Ingredients
- Strawberry-Goat Cheese Tart with Lavender-Citrus Confit
- White Chocolate Lace
- 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped fine
- Cornmeal Sweet Dough
- 11/2 cups cornmeal
- 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4= ounces cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 11/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup cream
- 8 tablespoons sugar
- Goat Cheese Filling
- 20 ounces soft goat cheese
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- Marinated Strawberries
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped lavender
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 ounces vodka
- Lavender-Citrus Confit
- zest and segments of 6 lemons
- zest and segments of 4 oranges
- 1 cup sugar
- 11/2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped lavender
- Garnish
- confectioners' sugar for dusting
- lavender sprigs
Directions
Crunchy cornmeal-crumb crust tarts are filled with the bright flavor of goat cheese and topped with marinated strawberries. Lavender adds a hint of Provence to the strawberry marinade and the citrus confit.
Serves 8
To make the white chocolate lace: Line a sheet pan with a silicone sheet or foil. In the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate. Remove the chocolate from the heat and let cool slightly. Put the chocolate in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip, or in a plastic zip bag; if using the plastic bag, snip a tiny hole in one corner to create a pastry bag. Drizzle chocolate in a zigzag pattern over the silicone sheet or foil. Then come back the other way, crisscrossing the pattern. Let cool completely. Freeze.
To make the dough: Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl or food processor. Using a pastry blender or pulsing the machine add the butter to the mixture a little at a time until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in the cream with your hands. Gather the pastry together into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and roll out 1/4-inch-thick on a floured board. Line 4-inch tart pans with the crust but do not stretch or press it in. Freeze the shells for at least 1 hour (the shells may be frozen for up to 8 weeks).
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the tart shells on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
To make the filling: Preheat the oven heat to 350 F. In a food processor or mixer, cream the goat cheese, butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the flour. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl between each addition. Mix just until combined; do not overmix. Spoon the filling into the prebaked tart shells and bake 7 to 10 minutes, until set. Let cool.
To marinate the strawberries: Toss all ingredients together in a nonreactive bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.
To make the confit: Combine the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to a syrup, about 20 minutes. Add the lemon and orange segments and cook 3 minutes; do not break up the segments.
To serve: Place a tart on each plate. Overlap marinated strawberries on the top. Spoon confit around the tart. Sprinkle the rim of the plate with powdered sugar. Add with fresh blackberries and shaved aged goat cheese.
Garnish with broken chunks of White Chocolate Lace and a sprig of lavender.
Chef Kevin Boxx
Restaurant: The Ritz-Carlton
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Submitted 6/13/05.
Source: Chef Kevin Boxx
Submitted By: Meryl
merstar@mimi.cyber-kitchen.com
Strawberry-Goat Cheese Tart with Lavender-Citrus C