A simple berry tart could be the perfect summer dessert. What better way is there to showcase fresh colorful juicy berries at their peak of ripeness than with a rich creamy vanilla custard and a buttery crisp crust?

The Tuesday with Dorie group got a jump on summer with Dorie’s Quick Classic Berry Tart. The early start on summer limited my berry selection to strawberries so I decided to toss in some of the gorgeous locally grown rhubarb that is showing up at the markets lately and an exotic spice from the land down under.

My local spice shop gave me a sample of Tasmanian pepperberry that they will soon be stocking. Pepper is a great match in many deserts as Gale Gand shares in our Spice Inspiration feature, so I thought this might be the perfect place to experiment with this new spice. No surprise it grows in Tasmania and can be found growing wild in the rainforests, but has not been readily available outside of Australia until recently. It has a warm woody minty aroma that is sweet and inviting and a little deceptive given the  very hot peppery kick that builds at the end. Like Sichuan pepper, pepperberries have a slight numbing sensation on the tongue.

For the rhubarb I started by simmering 1 cup of plum wine, ½ cup of sugar and ½ teaspoon of Tasmanian pepperberry until the liquid reduced by about ¼. Then I added 3 ribs of rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes uncovered. Once the rhubarb was soft I removed it from the pan and continued to reduce the liquid to about ½ cup and strained it. I tossed the sliced fresh berries in the reduced liquid, layered the rhubarb and berries on the tart, topped with a sprinkle of freshly ground pepperberry and mint completed my creation.

In general it was fantastic, but my experiments did leave me with a list of changes for next time. Dories simple tart dough is always a winner and for this tart I substituted a bit of almond flour for all-purpose flour with a good result. The syrup on the berries turned out to be a little sweet for me. I cooked down the left over syrup with some extra sugar to a nice thick jam that I drizzled over the top, which turned out to be unnecessary. The next time I make this, a port or red wine will be my choice over the very sweet plum wine, which I used just because I had it on hand from another recipe. A ½ teaspoon of pepperberry in the crust would be a nice way to add another layer of the spice flavor to the tart. Due to timing challenges I mixed the berries with the syrup, but did not assemble the tart until the next day so the berries were very macerated and I think a firmer texture of freshly sliced berries would be an improvement.

It’s really hard to beat a beautiful berry tart and even though there are things I will change the next time I make this, it was delicious and the Tasmanian pepperberry added an exciting flavor twist. As soon as summer berries hit your market, visit Christine of Cooking with Christine for this Quick Classic Berry Tart recipe and celebrate the season.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 125 recipes completed 96 to go!

I always have a stash of spice blends on hand and recently realized they are my culinary safety net; an emergency backup system for getting dinner on the table when I’m rushed or uninspired. I started thinking about how many times I’ve been saved by a spice blend when putting together our latest Spice Inspiration contribution from Chef Ana Sortun because one of the recipes she contributed is a fantastic Schwarma spice blend.

One of the most common mid-week meals I make is some sort of protein, usually chicken or fish, tossed on the grill and served with a green salad and some sort of starchy side like potatoes, rice, or cornbread. The preparation of the components is creative and involved on some days and quite frankly a complete afterthought on others. It’s these “other” days that make me love my spice blends. With nothing more than a little sprinkle of a lovely spice blend, a dash of olive oil and squeeze of lemon or splash of wine, I have an entrée item that is ready for the grill with essentially no effort. The end result doesn’t taste like an afterthought because a well crafted blend of spices is complex deep and interesting. I’ve also turned to my spice blends to rescue various dishes from bland soups to lack-luster sauces.

You can buy spice blends or make your own from the spices you have on hand. If you are purchasing a blend, buy one that doesn’t have salt in it, unless of course it’s a seasoning salt in which case salt is the point. Often salt is used as filler and pre-salted blends don’t allow you much flexibility in seasoning your food.

A few of my favorite blends to have on hand are chili powder, berbere, Herbs de Provence, garam marsala, and  curry powder. Did you know that curry powder is a very western concept? Curry powder isn’t used in India.  Indian cooks make their own spice blends for each dish and though I like doing this when I can take the time, I also appreciate being able to achieve a lovely blend of flavors with a single sprinkle.  If you would like to make a few blends to have on hand we have some great recipes for you: Berbere, Schwarma Spice, TableFare Spice Rub, TableFare Herb Mix. You can also read about different spice blends in our Spice Library.

