Recently, I was sent the book “The Complete Kitchen Garden” by Ellen Ecker Ogden (Whom by the way, has a website too) for review. If you plan on doing any gardening, this book certainly will help you along your way. (I need all the help I can get! I find gardening challenging!) We plant a garden every year and after reading this book, I think that I will have a much improved design and yield in my garden. I admit to the traditional straight rows, space hogging crops and design! She will bring me out of my shell, encouraging and teaching me to use my creativity and come up with something better than what I’ve been doing! If you’ve never, ever thought about planting a garden, but would like to, you will acquire enough knowledge and then some to come out ahead in the design, yield and know-how, and she’ll have you thinking about what kind of garden you’d like to plant. There are several different designs to choose from to design the kind of garden that appeals to the kind of foods you like. (Check out her website for pictures of some of these designs). For example, we have The Salad Lover’s Garden, The Organic Rotation Garden, The Cook’s Garden, The Children’s Garden, The Culinary Herb Garden, The Paint Box Garden, The Patio Garden, The Heirloom Maze Garden, The Garnish Garden, The Chef’s Garden, The Family Garden, The Artist’s Garden, The Country Garden and The Four Friend’s Garden. In each Garden theme, she gives the best layout for that type, plant lists, veggie profiles and recipes for the future crops.
(Paint-box Garden)
In this book the Author gives us her own designs along with techniques and organic gardening methods to get us started, expecting us to adapt to fit our own style, individual landscape, and personal appetite. A Kitchen Garden that expresses our own personality and to enjoy the process as much as the harvest, each being equally important. I think the Author delivers this in the pages that follow and I believe is a must have for all people who love gardening and cooking! What could be better than eating locally, right in your own backyard? Break ground on your own garden this year and pick up this book to find the best ways to do it, and some of the best ways to cook it when it’s time to harvest it! I can’t wait to explore the ideas in my own garden this year!
I chose the Fresh Strawberry Creme Tart to make. I love fresh, juicy, colorful, tasty strawberries at the height of their season. I can never get enough of them. This tart is DELICIOUS!! Simple, and delightful. I was able to put this together in no time, even in time for dinner. The pie crust was a dream to work with, rolling out with no problems what so ever. The macerated strawberry juice, gets mixed in with the pastry cream and it tastes heavenly! This tart will go in the regular rotation of my best desserts, make again recipes!
Fresh Strawberry Creme Tart
From: The Complete Kitchen Garden, by Ellen Ecker Ogden
This old-fashioned dessert in a sweet tart shell is still my favorite way to celebrate the arrival of Strawberry season. Select the freshest, most beautiful berries. Serves 8.
4 Cups Whole Strawberries, washed, stem ends removed (I sliced and quartered mine)
3/4 Cup, Plus 1 Tablespoon Sugar, Divided
1 1/2 Cups, Plus 1 Tablespoon Unbleached White Flour, Divided
1/2 tsp. Salt
9 Tbsp. (1 stick, plus 1 Tbsp) Cold, Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 Cup Water, chilled with Ice Cubes
3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Vanilla Bean, Split Lengthwise
3 Egg Yolks
Lemon Verbena, finely Chopped, for Garnish
1. Place the strawberries in a bowl, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the sugar, and set aside to macerate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Sift the 1 1/2 Cups flour, salt and 1 Tbsp. sugar into a bowl. With your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the ice water. Work the dough on a floured surface until it just holds together, adding more ice water as needed. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
3. Place the milk and vanilla bean in a heavy saucepan. Bring almost to a boil over medium heat, then remove the pan from the heat and cool. Remove the vanilla bean.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until blended. Sprinkle in the 1 tablespoon flour, then gradually whisk in the heated milk. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened and custard-like, about 10 minutes.
5. Set up a strainer over a bowl or large measuring cup with a spout, and pour the custard through, pushing with a wooden spoon. Set aside to cool completely.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface to as thin as you can, about 1/4 inch. Fold it in half, transfer it to a 9 inch tart pan, and trim to fit. Crimp the edges, and prick all over with a fork.
7. Cover the dough with foil and fill with dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans, then continue to baking until the shell is golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
8. Stir the macerated juice from the strawberries into the pastry cream and incorporate completely. Spread the cream evenly over the baked tart shell. Arrange the strawberries upright, cut edge facing down, on the custard. Garnish with lemon verbena and serve. Serves 8.
