HOME & LIVING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2021
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — B3
Assemble the
absolute best BLT
By KATE KRADER
Bloomberg News
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Italian prune plums are the start of this tart built on a lemon shortbread crust.
Lemons, plums make
a sweet combination
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
I’m a happy camper this
time of year, and no, not
because kids are going back
to school.
August is when Italian
plums come to market.
To fi nd them piled high in
wooden pint baskets at a
local market is like winning
the lottery.
Slightly tart and a little
more egg-shaped than a
common plum, “prune
plums” develop a rich, sug-
ary-sweet fl avor and jammy
texture when cooked. That
means they’re terrifi c not
just for jam but also in pies,
crumbles, cakes and tarts.
Plus, since they’re a free
stone fruit, the pits come out
without any trouble. What
cook doesn’t like that?
I use pint after pint of
the purple fruit when it’s in
season in one of my all-time
favorite desserts: The New
York Times’ famed plum
tart. This year, though, that
recipes has some competi-
tion from Fine Cooking. Its
recipe pairs prune plums
tossed in sugar and lemon
zest with a lemon short-
bread crust that requires no
rolling — you simply pat it
into the pan.
I made it even more deli-
cious by brushing home-
made peach jam on the tart
shell before adding the plum
fi lling. The entire dessert
disappeared in less than a
day, because my husband
and I ate it for breakfast and
also as a late-night snack.
A ripe plum should smell
sweet and fruity, and feel
heavy. Don’t worry about
the spots of powdery white
known as bloom — the fruit
secretes it to protect against
bugs and bacteria, and it’s
actually a sign of freshness.
It’s harmless and edible.
PLUM TART
WITH LEMON
SHORTBREAD
CRUST
For fi lling
1/3 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon
granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 teaspoons fi nely
grated lemon zest
14 ripe Italian plums (about 1
1/2 pounds), each pitted and
sliced into slender wedges
For tart shell
8 tablespoons cold unsalted
butter, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes;
plus more softened for the pan
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons fi rmly packed,
fi nely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup and 3 tablespoons
unbleached all-purpose
fl our; more as needed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of table salt
2 tablespoons plum or
peach preserves
Prepare fi lling: In a
medium bowl, whisk 1/3
cup of the sugar and the
cornstarch, kosher salt and
lemon zest. Add sliced
plums and gently toss with
your hands to evenly coat
with sugar. Cover the bowl
and put in the refriger-
ator for at least 3 hours or
overnight.
Make the tart shell:
Lightly butter the bottom
and sides of a 9-1/2-inch
fl uted tart pan with a
removable bottom.
Put butter cubes in
the freezer and whisk
egg yolk, lemon zest and
vanilla in a small bowl.
Place fl our, sugar and
table salt in the bowl of a
food processor and pulse
a few times to combine.
Add butter and pulse until
the mixture is crumbly
and mealy, about 25 short
pulses.
Add the egg yolk mix-
ture and blend, using long
pulses, just until it forms
a moist, crumbly mass,
about 15 3-second pulses.
The dough won’t come
together on its own, but it
should hold together when
squeezed.
Transfer dough to the
tart pan. Dip the bottom of
a fl at-bottomed cup mea-
sure in fl our and use it to
press the dough onto the
bottom and sides of the pan
in an even layer. Start with
the sides, which should be
1/4 inch thick. Refl our the
cup whenever it starts to
stick to the dough. Wrap
the pan in plastic and
refrigerate it for at least 1
hour and up to 1 day.
Blind bake the shell:
Position a rack in the lower
third of the oven and heat
the oven to 375 degrees.
Unwrap the tart shell and
prick the bottom and sides
several times with a fork.
Spray one side of a piece
of parchment or foil with
cooking spray.
Line the shell with the
sprayed side down and fi ll
the lined shell with pie
weights or dry beans. Set
the tart pan on a baking
sheet and bake for 20 min-
utes. Carefully remove
the liner and pie weights.
Should any dough stick
to the liner, peel it off and
patch it back into the shell.
Reduce heat to 350
degrees and continue
baking until the sides and
bottom of the shell are
golden brown and dry,
10-15 minutes more. Cool
on a rack for about 20
minutes.
Finish the tart: Drain
plums in a sieve or col-
ander set over a medium
bowl for a few minutes.
Pour juice into a small
saucepan and bring to a
simmer over medium heat.
Reduce heat to low and
simmer, stirring occasion-
ally, until very thick, about
3 minutes. Scrape into a
small bowl and let cool for
about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt pre-
serves in the saucepan over
medium-low heat or micro-
wave in a small bowl until
syrupy. Pour preserves into
tart shell and evenly brush
them over the bottom
and sides. With a rubber
spatula, spread the plum
juice over the preserves on
the bottom of the shell.
Starting at the edge of
the shell, arrange plum
slices cut side down and
tightly overlapping in con-
centric circles. If you have
more slices, keep tucking
them in wherever they fi t.
You can also pile a few in
the center.
Sprinkle the remaining
1/2 tablespoon sugar over
the plums.
Bake the tart directly
on the oven rack until the
plums are tender when
poked with a paring knife
and caramelized along
their edges (a few tips
may even blacken). The
crust should be a deep
golden brown, and any
juices should be syrupy
and bubbly, 40-50 minutes.
