Learning from the Master

Ryan, Pat’s son who is in school to become an architect joined his dad to work on our garage for a day. We needed to replace the header over the door and it was a huge piece of wood. Ryan assisted his dad in removing the old beam and replacing it with the new. He has a real master to teach him! It is always great to have an architect understand the realities of the construction that he is designing. By working with his dad, Ryan will have a real grounding in what is possible.

We made a lunch for them to eat on the back deck. We made a Salad with the Swordfish we grilled the previous night. With it we served Surprise Tatin from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a great summer dish. We used our own candied tomatoes. We will definitely make this again!

Surprise Tatin

Plenty

Yotam Ottolenghi

Filling a tart with potatoes is a real treat for potato lovers. Serve it with a green salad and you don't need much else. You can use commercial sun-dried tomatoes in oil to save yourself making the oven-dried tomatoes.

Serves 4

1-1/2    cups cherry tomatoes

2          tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over the tomatoes and for the pan

salt and black pepper

1 lb         new potatoes (skins on)

1            large onion, thinly sliced

3            tbsp sugar

2            tsp butter

3            oregano sprigs

5 oz        aged goat cheese, sliced

1            puff pastry sheet, rolled thinly

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Halve the tomatoes and place them skin-side down on a baking sheet. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to dry for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 25 minutes. Drain and let cool. Trim off a bit of the top and bottom of each potato, then cut into 1-inch-thick discs.

Saute the onion with the oil and some salt for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Once you've prepared all the vegetables, brush a 9-inch cake pan with oil and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. In a small pan cook the sugar and butter on a high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, to get a semi-dark caramel. Pour the caramel carefully into the cake pan and tilt it to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom. Pick the oregano leaves, tear and scatter on the caramel.

Lay the potato slices close together, cut-side down, on the bottom of the pan. Gently press onion and tomatoes into the gaps and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread the slices of goat cheese evenly over the potatoes. Cut a puff pastry disc that is 1 inch larger in diameter than the pan. Lay the pastry lid over the tart filling and gently tuck the edges down around the potatoes inside the pan. (At this stage you can chill the tart for up to 24 hours.)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the tart for 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350CF and continue baking for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven and let settle for 2 minutes only. Hold an inverted plate firmly on top of the pan and carefully but briskly turn them over together, then lift off the pan. Serve the tart hot or warm.