has inspired an entire culture, food and language, is undoubtedly the foodies paradise.

Originally a Greek colony, Nice was under Italian rule until 1860, when through majority vote, it became part of France. There is no mistaking the Italian influence, from its' architecture and language to the ingredients and preparation of its' food. And if street food is any indication of the soul of a city, then that, too, is a unique experience here in this city by the Meditteranean Sea. From socca (chickpea pancake) to pissaladiere (carmelized onion tart) to tourte de blettes (swiss chard, bacon and rice pie), you can't help being intriqued by the simplicity, yet incredible taste of theses foods.

While walking through the markets one gets a clearer sense of the ingredients that are so uniquely Nicois and ever-present in the cuisine - olives and olive oils, eggplant, mushrooms, all things citrus, herbs. salts, spices, confitures (homemade jams), regional fruits and vegetables, etc, etc etc. I was like a child in a candy store - I wanted to buy some of everything. Believe it or not, of all the exciting sights, smells and tastes, my "aha moment" was the discovery of blue potatoes (I don't know how this one got past me). Can't you just imagine some blue mashed potatoes with your upcoming Thanksgiving dinner? No, I have not gone off the edge' but after my tour, I'm close! Suffice it to say that come spring, I will be looking for a lot of new exotic veggies to plant in my garden.

So, enjoy the photos; and look forward to several Nicois recipes over the next few weeks.


















Fountain guarding the entrance to the "Old City of Nice"













Chef Rosa Jackson












Local variety of pumpkin












Nicois oranges, lemons and clementimes












Designation for "organic agriculture"











Heirloom tomatoes












Homemade confitures (jams)













Mountain mushrooms












Cannolis and local pastries












Candy made with quince fruit and nuts












Dates, dates and more dates












Quince - a pear-like fruit












Tomatoes - a much larger "roma" variety












Various olive oils












Nicois olives












Vanilla beans












Flavored sugars












Herbs












Salts












Spices

How to Make Homemade Applesauce

(Submitted by Sharon Beamon)
It is that time of year again, apple season! The leaves are falling, the foliage is changing to the most beautiful fall colors and the weather is cooler. So, what better time to can applesauce for the winter. Prices for apples at your local farms are cheaper than at the grocery store. They are fresher and have not been coated with a shiny wax.

North Carolina happens to have some of the best apple orchards. I visited Deal Apple Orchards in Taylorsville, NC. It is off the beaten path, but well worth the peaceful country drive. The staff was very friendly and helpful. If you haven’t visited a local apple grower I highly recommend going now. The season is almost over.
Equipment and Ingredients:
Apples (approx. 50 small to medium)
Cinnamon
Jar grabber
Tongs or lid lifter
Jar funnel
2 large pot 8-10 quarts each
Large spoon
Ball jars with lids and rings
1 Water Bath Canner
KitchenAid stand mixer with the vegetable and fruit strainer (Sieve or Foley Food Mill will work but more labor intensive. You will also need the Food Grinder tray.

The first step is to wash the apples in cold water. Then core apples and put everything even the core in the large pot. The pot should have 1 inch of water in it.

Place the pot on the stove on high. Once it starts to boil turn it to medium. Let the apples cook until they all cook through. I cooked my apples longer than necessary but it made a smooth applesauce verses chunky.

While apples are cooking wash and boil glass jars and lids. This will sterilize the jars and lids. You can also use the dishwasher if it has a sterilization cycle.

Lock your KitchenAid and place the attachments according to the instructions. Turn mixer on speed four, position mixing bowl under fruit and vegetable strainer and put cooked apples through food tray. The strainer will separate the sauce from the waste. It is an amazing
attachment.

I highly recommend purchasing the KitchenAid attachments if you have the mixer. If you will be baking and canning often it is well worth the price. If you do not have the mixer the investment is priceless and the mixer will last a lifetime.

If you have not placed your mixer on the side of the kitchen sink that has the garbage disposal
place a container in the sink to catch all of the waste.

Place the applesauce in a large pot and place on low heat to keep it hot. If you are using the apples to bake with do not add sugar. It will be difficult to know how much sugar to use later. I did add approximately 2 tablespoons of cinnamon to the 8.5 quarts of applesauce. If you are making it to eat you can add sugar and more cinnamon to taste. Put applesauce in the hot sterilized jars with the funnel. Fill jar, but leave a ¼ inch space at top. Make sure the lip of the jar is clean before placing the lid on the jar.

After the lids are on the jars, (I could only fit 7 in my canning pot.), place jars in water bath. If you are above sea level (up to 1000 feet) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 minutes covered. If you are above 1000 feet follow the recommended process times. To see recommended increase(s) in process time for applesauce in a boiling-water canner, click here.

Keep remaining applesauce on low heat while the first jars are boiling. Once it has boiled for the correct timeframe take the jars out with the jar grabber and place them in a cool dry place. You will eventually hear the jars pop. This means the jars have been properly sealed. If a jar top, when pressed in, pops up and down it has not been processed properly. The best thing to do is immediately refrigerate and enjoy the fruit of your labor.

The final yield was 10 pints and 2 quarts. That is a nice yield for approximately 50 apples. Enjoy.

Resource website: www.pickyourown.org/applesauce. Article and photos by Sharon Beamon

Chicken Kiev

This is without doubt my favorite chicken dish. Chicken Kiev is boned chicken breasts rolled around seasoned butter, breaded, and baked. Delicious!

Several years ago this was a very popular entree that could be found on the menus of some of New York’s finest restaurants. But, it would eventually give way to the more modern, healthy, ‘low this and that’ cuisine. Perhaps that is because of the high butter content, all of which oozes out onto the plate as you make that first cut with your knife. Just the sight of it can cause your cholesterol numbers to climb. But some things I refuse to give up. This is one of them.

