Farmer’s Market, Lululemon, and a Peach Tart
You might not expect it, but Kansas City has a pretty incredible open air farmer’s market. I don’t live in Kansas City of course, but my mom and sister have lived there off and on over the years, so every time I’m in town I wake everyone up early and drag them there with me. Mom and Joel love it, my sister is probably indifferent towards the whole thing, and my niece will go, albeit begrudgingly, and usually requires some incentivizing - this time it was a promise to stop by Lululemon (yes, Lulufreakinglemon). My niece is almost ten, so she’s getting to that age where she wants all the same things that her friends have and apparently all ten year olds these days want Lululemon. I don’t get it, but who am I to judge? When I was around her age, maybe a little older, all I wanted was Abercrombie. I guess it’s the same odd thing. Anyway, I obliged and went and bought her a tank top that she wanted. Her smile and excitement afterwards made it worth while, plus I get the all the Cool Guncle points for buying her first piece of apparel from Lululemon.
I was able to pickup a few things - some leafy greens for salads, chestnuts (which, as we speak, are sitting in the freezer unused because I honestly don’t know what to do with them), a bottle of blackberry liquor made from a local distillery, and my favorite find of the day: fresh peaches. Not those hard, flavorless, and dry variety from the supermarket but fresh, fresh, juicy peaches.
So what is one to do with all those fresh peaches? Make a peach tart of course. Enjoy all of the buttery, flaky goodness of the crust and sweetness of the peaches in this delicious “whip it up in no time” desert. Feel free to use a store bough crust, I know it’s time consuming and tedious to make one from scratch. But if you’re feeling adventurous in the kitchen, the recipe for a pie crust is below.
Peach Tart
Ingredients
Pie Crust - Partially Baked (recommended but store bought is of course perfect, too)*
*If using store bought, follow package directions for a partially baked pie crust.
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
6 oz cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice cold water
9 inch pie, cake, or quiche pan
Instructions:
1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the cold butter and shortening. Using your finger tips, rub the ingredients together breaking apart the butter into smaller and smaller chunks until the mixture looks lumpy and flaky. At once, add the water. Using your hands combine all the ingredients and form the dough into a loose mound. If the dough seems unusually dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
2. Remove the dough mound onto a floured surface and smear in an upward motion using the heel of your hand. Regather dough in a mound and smear until the butter is well incorporated. Regather and kneed gently to form into a ball, avoiding any large cracks in the dough. Dust lightly with flour and wrap in parchment or waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins, or overnight.
3. When ready, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the dough on a floured surfaced and work into a flattened circle with your hands. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough away from you, so that it’s several inches past the diameter of your pie or cake pan. Form into pie pan and remove excess dough, keep for later. Prick the crust with a fork on the bottom and around the edges. Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill the inside with something heave such as dry beans to keep it from puffing. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, remove the parchment paper and dry beans, and place back into the oven for a further 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
Ingredients:
Peach Filling
Mixed berry fruit spread or jam
3 ripe peaches, cut into slices about 1/2 in thick
3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and optional almond extract. Using your fingers, smush the ingredients together until it’s all mixed and has a sand like texture. Set aside.
2. Using a spatula, smear the bottom of the pie crust lightly with the fruit spread. This acts as a way to glue the peaches down and also creates a layer to protect the crust from potentially becoming too soggy. Arrange the peaches in the pie crust in a concentric circle - don’t worry if it’s not perfect or if you need to overlap the peaches to fit them all in. Sprinkle on all of the sugar mixture (yes, all of it).
3. Bake for 35 minutes in the center rack of the oven. It should be bubbly and mostly all of the sugar mixture should be absorbed into the bubbly filling but some will remain crusted on top. If you feel it needs a little more time, add an extra five minutes or so, but don’t exceed 40-45 minutes.