Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Poor, neglected food blog. Y'all remind me to tell you about how I totally MADE my own CHEESE, okay? Not today, but soon.

Last night I made a goat cheese and tomato tart with a rosemary crust from my new favorite vegetarian cookbook, A Year in A Vegetarian Kitchen. (It is one of my favorite cookbooks ever. It is, I think, a better vegetarian cookbook than Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone. That sound I just heard from Atlanta was T dropping her whisk in disbelief. But it is a great book. Love it.)

The woman who sells me my goat cheese is always very, very skeptical when I want to use chevre in a tart. She tries to talk me out of it. Tells me I should use a goat cheddar. Or a regular gouda. Anything but the chevre!

"What are you putting in the tart," she'll ask. "Um- tomato?"

"And.........?????"

"Just tomato?"

"Maybe some eggs? Maybe you should just make an omelet. This is nice for an omelet."

"No, no. I want to make a tart. Sure. I'll add some eggs," I lie, knowing full well the tart is just goat cheese and tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper.

"And something to make it hold- that white powder, some-"

"Cornstarch? Sure, sure, I'll add some cornstarch. Now can I please have 8 ounces?"

Reluctantly, she hands it to me.

"I'm not making any guarantees."

Even without her guarantee, the tart was incredible. I think gouda would have been a CRAZY choice for it. The rosemary crust was a snap in the ol' food processor. The chevre baked beautifully and the tomatoes browned and dried. Yum.

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