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon parsley, fresh
1 tablespoon chives, fresh
2 teaspoons lemon juice, fresh
2 teaspoon dried tarragon
½ teaspoon thyme leaves, dried
pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning chicken
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 large whole eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
2 cups bread crumbs, fresh ground
1 cup flour, for dredging

Preparation:
Combine butter, parsley, chives, tarragon, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place mixture on plastic wrap or waxed paper and roll into small log; place in freezer.
Place chicken breasts, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Squirt chicken lightly with water and squirt the top of the plastic wrap as well. Pound to no less than 1/8-inch thickness. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper.
Lay 1 chicken breast on a new piece of plastic wrap and place 1 tablespoon of the compound butter and 1 tablespoon bread crumbs in the center of each breast. Using the plastic wrap to assist, fold in ends of breast and roll breast into a log, completely enclosing the butter; roll very tightly. Repeat with each breast. Place chicken in refrigerator for 2 hours, or up to overnight.

Place egg and water mixture in 1 pie pan, season with salt and pepper; and bread crumbs and flour in different pie pans.
Dip each breast first in the in the flour, then egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place on a rack over a pan and refrigerate for about two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat until oil reaches 325-350 degrees F.
Remove from fridge when ready to cook. Gently place each breast in oil, sealed-side down, and brown. Transfer to a baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack set in sheet pan and allow to drain for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Six servings.

Sweet Potato Pecan Pound Cake

This is a follow-up to my last post about the homegrown, organic vegetables of Persimmon Hill Farm. I took my own advice and purchased some of their "fresh out of the ground" sweet potatoes. My original intention was to make a sweet potato pie. But I got carried away and decided to combine my three favorite desserts into one.

I found these organic sweet potatoes to have a sweeter than usual taste, and not stringy, allowing the use of all of the potato. Baking, instead of boiling, brought out even more of the sweetness. Also, they were more tender, thereby requiring less baking time. Based on this experience, I believe I just became a regular customer!

Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups sweet potatoes, baked, peeled & pureed
1 cup butter, unsalted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt, fine grind
2 teaspoons cardamom
⅓ cup buttermilk
1-½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Glaze:
⅓ cup butter, unsalted
¾ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
½ cup white chocolate, melted
½ cup pecans, chopped & toasted

Preparation:
Cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes until soft - approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size. When done, puree in food processor or mash by hand.
Spray a 12 cup bundt pan or angel food cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cream butter with sugars and beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla paste and sweet potatoes and blend well. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spice. Stir into the batter, alternating with the buttermilk, until blended. Fold in chopped pecans and spoon the batter into the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Carefully move the cake from the pan to the rack and let cool completely.
Glaze:
Heat the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and let cook, bubbling gently, about 5 - 8 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the stove and briskly stir in confectioner's sugar. Stir in the vanilla and bourbon. Drizzle over cake, then sprinkle with pecans. Let cool 30 - 60 minutes and then last, drizzle on the white chocolate

Homegrown, Fresh and Delivered

We all know that summer time means an abundant supply of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. But what I did not realize is that there are farms that produce year-round. I have discovered one right here in my own backyard.

Located in Clark Hill, South Carolina, is Persimmon Hill Farm. Owner Kay Pittman has been producing ‘all-natural’ vegetables and fruits for 27 years on her 15 acres farm. She is part of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement. CSA’s, which exist throughout the USA, have become popular and are a way for consumers to purchase fresh, seasonal food directly from the farmer. The farmers offer “shares, memberships or subscriptions” to interested consumers which entitles them to receive a portion of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

The advantages for the consumers are: ultra-fresh food with flavor and vitamin benefits, exposure to new vegetables and new ways of cooking, develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown. The advantages for the farmers are: get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, receive payment early in the season which helps with the farms’ cash flow, an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow.

Persimmon Hill Farm offers half shares at $25/week, which provides a variety of vegetables for 2 people; $40/week for 4 people. The 'share' fee includes delivery to your home, of produce picked the same morning. It doesn’t get any fresher than that!

Kay delivers to Augusta, Martinez, Grovetown, Lincolnton, North Augusta and Aiken. To learn more about CSA’s or to buy a share in Persimmon Hill Farm, and start receiving your weekly delivery, contact:
Kay Pittman
706.825.0906
organicphf@hotmail.com

Onion & Feta Tartlets

This past weekend I catered an Open House/Grand Opening for a good friend in Augusta. The fare consisted of a host of yummy hors d’oeuvres; but this one item in particular captured the attention and appetite of most guests. Although I verbally gave the recipe to everyone who asked, here it is again, in case you forgot.

Ingredients

1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
2 large red onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
Pie crust (recipe below)
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ red bell pepper, chopped (optional for garnish)
2 eggs
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper

Preparation
Make crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet (do not use a nonstick one or onions will not caramelize). Add onions and cook over medium low heat until caramelized, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme and set aside to cool.
Grease 24-cup miniature muffin pan. Roll out crust into a three thin sheets. Using a 3” round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out 24 rounds – 8 from each sheet of crust – and line the cups of the muffin pan.
Divide the onion mixture into the 24 cups, and then spoon in the feta. Add a piece of red bell pepper (optional). Combine the eggs with the cream, season and pour into the crust cases.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until puffed and light golden. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, diced
6-7 Tablespoons cold water
Combine flour and salt in large bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in enough water with fork just until flour is moistened. Divide dough into thirds; shape each into a ball. Flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic food wrap; refrigerate until ready to use.