After you remove the tart
from the oven, moisten the
plums by dipping a pastry
brush into the juices and
brushing any surfaces that
look dry.
Cool the tart in its pan
on a rack for at least 2
hours before unmolding
and slicing with a very
sharp knife.
— Adapted from fi ne-
cooking.com
We are in that delir-
ious moment of summer
when you can’t make a
wrong move at the farmers
market. Tomatoes in all
sizes lie next to piles of
corn and fi elds of berries
in cartons. It’s a grown-up
version of the cliche about
the kid in a candy store.
Which makes it the
consummate time to eat
a BLT. One of the most
classic sandwiches is more
than the sum of its parts,
even if those parts get con-
tentious. As the food blog
Grub Street pointed out
in 2019, some fanatics say
it’s all about the toma-
toes, while others main-
tain bacon is the VIP. Still
others believe mayo is the
unsung hero. (The lettuce,
it seems, is forever the
bridesmaid and never the
bride, to quote one more
cliche.)
The BLT at Daily Pro-
visions, named “The
Absolute Best in New
York” in that 2019 story,
comes down on the side
of the tomatoes. Its LT
puts the ripe fruit front
and center, with bacon
as an add-on, making the
BLT technically an “off
the menu” item. The ver-
sions are tied in popu-
larity: Each represents
40% of the sandwich’s
sales, according to man-
aging director Jessamyn
Waldman Rodriguez, with
the other 20% of orders
coming in for an LAT,
which boasts avocado.
Now, the Danny Mey-
er-led café is expanding
in the city with a spot in
the West Village that is in
“neighborhood preview”
mode before offi cially
opening in September,
as well as an upcoming
branch in the Man-
hattan West complex near
Hudson Yards. So there
will be more opportunity
to grab its expert version
— or better yet, make it at
home.
The trick here is to
lavish attention on each
component.
Start with the let-
tuce: Daily Provisions
eschews leaves of ice-
berg or romaine in favor
of crisp, peppery water-
cress. Then the tomato is
tossed with a light lemon
dressing before being lay-
ered into the sandwich. At
the café, they peel it, too:
“It’s a nice luxury to not
have the skin on it,” says
Rodriguez. “It elevates the
sandwich and releases a
little more of the tomato
juices.” Also key is to use
a single slice that’s very
thick, about an inch, as if
you were making the per-
fect tomato sandwich.
If you’re a lazy BLT
maker, like me, you can
omit the peeling step and
still have a perfectly excel-
lent tomato. The bread is
ciabatta, which is warmed
up before serving, so the
crust is a bit crisp and the
interior warm and puff y —
an idyllic environment for
a BLT. The bacon is cut
thick, so you get a great
chewy, meaty bite.
But the key to this
extraordinary sandwich
and what makes it shout
“summer!” so loud and
clear is the basil mayon-
naise that’s spread on both
halves of the bread. “The
basil mayo was an ele-
ment that helped us max-
imize seasonality, and the
lemon zest in the mayo
also really brightens up
the entire sandwich,” says
Amanda Wilson, culinary
director at Daily Provi-
sions. It tastes like a sunny
day and brings everything
together like a great party
planner, with an addi-
tional zippy kick from the
watercress.
The sandwich is a mon-
umental, two-handed
number, so it may be hard
to get every single com-
ponent into one bite. Keep
trying until you do.
The following recipe is
adapted from the work of
Amanda Wilson and Don-
ovan Tian, chef de cuisine,
Daily Provisions.
THE
ABSOLUTE
BEST BLT
Makes 4
8 thick slices of bacon
(about 1/2 pound)
Loaf of ciabatta bread, or 4
ciabatta rolls, halved and
closed back together
2 ripe, medium tomatoes,
peeled (optional, see
Note), and cut into four
1-inch thick slices
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Flaky salt and freshly
ground pepper
About 3/4 cup basil mayonnaise
(recipe follows)
2 cups watercress
Preheat the oven to 375
degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange
the bacon strips on a rimmed
baking sheet and bake until
well browned but not too crisp,
about 15 minutes. Transfer to
paper towels to drain. Put the
bread in the oven and bake
just until the outside is crispy
and the inside warm, about 2
minutes.
In a shallow bowl, combine
the oil and lemon juice with
a large pinch each of salt and
pepper. Add the tomatoes and
turn to coat. Spread a heaping
tablespoon of basil mayonnaise
on each bread half. Add the
tomato, bacon, and watercress,
close the sandwich and serve.
Note: To peel the tomatoes,
core them and make a small
‘X’ on the bottom. Put them in
a medium saucepan of boiling
water for about 30 seconds, just
until the skin starts to come off .
Immediately transfer to a bowl
of ice water to cool. Dry the
tomatoes and peel off the skins
before cutting in half.
BASIL
MAYONNAISE
Makes 1 cup
1 1/2 cups lightly packed
basil leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 cup mayonnaise
Zest from 1/4 of a lemon
In a small saucepan of boiling
water, blanch the basil leaves,
just until wilted, about 30
seconds. Transfer to an ice water
bath to cool. Squeeze out all the
water and transfer to a mini pro-
cessor. Add the olive oil and salt
and puree. Stir 2 tablespoons of
the puree into the mayonnaise
with the lemon zest.
Dreamstime-TNS
The makings of a BLT sandwich.
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