Perhaps one of the personal benefits to foodblogging again is that it (hopefully) will help prevent cooking amnesia, which strikes me more often than I care to admit.

For instance, there was this leek, mushroom and goat cheese tart that I made last year and which I loved. I remember eating it and loving it, I remember the company who also ate and loved it, I remember recommending it vociferously to Luisa who also made, ate and loved it, and so I decided to make it again. Except this time I had no sense memory of ever having made this tart before. I mean, fennel? Did I really put fennel in it that time, because I do not like fennel.. Also, did I not think that 5x14 was a ridiculous dimension to roll a tart out into? (I think last time I must have just rolled out a big circle, which I should have done this time- the Zuni Cafe rough puff tart dough recipe I use does not fare well rolled out quite as super thin as what you will get if you try to roll a mere 4 ounces of it into a 5x14 rectangle.)

So this time the dough was not nearly as puffy or sturdy enough for the filling, and even though I used less goat cheese than recommended, because the recommended amount seemed excessive, the goat-cheese eggy base was far to rich, so the lovely leeks and mushrooms were stranded on a too rich, soggy drippy base. I wish I had kept a record of what I did the first time to get it so right, because this version was all wrong. (Also, I totally did not broil it beautifully brown in the last step, which would probably have helped, too.)

On the plus side, the salad I made to go with it- baby romaine and spinach, walnuts, dried cranberries and Brianna's poppyseed dressing, the only storebought dressing I've ever found worth using (is there something in the water in Brenham that makes for great food?), was delicious.