New Potter Today!

The new Harry Potter flick hits the theaters today...I'll go see it but not right away and it will be on the early afternoon cheap ticket. Sometimes I wait until a movie is out on DVD before I bother but I am a big fan of the Potter series(yes I know they are kid's books) and I have thoroughly enjoyed the movies and the books.

I did make the peach tart last night but I also fixed a little proper dinner. Seeing as how I am overrun with yellow plum and cherry tomatoes I decided to half and roast some in a moderate oven until they were just showing signs of black on the edges...about 40 minutes at 400F. I drizzled them with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I also caramelized some pearl onions(about a cup) that I found in the freezer in a little butter and olive oil. I mixed the onions and tomatoes with a little fresh basil and served it over a cheddar polenta. Wasn't bad for a main course but would be best as a starter. I will do it again. It was also very pretty with the bright yellow polenta and the toasty white, yellow,red and green of the tomatoes, onions and basil. Should have taken a picture.

The fresh Georgia peaches made a brilliant little tart. I used the standard light pie crust mixture of a cup of A/P flour, 4 TBLSP unsalted butter, 1 tsp sugar and 4 TBLSP cold water. this makes a nice crust that is not too greasy but still a little flaky. Just try and not overwork the dough and you'll be fine. Just roll the dough out into about a 10 inch circle on a cookie sheet and put the fruit in the middle leaving about two inches of exposed dough all around. Fold up the dough over the fruit making little creases about every 3 inches to form a rustic little tart. Sprinkle with a TBLSP of sugar and dot with a TBLSP of unsalted butter and bake in a 400F oven for about 45 minutes or an hour. You want the crust to brown. These little free form(no pan) tarts almost always leak sticky syrup so be prepared. I didn't do anything to the peaches but mix in a TBLSP of sugar and a TBLSP of corn starch. I used 4 ripe peaches which came to about 2 and half cups of sliced fruit. You can do the same with any fruit and it is especially good with granny smith apples(a little extra sugar required). It is also nice since there is no additional pan to deal with. Blackberries and raspberries are great as well and now is the time to be picking the wild blackberries.

I am off to can some more tomatoes...I think I have enough for 5 or 6 quarts so it is worth heating up the kitchen and if I don't can them today tomorrow will be too late and they will be past their prime. I think I have enough ripe Cherokee purple tomatoes to make a quart of those exclusively. I have never canned them and it will interesting to see what the purple tomato looks like in a jar. They ar so luscious sliced that we have never had enough to can.