There was the tease of a giveaway wasn’t there? Yes, there is a giveaway! When I was in New York for the demo at Zabar’s I picked up a lovely spice blend by Daniel Boulud called Thanksgiving Blend. It’s a spicy sweet combo of rosemary and warm spices like cinnamon, and nutmeg, with a pinch of heat from chile and ginger. It has a beautiful aroma. Along with this blend I wanted to include two of my favorites, Berbere and Herbs de Provence from World Spice, both packaged in a SpiceCare container. We will do a random drawing from our Facebook page this Friday Dec. 18^th.  Just stop by our Facebook page and share a comment on your favorite spice blend to enter. As much as we love our international fans, the cost of shipping limits us to U.S. addresses. I hope to chat with you on Facebook!

I had muffins for breakfast this morning, thanks to the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group. I have made these tender spice muffins once before, but failed to capture a photo before they were all eaten so I couldn’t skate by this week without baking. Not such a hardship, after all, look what I got to eat for breakfast as a result.

With a little frosting I think these muffins could pass as cupcakes, not because they are sugary sweet, but because they have such a nice tender crumb. They perfectly showcase allspice as a standalone spice too. The wonderfully complex flavor of allspice combines warm sweet notes with spicy elements that works beautifully with sweet and savory foods alike. Besides the fact that these muffins are really good, if you are not familiar with allspice I hope you will make these just to discover all that these beautiful brown dried berries can bring to your cooking. Visit our Spice Library to read more about allspice and how to use it.

The first time I made these muffins I only used half of the crumb topping because it seemed like so much. After they were baked, I realized they could have used more topping. I diligently made a note in my book to my future self, “Next time use all the topping even though it seems like a lot.” As I was making them this morning I saw my note and began sprinkling on the topping and thought this is way too much topping, but I trusted the note to my future self and proceeded to pile it on. I’m happy to say I gave myself some good advice, so it’s my recommendation to use all the topping even thought it seems like a ridiculously large quantity.

Thank you to Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table for picking a recipe that made a nice breakfast for me today. You can find the recipe posted on her blog. Dorie Greenspan also joined in on posting about the weekly the recipe pick, so visit her blog too.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 95 recipes completed 126 to go!

I had  fun over the weekend doing a cooking demonstration of low cost meals at a community fair organized by The City of Lake Forest Park, WA. They brought together all sorts of community resource agencies sharing information to help people navigate these difficult economic times. 

One of the agencies participating was Solid Ground, an organization I volunteer with. In partnership with Share our Strength, a national anti-hunger organization, Solid Ground runs a free six week cooking and nutrition program called Operation Frontline, designed to help people on a low income build skills to maximize their resources by learning to cook healthy low cost meals

All of the meals in the program are designed to cost less than $1.68 per serving, which is the amount of money a person on food stamps has to spend for each meal. In the demo I made a White Bean and Chicken Chili with Fresh Basil and a Northwest Apple Salad. These are quick and really flavorful dishes that aren’t fussy to make and can easily be adapted to all kinds of variations. These dishes won’t remind you of your starving student days, in fact I wish I had eaten like this when I was a starving student.

The chili is finished with fresh lime juice and basil, which delivers a bright flavor and fresh satisfying aroma.  The apple salad is simply dressed with a little plain yogurt, but of course I turn to spices to take it in a variety of directions. At the demo I had three versions for sampling, one with cinnamon, one with ground fennel, and one with ground coriander. All work great with apple and it was fun to see apprehension turn into delightful surprise as people tasted the different versions. The different spices pull differnt flavors of the apple forward and lend a nice flavor complexity to what couldn’t be a simpler salad.

It might seem like cooking with a variety of spices would be too extravagant when on a limited budget, but I did some research to show that’s not the case at all if you know where to shop. I expected bulk spices to be cheaper, but I didn’t realize how much cheaper, even when buying from a specialty spice store. The difference in cost per ounce is dramatic enough, but when you consider that with bulk purchasing you only buy what you need for a few months, which in most cases an ounce is more than enough, so cash isn’t tied up in large expensive jars of spice that just sit in the cupboard. The jar of grocery store brand cinnamon was priced at $3.89 (1.75 oz.) , whereas buying an ounce of bulk cinnamon only requires  $0.41, or a $1.00 out of pocket.

Share our Strength partners with different organizations all over the country to implement the Operation Frontline classes. Visit their site to see if there is a group in your community you can get involved with. It’s a great program.

Our Spice Library is growing! Check out the new entries I just added for black, green, white, and pink peppercorns.

Learn about the flavor profiles of different peppercorns, how they are grown, harvested, and processed. Do you know which countries produce the most highly regarded black and white peppercorns? Did you know that pink peppercorns come from a completly different plant than other peppercorns?  What gives pepper its pungent heat? What can turn your spicy pungent black pepper into flavorless dust? Check out the Spice Library and read all about it.

