September 14, 2006
Mark the New Year with late summer harvest menu
Mmmm! Beet borscht!
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To serve, cut chicken and arrange on serving plates with vegetables.
Makes six servings.
Plum Tart 1 (11-inch) baked Sweet Pastry Crust (recipe follows)
6 to 8 cups red or purple plums
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup currant jelly
2 tablespoons port wine
Prepare the pie crust and bake.
Combine sugar, lemon and orange peels, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Slice plums in half lengthwise and remove pits. Cut two 1/8-inch slits on the top of each plum half. Toss with sugar mixture.
Place plums in a baking dish in a single layer, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until tender when pierced with fork. Cool. Stand plum halves in concentric circles with slit side up, beginning at the outer edge of baked pie crust.
Heat the currant jelly and port wine until melted and smooth. Spoon mixture over plums. Place on rack.
Serve tart warm or at room temperature.
Makes six to eight servings.
Sweet Pastry Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted nondairy margarine
3 tablespoons cold water
In bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, salt and sugar. Blend in margarine until mixture is crumbly. Add cold water and blend until dough begins to come together (do not overmix). Knead dough into smooth ball, wrap in wax paper and chill for 10 minutes.
Roll out dough on two large sheets of floured wax paper large enough to overlap an 11-inch flan pan with removable bottom. For easier handling, cover pastry with another sheet of wax paper and fold pastry in half (wax paper protects the center of pastry from sticking together).
Lift pastry from bottom wax paper and place on half of flan pan. Unfold pastry and remove wax paper that covers it. (At this point, pastry can be refrigerated or frozen for several days.)
Spread a light coating of margarine on sheet of wax paper and place it, coated side down, onto the pastry, overlapping around outside. Cover with another piece of wax paper with cut ends in opposite direction. Fill center of lined pie shell with uncooked rice or baker's jewels.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until sides of pastry begin to brown. Carefully remove wax paper with rice or jewels and continue baking until bottom of pastry is light brown. Remove from oven and cool.
Judy Zeidler is the author of "The Gourmet Jewish Cook" (Cookbooks, 1988) and "The 30-Minute Kosher Cook" (Morrow, 1999). Her Web site is members.aol.com/jzkitchen.
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