News to ponder over your late morning tea.

Jude Law is a slut as we long suspected. But we forgive a little because he looks cute in a suit. Damn that Jude Law.

The Duchess of Cornwall gets a coat of arms for her birthday even though she asked for a couple of books and maybe some nice earrings. I wonder if Royals ever do give books or DVDs for birthday presents. I know Queen Victoria gave a certain grandson Mount Kilimanjaro for his tenth birthday even though he asked for a pony. (rumour has it that he held a grudge for years and that is what really caused WWI hee.)

Sometimes one wants to get creative with their place of worship but some might not like how it will affect their property values. I know a number of you would join a religion if it meant you could go to a church like that.

Well it is Monday. What shall I bake today. This weekend I made an amazing raspberry tart and I may have to make it again to perfect it. It is very french and involves butter, cream, sugar and owning up to the fact that you might have a stroke. But that is okay. I think I made one of the best pastries ever. I was quite pleased with the results. I also made some terrific lamb burgers. I find that using spinach for a garnish instead of lettuce gives the whole burger some delicious flavor. I was even semi-healthy and used whole wheat buns which were pretty good.

I bought some nectarines yesterday that were so sweet that the juice ran down my arm and the biting into the pulpy flesh was just too sexual for my own good. It was too D.H. Lawrence folks.
I should make a nectarine tart.

But dinner has to be decided upon.

I cook sometimes.

This particular recipe came from Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. (editor of Gourmet magazine) This is probably the best of her memoirs. Or as sarahparah put it, "before she went and grew up to become depressing and slept around with famous people" I have wanted to make this for a long time. I finally did. I have made nearly everything in this book and the recipes have never failed me.

Oleron Berry Tart

Pastry

1 1/2 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 pound of butter (about one stick)
2 Tbs cream
1 egg yolk.

Put flour and sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into small squares and add to flour-sugar mixture. Toss with your fingers until butter is coated with flour. Then rub until the mixture resembles corn-meal. I found that a fork is pretty helpful if the butter is being difficult. Usually if your hands are coated with butter/flour/sugar someone usually calls. Then you get the pleasure of quickly cleaning your hands and answering the phone. It turns out to be someone trying to sell you light bulbs or would like you to subscribe to the New York Times. You will be very short with them and almost curt. You curse under your breath. You return to the pastry.
Add cream to egg yolk in a small bowl and mix quickly. Pour into flour mixture. Mix lightly with a fork until the pastry holds together in a small ball. If it isn't moist enough add a Tbs of water until things ad her all pretty-like.
Sprinkle flour across the counter and place the pastry on the flour, push the dough with the heel of your hand until it has been worked through. Gather up into a ball and wrap in cling film. Let it rest in the fridge for about three hours.
In the mean time you can read a book, maybe yell at the help because they never clean the silver properly and company is beginning to talk. You may also invite over vapid writers of the day for a cocktail and sordid gossip about famous people who are too thin for their own good. (anyone named Wallis Simpson will do)

Remove and allow to warm for about ten minutes. Sprinkle more flour onto the table and flatten ball into a disk and roll out into an 11 inch circle. Fit gently into an 8 or 9 inch tart pan. Use the kind with the cool removable bottom. It makes for a more impressive show later on. Press the dough very gently and try not to stretch the dough. Place in the freezer for ten minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F. Look at your nails and think how they need to be done. Make an appointment.
Line tart shell with foil and fill with dried beans or if you aren't a heathen use your fancy-pancy pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans and cook 5 minutes more, until golden.

While that cools you begin on the filling.

filling

3/4 cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs butter softened
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups raspberry.

Now not everyone owns a food processer. Let us feel bad for those who don't own one. Specially feel bad for Miss Gennie who is a heathen and doesn't own one. *accepts the shame for a moment* All it not lost if you don't own one. You can always pop to the store and purchase some ground almonds. Or almond meal as it is also known. I picked up some at Trader Joes. Dirt cheap too. But let's pretend I own one for the sake of fantasy.
Put almonds and 3 Tbs of sugar in processer and grind to a fine powder. (isn't fantasy fun?)
Creambutter with remaining sugar in a bowl. Add egg yolks, stirring until smooth. Add almond/sugar mixture and vanilla extract. Taste it because I know you like to risk a little food poisoning. Maybe you don't but I do. I think if you risk it now and then it is more difficult to kill you. It is sort of like pretending you are Rasputin who supposedly ingested a bit of arsenic everyday so he would build up a resistance. That is one of the reasons why it was so difficult to kill him. That and because he was the devil. So if you like to pretend you are the devil...eat some raw egg yolk.
Spread the almond cream into the bottom of the tart shell.
Carefully cover the tart with 2 cups of raspberries. Well folks I got a little creative. When I started to make the recipe raspberries were 'spensive so I used blackberries. Which are tasty. Then I finished the recipe later on and found some cheap but delicious raspberries and voila, raspberry/black berry tart. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Sprinkle 2 Tbs of sugar over the berries. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for about 2 hours.
Just before serving you will cover the top of the tart with the remaining berries.
It is super sexy and very pretty.


( What the final product turned out to look like )