Once you’ve become a peppercorn expert, try this recipe for Braised Peppercorn Shortribs from Rouxbe, my favorite cooking site on the web. Pick up some fresh aromatic peppercorns and treat your friends and family to this hearty peppery dish this weekend.

And for dessert? How about White Pepper Shortbread? Its tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. In one of our past Spice Inspiration features Gale Gand shared this recipe along with her love for using pepper in her famous pastry creations.

Chef Jerry Traunfeld kicks off coriander month here at TableFare by sharing his love for this popular spice in our Spice Inspiration feature. If you aren’t already a fan of cooking with coriander this feature is a great introduction to why it is a favorite with so many people. 

To get you hooked on cooking with coriander, Chef Traunfeld shares two great recipes with us. The first one is Coriander Potato Soup it’s creamy, but still light and refreshing. The citrus notes of the coriander are highlighted by the addition of orange zest and the coriander seeds are toasted bringing out a warm nutty flavor in the spice that comes through at the finish of each bite. This is a perfect summer soup because it can be served hot or cold.

The orange zest is toasted right along with the coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently to keep the seeds from burning and toast them until they are about two shades darker than when you started.

You can make this soup in one pot, with the exception of a skillet to toast the spices. It’s quick enough to make for a weeknight meal, but elegant enough to impress dinner guests.

What’sbetter than a freshly baked goodie first thing in the morning? These Coriander-Orange Scones are a perfect choice because they are easy to make and deliver fantastic flavor and aroma. The orange-coriander combination is a perfect balance with the currants adding a nice touch of fruity sweetness in each bite. The’re great as is, but it wouldn’t hurt anything to spread on a touch of real butter while they are still warm from the oven.

Check out the full Spice Inspiration feature and to learn more about coriander visit our Spice Library.

The coincidence of this week’s recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie corresponding to Dorie Greenspan’s Spice Inspiration feature on TableFare is quite remarkable. Dorie shares her thoughts on her favorite spice, cinnamon, along with the recipe for Cinnamon Squares that showcases the spice perfectly.

Cinnamon Squares is about as easy as a cake recipe can be. You just need a couple of bowls and a good spoon for stirring. This cake is all about the cinnamon, almost 2 tablespoons worth of cinnamon!  Even with such an aggressive quantity of the spice, it doesn’t overwhelm the cake.  Playing along with the cinnamon are some great flavor companions – chocolate and coffee. The frosting is as simple as melting chocolate and butter together and I added a heaping ½ teaspoon of ancho chile powder just to give it a little surprise ending.

The ribbon of filling running through the middle of the cake adds another layer of chocolate flavor and the hint of coffee from the addition of espresso powder. The best part about the filling is it’s just baked right in. No cake layers to work with, just pour half of the batter in the pan, sprinkle on the filling, and top with the rest of the batter. Simple. The cake is tender and moist and the accents of chocolate in the filling and icing make it rich and satisfying.

 I made the cake exactly as written in the recipe, with a “pinch of salt” equating to a scant ½ teaspoon in my world. I used a beautiful Vietnamese cassia (cinnamon), which is known for having a very bold flavor due to the high volatile oil content of this particular variety of cassia.  I was delighted with the end result and expect Cinnamon Squares will be showing up frequently at our house. If you would like to read about the different varieties of cinnamon and how cassia and cinnamon are different visit our Spice Library.

Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures selected Cinnamon Squares for us to make this week and I applaud her perfectly timely selection that corresponds to cinnamon month here at TableFare.  You can visit her blog for the recipe or find it in our featured recipes section.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 76 recipes completed 145 to go!

TableFare is thrilled to have Gale Gand contribute to this month’s Spice Inspirtaion feature with some inspiration on using pepper in desserts. She gives recipes for White Pepper Shortbread and Strawberries in Syrup that are easy to make and delicious proof  that pepper is great in desserts.

I am thrilled to kick off the Spice Inspirations feature on TableFare.com. World-renowned chef Charlie Trotter shares tips on cooking with grains of paradise and a special recipe. I hope you enjoy the new monthly feature.

