First Apple Dessert of the Season

I bought more apples at the Milk Pail's farm market stand on Saturday, and last night I used a package of Dufour all-butter puff pastry I had in the freezer (I buy it at Citarella's in Bridgehampton) to make this pretty tart. Here is the recipe:

Puff Pastry Apple Tart
Serves 8

One 14-ounce sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 apples (I like sweet-tart Jonagolds or Granny Smiths)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon apricot jam

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unfold the puff pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Place in the freezer.
2. Peel and core the apples and slice them into very thin slices. Toss them together in a large bowl with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Remove the pastry from the freezer and arrange the apple slices in three rows, overlapping them slightly, on top, leaving a 1 to 1 1/2-inch border all around. Brush the border with the egg.
3. Bake until the pastry is puffed and well-browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with the jam. Let cool, slice, and serve.

Enjoying Harborfest

Harborfest is on, and I spent the morning on Long Wharf enjoying some of its delights. The Boy Scouts were grilling hot dogs, Pierson Middle School students were singing karaoke, and the little kids were enjoying a picturesquely situated bouncy castle with a nautical theme. On my way home, I browsed the sidewalk sales, and these half-price drinking straws at Country Lane (I have a newfound love of polka dots) caught my eye. See you at the Whale Boat Races!

Will I Ever Get Out of Here?

It's been awhile since I've left the Village, so today I made big plans to drive over to the Milk Pail in Water Mill for some new apples. Then I discovered that Cavaniola's is selling Milk Pail apples. Will I ever get out of this town?

Tuesday Night's Dinner: Summer's Last Pizzas

To combat the chill that accompanied Tuesday's rain, I used the last of my Quail Hill haul--a few tomatoes and a bunch of broccoli rabe--to make two summery but still warming pizzas.

For the tomato pie, I sliced some tomatoes, set them on some paper towels, sprinkled them with salt, and let them stand for 15 minutes to drain away excess moisture. Then I put them on top of my stretched pizza dough, arranged some thinly sliced soppresata over the tomatoes, and sprinkled on about 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella. (To get the pizza into the oven without incident, I stretch the dough on top of a parchment-lined rimless baking sheet, arrange the toppings on top of the dough, and slice the pizza, still on the parchment, directly onto a preheated pizza stone). After baking in a 500 degree oven for about 50 minutes, I grated some Parmesan over the pizza before slicing and serving.

The broccoli rabe pizza was just slightly more complicated. I sliced three large, juicy cloves of garlic and cooked them briefly in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then I trimmed and discarded the tough stems of the broccoli, coarsely chopped the leaves, and added the leaves to the pan with a little bit of salt, stirring for a minute or two to wilt them. I spread the wilted broccoli rabe and garlic over the stretched dough, sprinkled with 4 ounces of grated mozzarella, and baked for 15 minutes in a 500 degree oven. As with the tomato pie, I grated some Parmesan over this one before slicing and serving. .

IGA Item of the Week

When my husband heard that some local farmers were collecting canned goods and other needed items to take to flood-damaged upstate New York farms later in the week, he bought a case of Progresso soup at the IGA and took it to the drop off spot at the Falkowski farm, 720 Butter Lane in Bridgehampton. For more information on the relief effort, click here.

Things Even Out

I took a break yesterday from trying to figure out how to restore my gingham blog border (mysteriously missing for several days) to shop some Labor Day sales on Main Street. Gingham-bordered cotton tablecloths with sweet matching napkins at the Variety Store were hard to resist. At least something around here will have a gingham border for the holiday.

IGA Item of the Week

Just in time for Labor Day, and to replace what was lost after the hurricane: A fresh shipment of Hershey's Ice Cream has arrived at the IGA.