Produce On My Mind

Some people have Georgia on their mind.  I have produce on mine.  Tomorrow, I have the enormous honor of speaking at the United Fresh Produce Show in Dallas.  I was asked about a month ago, and ever since, produce is all that I can think about.

When you are a food lover like me, being able to attend a convention center full of food and the people who grow it and love it is comparable to a trip to Disney for a child.  A produce show is my Disney.  This is where the phrase, "to each his own" or "whatever floats your boat," would be inserted.  I know it's strange maybe, but it's "my own" and it floats "my boat."

While I might have had you fooled with all of the sprinkle talk last week, even amidst the sprinkles...I was thinking produce.  To prove this to you, this week will be all about the produce.  Since asparagus is wonderfully in season right now, I'm going to highlight it.

Today's heavenly morsel is fabulously impressive and incredibly easy.  Translation: Wow your gourmet friends with this one.  This recipe has very few ingredients, which is always a plus in my book.  However, there is a polarizing ingredient: goat cheese.  Either it floats your boat or it doesn't.  I think we've established that it indeed floats mine, but unfortunately it doesn't float for the rest of my family.  Thankfully, my friend J adores it as well, so she was my guinea pig on this one.

Fun facts about J...her husband is an up and coming restaurant genius in Dallas.  He KNOWS his food and his restaurant stuff.  Who better to be my gourmet guinea pig than his lovely wife?  The handy thing about being a TV wife is being friends with a restauranteur's wife.  Our husbands are rarely home for dinner, so we share evening meals together when we can.  We are not married to "nine to fivers," so our unique lifestyles blend well.  Plus, a little adult conversation when you are surrounded by little ones all day is always a plus.

Long story short, last Friday I hijacked J's kitchen, while she took the girls to yoga.  That's right.  Little girl yoga, it's a real thing in Dallas.  And yes, they wore make-up.  TV portrayals of Dallas aren't all wrong.

Sorry...I digress...

While J was at little girl yoga, I took over her kitchen.  I prepared an Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tart with a Balsamic Glaze, which J wisely paired with a cool and refreshing Riesling when she got home.  I know Memorial Day isn't for a few weeks, but I'm telling you that this meal was indeed the unofficial start of summer.

The recipe link is below, but I did modify the recipe a bit by adding the balsamic glaze, so I'm going to give you the step by step here:

First I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  While that was preheating, I poured about a cup of balsamic vinegar into a skillet and put it on low.  Meanwhile, I prepped a puff pastry by spreading it out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, sprinkled with some flour beneath the puff pastry sheet.

 Next, I found J's adorable rolling pin, and I rolled the puff pastry out a bit more.

After rolling out the puff pastry, I spread on 4 oz. of goat cheese, and I then sprinkled that with a minced fresh clove of garlic.  On top of this, I added about 3/4 of a pound of asparagus.  Lay them neatly on the tart then drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with some salt and pepper.

Then bake the tart for about 25 minutes.  Until you see that the puff pastry is cooked and browning.

It's important for me to mention that as you are completing these previous steps, it is critical that you keep the balsamic vinegar on the lowest heat, and that you whisk it frequently.  Not obsessively, but frequent enough.

Lastly, after you have removed your lovely Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tart from the oven, drizzle it with your balsamic glaze.  In J's and my opinion, it was perfect.  We enjoyed it on a lovely Dallas evening outdoors while the girls played in a treehouse and shot Nerf cannons.  We ate it.  Got stuffed.  And then we ate even more.  What I'm sure could happily feed 4 people, the two of us couldn't resist.  I can't even say it was shameful.  Shameful would have been NOT finishing it!

Again, I suppose it is critical that you enjoy goat cheese to enjoy this fine meal, but I tell you, it was a fabulous and impressive meal that I can hardly wait to make again...and again and again! Enjoy!

Link to Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tart Recipe
 
I look forward to being apart of the United Fresh Produce Show tomorrow.  If you are going to be there, tweet me at @RachAndMeBlog.  I'd love to meet you!!