Baby Tarts Of Blue Cheese German And Vegetarian Food

BLUE CHEESE & PEAR FILLING FOR MINI-TARTLETS (GERMAN)

Steps:

• Mash cheese w/a fork in a bowl. Mix in the celery + black pepper, gradually beat in the cream cheese & fold in the chives. Chill in the fridge till required.
• Peel, quarter & core pears 20-30 min b4 serving. Cut crossways into slices & mix w/the lemon juice to stop them turning brown (I usually use my pastry brush for this).
• Fill 18 pre-baked mini-tartlet shells w/the cheese mixture, stand a pear piece on top & sprinkle lightly w/poppy seeds (if using).

BABY TARTS OF BLUE CHEESE (GERMAN AND VEGETARIAN)

Steps:

• Roll pastry to the thickness of a coin. Cut six 12-cm (5-in) rounds & fit into six 10-cm (4-in) tartlet tins or Yorkshire pudding tins. Press the dough rounds well into the sides to make sure they come up beyond the tin edges to allow for shrinkage.
• Line tart cases w/foil, fill w/baking beans or dried lentils & chill for 20 minutes.
• Saute leeks in oil for 5 min till softened & set aside to cool. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6 (200C or 400F).
• Bake tart cases for 10 minutes. Then remove foil & beans (or lentils) & bake for another 5 minutes. Reduce oven temp to Gas Mark 4 (180C or 350F).
• Divide leeks + sauerkraut among the tart cases, drop in the crumbled or diced cheese & sprinkle w/the caraway or cumin seeds.
• Beat the egg, yolks + milk & pour into the tarts, forking the mixtures to distribute well.
• Return to the oven & bake for 20 min till risen & golden brown. Cool slightly b4 removing from the tins & serve warm.

HOMEMADE METTWURST

Steps:

• Mix all the ingredients together well and grind finely through a meat grinder.
• Knead the mixture for 5 minutes.
• Stuff the mixture into natural skins, naturine skins or silk skins.
• Thin sausages need 7 days at lukewarm room temperature to dry properly and thick sausages up to 14 days.
• Too much heat in the first 3 days can lead to fermentation.
• Either smoke twice or eat as is.

FIG & BLUE CHEESE TART

Steps:

• First make the pastry. Tip the flours into a food processor with ½ tsp salt and the diced butter. Pulse until you can't feel any lumps, then tip in the walnuts. Mix the egg yolks with 3 tbsp cold water, then dribble this into the machine while you pulse again until the pastry comes together. Tip the pastry out onto a floured surface, lightly bring it together into a ball, then roll out and line a deep 20-23cm tart tin with overhang. The pastry may crack, but just patch it back together, then cover and chill for 1 hr.
• To make the filling, melt the remaining butter in a large pan, then add the shallots and soften for 10-15 mins, until golden and squishy. Stir in the thyme for 1 min, then remove from the heat. Beat the eggs in a jug with the crème fraîche and cream. Crumble in the cheese and season with pepper and a small amount of salt.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Blind bake the pastry for 20 mins, remove the baking beans and paper, then bake for a further 15-20 mins until golden and sandy. Reduce the oven temp to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Add the cooled onions to the cream mixture and pour into the case. Sit the fig halves on top, cut side up, sprinkle with some more thyme and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hr-1hr 10 mins until the tart is browning and has a slight wobble - the cheese middle will firm up on sitting. Cool for about 15-20 mins, then remove from tin and serve with a green salad.

BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a muffin pan.
• Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Place a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely. Serve with blueberry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice.

SUMMER HERB DIP (GERMAN)

Steps:

• Mix quark & yogurt in a mixing bowl. Add next 7 ingredients (garlic thru lemon juice).
• Mix well, taste & season w/salt & pepper to pers pref. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hrs b4 serving.
• NOTE #1: I confess I have not used Quark as an ingredient & do not know if I can get it here in Iceland. However, Roz said "Quark makes a quick light dip & has fewer calories than richer cream cheese." Taking this cue from her, my assumption is cream cheese may be used as an alternative to quark.
• NOTE #2: As written the recipe offered a choice of using single cream OR low-fat yogurt. I opted for the latter, but the former may be your choice. Feel free. :-).