peach blueberry unconstructed tart

Ever notice when you find out about something or meet someone that their name crops up at every turn? 

I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda Hesser at the beginning of the year.  Funny enough, she had been meaning to contact me.  We finally did get together a few times with her partner, Merrill Stubbs, to talk about Food52, a site that they both built.  Food52 is community of food lovers that cook and bake and through their engagement  of providing recipes and knowledge, Food52 has created the first crowd-source cookbook that will hit the stands soon.  An excellent site that is rich in information including look and feel.  Love the site and what they are doing and plan on being involved. 

On the other hand, I am at a meeting this past week and we are talking food.  One of the women start gushing about a lemon risotto that she has made many times and the recipe came from Cooking For Mr. Latte written by Amanda Hesser.  I went home and bought the book.

I am in the last chapter which I will finish tonight.  I love the book.  Knowing Amanda and now reading the book gives me a little glimpse into the world of Amanda.  She has a fantastic voice.  The book is the story of how she met her husband.  The dating, the expectations and more important, the food.  She talks about food and enjoys food and cooking like I do.  I can hardly wait to cook a meal with Amanda.  Each chapter finishes off with a few recipes that are part of the chapter.  After all, life is all about the next meal.  What is truly shocking is how tiny Amanda is considering how much food she loves to consume.  Good gene pool.

This evening we had Fred's family over for dinner.  Josh and I cooked together this afternoon.  I basically oversaw the production and Josh did the work.  He made the peach tart out of Cooking for Mr. Latte which is a recipe that comes from Amanda's Mom.  We doubled it and it was delicious.  The recipe below is the original. 

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. flour

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter (chopped into small pieces)

5 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and thickly sliced

1/2 pint blueberries ( we added this )

Preheat the oven to 425.  Stir together 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp. sugar.  In another small bowl, whisk together the oil, milk and almond extract.  Pour this into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork.  Once this begins to resemble a wet dough, pour into an 8 inch square pan.  Use your hands to push the dough down evenly and up the sides about 1/8 inch. 

In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. flour 1/4 tsp salt and the butter.  Use your fingers to mix this together until the ingredients get crumbly.

In another bowl, mix together the peach and blueberries and then place over the dough and spread out to make a singular layer.  Now take the small bowl of pastry and sprinkle over the top.  Use it all.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until browned and bubbling.

Serve with creme fraiche whipped cream

1 cup whipped cream

1/2 cup creme fraiche

2 tbsp. confectioners sugar

Beat until peaks. 

Delicious.  We actually served it with a spoon.