This Tuesday is brought to you by Sunday. 

Sunday dinner that is. 

Sweet mother of sin it was delicious–mostly. 

I had another big spread planned out. 

Just for y'all. 

See? 

Doesn’t that look damn delicious?

I was going to have a few recipes in my arsenal, spread out over one or two blog posts leading up to the big one + BAM!

It was going to be all types of awesome. 

Amaze 

And, and, and …

wonderment. 

No. 

Not really. 

Kind of (?)

Mostly all of that is just in my head. 

Obviously. 

But things happen. 

Like, uhh–the chicken skin burning like hell. 

It was even lubed + basted. 

Smashed by/under a brick. 

Perhaps it was the fact that the recipe said to smear the entire bird with the adobo seasoning/marinade/paste.

I am standing in my kitchen, thinking:

“outside, as in on the skin?" 

"all over, all over?”

“alrighty, then…”

then I re-read the recipe + the first thing you do is cook it breast side down. Hmm …

Alright, alright–there’s some truth to be told.

It said to use the flat side of the cast iron griddle but I hads none so I used the aluminum foil as a barrier over low heat on the grill. 

Cast iron griddle or not, I believe the results would have been the same. 

Magazine does not know best. 

So yes, the bird was skinless. 

And mostly flavorless. 

So, y'all gots some more time?

Good. 

I can make this one quick. 

I got this charred eggplant + tomato “salad” (if you will) that I freakin’ adore. It has currants soaked in sherry, lemon juice, mint, a few cloves garlic, toasted pine nuts. 

Yep. 

Delicious. 

Not too many folks get down with in an eggplant but this one. 

This one recipe that I have made good number of times is a shifty thing. 

I think it boils down to a few things: 

the eggplant itself–it can not be the run-of-the-mill purple variety. it has got to be the large green variety. Purple variety tends to be too bitter. 

yes, it is charred but only until soft + no, no charred skin gets into the mix. 

screw the dang currants–do sherry soaked dried cranberries instead. 

lastly, follow the method EXACTLY. 

adding oil + lemon juice only to eggplant, mixing that up separately…

blah, blah, blah. 

FAILED.

at least for this go-round anyway.

So without further adieu …

the one recipe that did work out:

Herbed Ricotta + Tomato Tart

Yea, I know it’s been done. 

“sooo …there’s nothing special about that, lady…”

Well. 

Well. somethings don’t need to messed with like bacon + bleu cheese. 

Remember this recipe?

I thought you might. 

Y'all got to quit trying to understand simple things such as this one.

And.

And just let it be. 

So first things first–y'all got to make that tart dough. 

Yes, it means work. 

Yes, it is July + yes–turn on the oven. 

Did I mention the butter?

Yea, there’s a full delicious eight ounces in this recipe. 

Did I mention you might *might* flip out in anticipation + buy too much ricotta in the anticipation of wonderment in making (and eating) tarts. 

If it seems not worth it – you get enough dough for two tarts out of this recipe. 

Oh, trust–you’ll be making a second tart. 

Yea, it’s that type of good. 

Crazy good. 

Now on to the show…

First thing y'all gonna do is make the topping:

8-10 large grape tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on how large they are.

small handful combined of fresh basil + oregano, chopped. 

A little olive oil, splash of balsamic vinegar, dash of salt.

Set aside.

Next the ricotta filling:

I gots my ricotta from Ryals Dairy–pretty solid stuff. 

Y'all need to be able to spread it just a bit so I added 1 ½ tbsp whole milk to 1 ½ cups ricotta or if y'all have a scale 250 grams. 

2 cloves garlic, minced. 

chop some more fresh basil, oregano, a few mint leaves – not to much. 4 to 6 leaves should do. 

throw in a few dashes of salt. 

add in milk + mash together with a fork.

Set aside. 

Remember this recipe, for Valentine’s? 

Y'all are making this tart recipe just not the sugar added sweet version.

Now it is time to make the dough courtesy of Bouchon Bakery Cookbook

(Let’s be real–why mess with perfection?)

Tart Dough–Pate Brisee

Special equipment:

8" x  3/4" tart ring

parchment paper

All purpose flour – 1cup then separately measure out another

1 cup + 3 TBSP of all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt 

8 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into cubes

¼ cup ice water

So go ahead, measure out your ¼ cup water + place that into the freezer for now. 

Measure out all your ingredients. 

Good. to. go. 

Break out the stand mixer with the paddle attachment. 

In mixer bowl, add in 1 cup flour + salt.

Mix to combine–10 seconds should do. 

With the mixer on low speed add in the butter cubes–small handfuls at a time (read: each handful of butter cubes should just start incorporate before you add more) until all the butter has been added. 

Turn the speed to medium-low + add the remaining cup + 3 TBSP all purpose flour. 

Mix until just combined. 

Now grab that water from the freezer + slowly add it in. 

You’ll notice the dough will be smooth. 

Now remove the dough from the mixer, roll it out a bit. 

Wrap it in plastic wrap refrigerate for 1 hour up to overnight. 

(if y'all need to see how the dough looks check out the link to the Valentines tart above)

Now bust out two large sheets parchment paper. 

(We’re not doing a floured surface here. Hence, the parchment.) 

Unwrap your cold dough onto one of the pieces of parchment paper. Place the second piece of parchment paper over the top. 

Now’s the fun part–grab your rolling pin. 

Pound the top of the dough with the rolling pin, from one side to the other. 

As it starts to flatten out – work from the center out with the pounding. 

I didn’t flatten out my dough very much before refrigerating overnight and damn near broke the cheap ass rolling pin I have. I could have lost an eye.

Once y'all have pounded it to about an inch thick start rolling from the center out–flipping + rotating frequently. 

Try to keep the dough from separating at the edges–for this I abandoned my cheap ass rolling pin + used my hand but don’t fondle it too much as the heat from your hands will soften the dough.

Use this method only when necessary. 

The dough needs to be cold. 

Anywho, remove the top sheet parchment paper 

Grab a baking sheet, line the baking sheet with your top sheet of parchment paper. place the tart ring on there. 

Next peel the dough from the bottom sheet of paper + quickly drape the dough over top of the tart ring on the parchment lined baking sheet . 

Carefully press in around the edges + up the sides if you need to.

You know– fill in any spots you might have missed or appear to be not as thick as it needs to be.  

Remove any excess dough draping OVER the edges of the tart ring. 

Preheat that oven to 350F. 

Slide that sheet pan into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Whew!

Now make yourself a drink, damnit. 

Once time’s up y'all can take that cold tart dough out of the freezer + add the herbed ricotta.

It’s going to spread–kind of.

Add a few large spoonfuls at a time + spread carefully with the back of your spoon. 

Now grab those marinated tomatoes + sprinkle the tomatoes over top of the ricotta. 

Check the temp on the oven just to make sure it is all good to go + slide that tart on into the oven. Set y'alls timer for 15 mins–once the timer goes off give it a quick turn. Set the timer again for 10 mins. Check the tart after 10 mins. 

Check the crust, is the ricotta browning nicely, the tomatoes are they roasting/caramelizing around the edges? 

You can slide it back in for another 3 minutes should y'all have the need.

Once that’s done. 

It’s done.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes–if you can help yourself. 

I swear this tart is a single serving type of situation but I will let you be the judge.