It’s days and weeks like this one past when I wonder, can we ever have too much of a good thing?
Who among us can get the memories of Robin Williams out of our heads this week and the tragedy of his untimely death? Time does seem to stop when something like this happens, doesn’t it? We stop and mentally scroll through all that has transpired and just how much this gifted one has enriched our lives and, especially, made us laugh. In my opinion, comic genius is one rarity in life that can not be overestimated. And, isn’t it just great that there are people who dedicate their lives to this?
In a world with so much sadness, we really do need to laugh, if only for a moment or so a day – so that we can sustain ourselves through the otherwise endless barrage of nastiness, conjured up and inflicted upon ourselves from that conglomeration that is known as “humankind”. Question: Isn’t it bad enough that nature’s elements inflict upon us their unpredictable wrath and destruction? But, we need to do this to ourselves too, and in such a saturating and seemingly self-vindicating way – i.e. in the name of some twisted or so-called noble cause or other (religion, politics, repression, empire building, to name a few)? Well, yikes, that crystalized pretty early to me this morning.
Perhaps then, one, if not the biggest of humankind’s challenges is to stay on the upside of that delicate balance between the world’s seeming determination to be self-destructive and, seeing a beam of light, persevering in spite of it all? This is a mystery of life to ponder, isn’t it? How do we do it? Well, sometimes it’s harder than others……..
Perhaps, too, it is especially ironic that when someone who’s central purpose was delivering humor to us dies of his own sadness, we must consider the terrible ellusiveness of that state of being that is, well, happiness.
I was scrolling through some reminders of Robin Williams’ interviews and work in my mind this morning and The World According to Garp came into my head. I thought I remembered him starring in this movie and yet I didn’t see this mentioned as one of his primary roles. This book and movie were a big deal back when they came out (circa 1982) and I remember reading the book with a little bit of dismay. And yet, I also remember thinking back then that yes, Robin Williams was indeed the right person to play the character. This, like so many other parts for him, were clearly meant to be. Like he was born to play them. Destiny.
How does this segue into a recipe for Lemon Tart? On a thin line, but it did, for me. Yesterday, I was catching up on some backlogged reading in the CIA’s publication, CUISINE Summer 2014 issue. I had picked this up about 6 weeks or more ago and had it in my pile. Of course, the cover photo of grilled peaches, proscuitto and figs just got me.
Anyway, I paged along and came to what was almost the end of the magazine when I saw it. The Lemon Tart, on page 87. It wasn’t just any tart, it was a “tall” tart, a seemingly mile-high expression of yummy unctuousness, enough to pucker you up and make you drool! And, after all, after yet another week of bad news all around in the newspapers and in humanity, don’t we need and deserve a little bit of mile-high lemony yumminess?
oops, there’s one tomato I harvested in there too!
Now granted, I have a mile-high bowl (actually two) of ripe peaches that I picked last weekend at Melick’s and diligently transported 315 miles here from New Jersey after my canning jars didn’t arrive – that I must decide what to do with today. Hmmmm, and so, why aren’t I fixated with these right now? Why the lemon tart? Because I can’t help but think that the CIA did indeed do something that I generally don’t subscribe to, at least not in the pastry department, and that is take a good thing and apply the multiplier effect to it – as in making it in a high Quiche pan! – just as we would want to do to someone like Robin Williams – to take him and all his talent and good intentions and life’s ambition to make us laugh and multiply it times a ga-zillion, just about the factor we could use today (or at least times eleven, as in eleven eggs). They indeed do exactly that. And so, I find myself saying yes, this is a good thing (invoking Martha) and so today I dub this the World According to Eleven Egg Yolks, in honor of Robin Williams – and can we ever have too much of a good thing-day?
So, herewith is my segue from Robin Williams to the Lemon Tart. Today, I’d top this with some perfect 8/13 weeks of Summer 2014 fresh Blueberries – preferably the tiny wild ones found up at Head of the Meadow in Truro, MA – quickly becoming my most favorite spot on Cape Cod! And, some sweet cream – for we are all indeed in need of a sweet thing or two or three now and then…….
The CIA Lemon Tart – courtesy Culinary Institute of America’s CUISINE Summer 2014
12 oz Påte Sucrée
9 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup lemon zest
Preheat oven to 375F. Roll out the pate sucrée to 1/4″ thickness and line a deep 9″quiche pan, ideally with a removable bottom. Line the unbaked crust with parchment paper and fill the pan with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is set and begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the pastry front the oven and allow it to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 300F. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together with a whisk until thoroughly mixed, about three minutes. In a separate medium-size bowl, lightly beat the cream until a light froth forms on the surface, about 30 seconds. Combine the cream, egg, mixture and lemon juice and mix all together in the large bowl. The mixture will curdle when you add the lemon; continue to whisk until the curdle disappears. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Blend in the lemon zest. Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell.
Bake the tart in the oven until the custard is set, about 1 hour. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Refrigerate overnight before serving.
CIA Påte Sucrée:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, about 5-10 minutes or until pale in color. Add the egg and continue beating for 5 more minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Switch to the lowest speed on the mixer and blend in the flour; mix until a soft paste is formed (do not over mix). Remove from the bowl and shape into a flat, 1″ thick slab. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it int he refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. Once the slab has chilled completely, remove from the plastic and carefully begin rolling out to desired shape on a flour-dusted work surface. Do not let the dough reach room temperature or it will stick to both the work surface and the rolling pin. If the dough begins to get sticky, re-refrigerate until firm. Note: this recipe makes enough for two tarts.
photo courtesy CIA
So, I’ve made a mental note for today to try to maximize, aka apply the multiplier effect, to all the good things I can see, think and do, as we all would have just loved to do to someone like Robin Williams – for the benefit of all mankind…… – Isn’t that a good rule of thumb anyway?
Now, off to figure out what to do with those lovely peaches…………