It's a good casserole

It's a double header at Crumb Brulee this day.  Trying as I am to catch up on the culinary delights in my life I just can't seem to pay homage to every moment.  Today  is no exception as I meant whole heartedly to document my forray into the Camden culinary scene... instead I cooked.
I did however start with an amuse bouche of Warres porto and Italian Gorgonzola:

Today was inspired by Cooks Illustrated December issue.  If you don't have a subscription, run out and get one now for god sakes!
Tonight we dinned on Vegetable tart and smoked sausages from Edwards of Surry, Virginia a gift from James manager for Christmas. We got a small ham and sausages, but I decided tonight to tap into the sausages and feather in my vegetable tart as an accompaniment.

Smoked Virginia Sausage Links

Also delivered in today's mail was a documentary about Julia Child and I decided to watch the DVD while I cooked, paying homage to the woman who made French Cooking available to mere mortals. Cooking I was to discover wasn't such a hard thing to do after all, a knife and pot are all you need to kick it in the kitchen.
The vegetable tart was of course the more involved menu item.  I was interested to learn that the recipe called for both white and  whole wheat flour in addition to sugar and white vinegar along with, count em, 10 tablespoons of delightful-decadent butter.
I started it all off with the shitake mushrooms, Cook's called for shitake but I added bella and oyster a choice I would later question.
Began by microwaving the shrooms for 5 minutes and then drianing them. The leeks, honorary vegetable of winter, were cut into 1/2 inch slices and sauted with fresh minced thyme. This made the vegetable portion of the tart. I mixed in some heavy cream, buttermilk and Dijon mustard as a binder to the solstice concoction.

Leek & Mushrooms

Next came the part I dreaded, the tart.  I am not known for my baking, in fact I tend to dread recipes that call for pie crusts. This was no exception. Only, I was happily surprised to find that I could not screw this up as long as I followed the god blessed recipe laid out in Cooks Illustrated.
Duh, why hadn't I thought of this sooner?
The dough began with simple steps:
White & whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, butter-butter-butter,  ice water and white vinegar.

That's right Julia Child's is in the background!

After combining all ingredients I let it rest in the fridge for 45 minutes.  After taking it out and letting it rest for another 10 minutes I rolled it out and piled the veggies on high along with the Gorgonzola cheese.

Mount Veggie

Then I pinched up the sides and brushed with egg and sprinkled with sea salt.

Can you see the butter?

In the oven it went and when done it was paired with grilled sausages thanks to my dear husband.
After taking his first bite he proclaimed, "Great Casserole!"
I wasn't crushed since he has such simple tastes, what he really meant to say was, "Can you say heaven?!"
Me: "Yes, its HEAVEN!!!"
Dish accompanied with Dijon mustard, olives and cornichons.
This evening didn't suck.

Winter Wonder on a plate

Maine, the way life should be.