DOGWOOD FARM ASPARAGUS TART
Bluepoint Hospitality chef Harley Peet used to live on this seasonal tart’s namesake farm, where his restaurants still source their eggs and this dish’s fleeting rite of spring: asparagus.
Yields 6 servings.
Best cooked in the Heather.
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:- 250 grams all-purpose flour
- 160 grams butter, cold, diced (such as high-fat Plugra)
- 1 Tbsp. whole milk
- 2 tsp. fine sea salt
For the vinegar reduction:
- 300 milliliters champagne vinegar
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 5 peppercorns
For the Hollandaise custard:
- 4 egg yolks
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 whole eggs
- 500 milliliters heavy cream or English double cream
For the tart:
- 2 bunches spring asparagus, ends discarded, stems peeled, tips reserved
- 1 small radish, diced or sliced for garnish
- Wild ramps, if you have them
METHOD
For the crust:
In a medium bowl, chop cold butter into flour, using a pastry fork or food processor. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and salt. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and incorporate, working the mixture as little as possible. Shape dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
For the vinegar reduction:
Add all ingredients in a small sauce pan over high heat and reduce to a final 50 milliliter, about eight minutes. Strain into a small bowl and place off to the side.
For the Hollandaise custard:
Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half, then set aside. In a medium bowl, add yolks, whole egg, and vinegar reduction. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until doubled in volume (aka “ribbon stage”). Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in warm cream. Check seasoning. Set aside.
Final assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For best results, let the dough come to room temperature before final assembly. Using a small amount of flour on your countertop, roll out dough to a 3.5-millimeter thickness, then a 2.5-millimeter thickness. Lightly spray or rub cast-iron pan with butter or oil. Gently lay the dough over the pan and lightly press into the edges, leaving at least 2 inches of overhanging dough at the top. Prick dough a few times with a fork and weigh down with baking weights or dried beans or rice. Bake the empty crust in over for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, remove baking weights, and reduce oven temperature to 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue to bake crust until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven, immediately use rolling pin across the lip of the cast-iron pan to remove excess crust. Now, fill the empty crust with veggies. Pour custard over top. Garnish with additional veggies on top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 35 minutes, or until custard is set. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving. Slice and serve.
Recipe + photo courtesy of Harley Peet and Bluepoint Hospitality.
SEAFOOD FRITTERS
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is, for all intents and purposes, clam country. In fact, the Old Dominion State has the largest clam fishery in the United States, hauling in hundreds of millions of both farm-raised and wild varieties, from little necks, cherrystones, and razors along the coastal peninsula’s Chesapeake Bay shorelines to quahogs off the banks of the Atlantic Ocean. And if you’re not eating them raw or roasted, there are few ways better to indulge than the local delicacy of a pan-fried fritter.
CHESAPEAKE OYSTER STUFFING
A round of oysters is always cause for celebration, and this time of year on the Chesapeake Bay, that shows up in the form of oyster stuffing. Whether stuffed into a bird or cooked in a cast-iron pan, it’s a time-honored tradition during the holiday season. Or, as Harris’s book reports The Baltimore Sun putting it in 1914, “Inside the oyster belt at Thanksgiving time, it is nothing short of heresy to fail to serve turkey with good old-fashioned oyster stuffing.” Throw it into a Joan and consider it tradition.
SEARED HANGER STEAK WITH CHARRED SCALLION SALSA
There was a time not that long ago when you’d walk into certain butcher shops, ask for a hanger steak, and get a quizzical look. Perhaps that’s because, for some time, the secondary cut was also known as a “Hanging Tender,” hailing from inside the ribcage (in fact, it’s part of the diaphragm), as well as “the Butcher’s Steak,” with those cunning meatmongers often keeping this deeply flavorful, textured specimen for themselves. “But the gig is up,” says Pryles, who shares her pan-cooked version with us, featuring wagyu, no less, and a bright salsa to boot.
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