The popularity of salt caramels may have been what really launched the salt/sweet combo into the mainstream. I haven’t met a single person that doesn’t love salt caramels. Salt and caramel, salt and chocolate, salt and creamy things; it’s all good. These World Peace Cookies are yet more proof that salt and sweet are a perfect match.

photo by David Peterman

I generally add a pinch of salt to dessert items if the recipe doesn’t call for it. I am a firm believer that a little salt, though not identifiable on its own, enhances the overall flavors of a dessert. Recently I discovered the delightful taste sensation of sprinkling a little salt on chocolate chip cookies just before they go in the oven, and now it’s the only way I make chocolate chip cookies. Already a fan of salt with sweet and salt with cookies, I was thrilled to learn that the cookies for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie baking project highlight salt as a key flavor component playing against the flavors of dark cocoa and rich butter. It’s a natural match just like salted caramels.

The World Peace Cookies are a sablé-style cookie, much like a shortbread or butter cookie. This is the second sablé cookie we have made in this group and I think I have finally gotten the hang of the pronunciation, SAH-blay.  These cookies are tender and crumbly, not too sweet, and very difficult to stop eating. There is only ½ teaspoon of salt in the recipe, but it is enough to make them stunningly delicious. Each bite finishes with a beautiful salty note that is nicely countered by the sugar, cocoa, and butter. Eating one makes me want one more, and then the justification that they are small kicks in so I decide to have another before I put them away, well, this went on until they were gone. Irresistibly delicious is how I would sum up this recipe. I have heard other Tuesday with Dorie bakers rave about this recipe, and now I understand.

Jessica of Cookbook Habit gets credit for selecting this week’s baking project from Dorie Greenspan’s  book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. This recipe alone is enough to justify making a place in your kitchen for this book.  If you want to see for yourself, Jessica has posted the World Peach Cookies recipe on her blog.

Salt is what makes these cookies so spectacular, and with all the different specialty salts available, playing with different flavors and textures can add a spectacular element to all kinds of dishes. In general, the fancy flake and flavored salts are best utilized as finishing salts added just before serving a dish; if these specialty salts are used for general seasoning during cooking, the unique texture and flavor characteristics get lost.

photo by David Peterman

With the availability of affordable sea salts and kosher salt, table salt is losing popularity in kitchens. Table salt is very dense making it slow to dissolve, it also contains a variety of additives that can create a harsh and sometimes metallic taste as well as cloud brines. Kosher salt is a coarse flake salt that doesn’t contain the additives found in table salt and is readily available in grocery stores making it extremely popular to cook with. The coarse texture also makes it very easy to sprinkle evenly over food. Sea salt is harvested from evaporation fields and either washed of surface impurities to create a very uniform size and appearance or left unrefined retaining traces of minerals and sediments often giving the salt a gray cast. For general cooking I use kosher salt, but for baking I use a finer grain sea salt for a more accurate measurement. Pictured above are examples of sea salt, kosher salt, and gray salt.

One of the most famous salts is Fleur de sel, a flake salt harvested along France’s Brittany coast. Fleur de sel is harvested from the top crust that forms on evaporation ponds and is very light and delicate, and generally reserved for finishing delicate dishes. The salt harvested from the bottom of these ponds is a coarser texture and heavier in flavor because it contains more minerals. This is gray salt, or sel gris, and bold enough to cook with rather than reserve for finishing.

photo by David Peterman

Some flake salts, like the famous Maldon sea salt from England, are hollow-pyramid crystals that add an amazing crunch to food.  Balinese Pyramid salt is pictured above to illustrate this interesting crystallin structure. The evaporation process used in harvesting sea salt determines the shapes of crystals.

photo by David Peterman

Murray River Pink Flake Salt from Australia is my favorite choice for garnishing cookies and other baked goods. It is beautifully light with a delicate clean flavor. Black flake salt makes a dramatic garnish for crackers,  focaccia breads, and even butter. The flake structure is very thin, so though it looks like a big piece of salt, it does not deliver an overwhelming salty flavor. Hawaiian red alaea salt is made by adding volcanic clay to sea salt to create a beautiful deep muted red hued salt with a nice earthy flavor and gorgeous color.

photo by David Peterman

Smoked salts are worth experimenting with as well. My favorite use of alderwood smoked salt is in making caramels.  Smoked salts are really strong and a little goes a long way, but it is also the quickest way to add a nice complex flavor to a dish. When I am in a rush and just want to toss some chicken on the grill, a sprinkle of smoked salt and some black pepper adds great flavor in seconds.  I have also tossed a pinch in slow cooked oatmeal to make it taste like it was cooked over a campfire.

Salts can add very distinct characteristics to dishes and are great fun to experiment with. This is barely a sampling of the salts available on the market, so check out specialty spice shops, a favorite activity of mine when I visit different cities, specialty kitchen stores, and gourmet groceries to find all kinds of different salts.

Would you like to make your own Himalayan pink salt celler? See my very first blog post for instructions.

phot by David Peterman