Mushroom & Pepper Tart w/ Blueberry Cobbler

Tonight, I pulled out a new cook book and tried a variation of tart that turned out amazing. The book is called Cooking Light Way to Cook Vegetarian. The book is an amazing adventure into the world of vegetarian cooking. It features several desserts, appetizers, breads, and entrees that will make anyone's mouth water. It also has plenty of photographs and gives several tips that help make cooking much simpler. The recipes are very diverse and use high quality ingredients. I would recommend picking up a copy if you are into cooking!

Ingredients
Pie Crust:
1 1/4 cups of All-Purpose Flour
1/4 TSP Salt
1/4 TSP Baking Powder
2 TBS minced Chives
1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening
4 TSP Unsalted Butter, melted
Cooking Spray
1 TBS Dijon Mustard

Filling:
1/2 cup Dried Porchini Mushrooms
1 TBS Canola Oil
2 TBS chopped Shallots
4 OZ Cremini Mushrooms, sliced thin
3 OZ Shiitake Mushroom Caps, sliced thin
1 Clove Garlic, pressed or minced
1 TSP chopped Tyme
1 TBS chopped Parsley
3 TBS grated Parmigiano- Reggiano Cheese
1/2 cup 2% Reduced Fat Evaporated Milk
2 Large Eggs
1/2 cup chopped bottled Roasted Red Bell Peppers

Directions

To make the crust, mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Mix butter and boiling water. Make a well in center of the flour mixture and pour butter mixture in the well. Gently draw flour into the butter mixture until clumps form. Press dough into a small ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°

Roll the dough out to fill a pie or tart pan. Coat the pie pan with cooking spray and press dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Fold any excess dough inward. Pierce the bottom and sides of the dough and line the bottom with aluminum foil and weigh down with pie weights. Bake at 400° for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for about 15 min and brush the crust with mustard.

Reduce oven temperature to 375°.

Prepare dried mushrooms per directions; save 1/4 cup of liquid for cooking. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add cremini and shiitake mushrooms; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in porchini mushrooms, tyme; cook for 3 minutes. Stir in parsley lemon juice, pepper, and salt.

Pour mushroom mixture evenly over the tart crust. Combine 2 TBS of cheese with milk and eggs, stir with a whisk. Pour over the mushroom mixture in the tart crust. Sprinkle with chopped peppers and remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until it is set. Cool for 10 minutes and garnish with chives or parsley. The dish goes extremely well with southern style cole slaw.


The Mushroom and Roasted Pepper Tart requires some time to make, but they are a delicious treat. This dish has reinvigorated my love of cooking and I plan to walk through the book one recipe at a time until I'm either overweight or satisfied.

I was a bit inspired by Katrina to attempt a simple cobbler recipe with some frozen fruit Katrina and I picked this summer in the Apostle Islands. It is extremely simple and equally tasty. The recipe I used can be found at MyRecipes.com. I simplified the ingredients list a bit.

Ingredients

Filling:
6 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar

Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBS sugar
3/4 TSP baking powder
1/4 TSP salt
1/4 TSP baking soda
5 TBS chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup fat-free sour cream
3 TBS 2% reduced-fat milk
1 TSP sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare filling, combine first 2 ingredients in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish.

To prepare topping, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through baking soda) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in sour cream to form a soft dough.

Drop dough by spoonfuls onto blueberry filling to form 8 dumplings. Brush dumplings with milk; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar. Place baking dish on a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and dumplings are lightly browned. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream and coffee.