Thursday, May 26, 2011

Brown butter raspberry tart


While I'd argue that the best things about blogging are 1) being creative and 2) the free cookbooks you get for review, following closely at third is giving the world a glimpse of your perspective on food and life. And, in turn, getting a snapshot of other people's angle.

When I first started The Hungry Dog, it wasn't intended to be about food. However, it quickly became apparent that I had nothing else to talk about. At the time, I didn't read food blogs, but once I got sucked in, I began reading a lot of them. Too many, in fact, and I got overloaded. Now I just read a handful that I really like. Some I read because they have beautiful photography, or great recipes. Some are friends of mine. Most I read because I like the voice behind the blog. Perhaps because my background is as a writer and not a cook, this seems to be the most compelling reason to pluck one blog from the millions.

One of my favorites is Cook, a oui chef journal. I like the look of Connie's site, which is elegant and more artful than mine. As a trained chef, she often has useful professional advice (like how to go about choosing knives). And, I think she strikes a nice balance between writing about food in a general sense and giving a peek into her specific world.

When I saw that she made this gorgeous brown butter rhubarb tart last month, I put it immediately on my to-make list. But by the time I got around to it, I had raspberries on hand, so I decided to go with the original recipe, which is from Bon Appetit.

This is a lovely tart, extremely simple, and worth making while either berries or rhubarb are in season. It's truly not difficult: even the crust you just press into the pan. For those of you who are as crust-impaired as I am, this is a dream come true. And for something so easy, it looks more than a little bit impressive.

14 comments:

  1. I knew you had to be a writer! I've always enjoyed your polished language at telling good stories in well-balanced structures (unlike my run-on "style", haha). The posts in both your blogs are always a joy to read. The recipes are great too (ahem, pierre herme salty chocolate sablees...)

    And thank you for all the kind compliments, I'm at a loss for words!

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  2. Salivating. Wowzers! Our local strawberry growers have been branching out to other berries, which fit perfectly into this lovely tart.

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  3. Mmm, looks SO delicious (and rectangle pan looks so elegant)! Sounds like a clafoutis + crust with a filling that has brown butter instead of milk. As Ina says, "How bad can that be?" May have to try with raspberries and rhubarb (and plum and pear...). - Pete

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  4. Gorgeous tart with the plump berries peeking through like that. I have a weakness for anything with brown butter, too. It just adds that unforgettable rich nuttiness I can't get enough of.

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  6. Oooh, it does look very, very impressive. And no wonder your blog is so easy to read and interesting - a writer. Should have guessed ;)
    (Had to trash my last comment, the punctuation was terrible).

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  7. Connie: My pleasure! And thanks for your sweet words!

    livinlocal: I hope you try this--it's a winner!

    CJ: There is something magical about brown butter...

    shaz: Give it a go, the mini critics might just like it.

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  8. Looks fab, and anything with brown butter is aces in my book. I may just make this with the cherries in next week's CSA...

    Also, I adore those rectangular tart pans. No matter what you put in them, it looks sexy!

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  9. You may use raspberries, I'll use rhubarb! This really looks divine....looks like a clafouti, but isn't. Dying to try it.

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  10. raspberries are the perfect fruit for this tart--they add so much in both appearance and flavor! nice rendition. :)

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  11. Pete: Somehow I missed your comment up there. Guess who gave me the rectangular pan: CWT!

    camille: I agree, brown butter is like a magic ingredient!

    Barbara: I can't wait to try it with rhubarb...

    grace: thank you!

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  12. I just hear "brown butter" and that's enough for me. Don't you just adore the smell of brown butter? It kills me.
    *kisses* HH

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  13. It just looks picture perfect. Amazing, sinful, lush and rich. I love this picture and the recipe and I am now going to make this soon- I am thinking I have a little brunch coming up and it would be perfect!

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  14. HH: I really do adore it!

    Kitchen Belle: I hope you try it! And thanks for stopping by--I will be checking out your blog too!

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