New Cook Book, New Recipes

My dear friend, Michele, from church gave me this wonderful new cookbook, "Once Upon A Tart." It is full of so many delicious recipes, and I had a hard time deciding where to begin. I finally chose two for tonight's dinner and dessert.

For dinner, I made this Roasted-Eggplant-and-Tomato Tart with Basil. The crust is simply flour, butter, and margarine. I cut the flour and butter together the old fashioned way with two butter knives, as I am unequipped with all those newfangled fancy schmancy gadgets that do it for you, but it really isn't that difficult. In fact, if you have never made a pie crust from scratch, I challenge you to try. It's not nearly as daunting a task as it may seem. This was not my first, and the more you do it, the easier it gets. The bottom of the crust is covered with a layer of puréed basil and parmesan cheese, then topped with the slices of tomato and garlic-roasted eggplant. The filling is made of cream and eggs, though I don't think I made quite enough because it didn't seem to fill the dish as much as it should have. The tart then bakes for a little over an hour. So delicious!

For dessert, I used another recipe from this book: Crunchy Dried Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Cookies. This cookie is made with oats and wheat germ, though I substituted bran flakes, in addition to the flour. The bran flakes, as I am sure the wheat germ would have done, gives these cookies a very light, crispy texture that just crumbles in your mouth. The combination of the sweet chocolate chips with the tart cranberries completes the yumminess that is this cookie. Oh so good!

Thanks Michele for the wonderful gift! I can't wait to try more recipes.