The dip that didn't make it...

We were scheduled to go to a potluck with local bloggers at Valerie's yesterday evening, but unfortunately my body decided to give in to the flu. So Charles' ended up on one couch with a book and a leftover bison burger, and I on the other with a bowl of soup, soda crackers, ginger ale, the chills and a fever. On a positive note, the Steeps across the street from us did have an excellent musician in last night, and the wind carried his voice into our living room quite nicely.

There is also a sizeable bowl of baba ganoush now sitting idle in the fridge (our contribution to the potluck), which I hope to get into once this bug leaves my stomach...

I realize this is unrelated to the above, but I'm going to finish this post with a rhubarb tart I made earlier in the week. The rhubarb puree was pretty standard - rhubarb, some sugar and a bit of kirsch at the end. But the tart shell, a recipe from David Lebovitz' Ready for Dessert, was incredibly easy to make - with room temperature butter and no rolling - and provided a great cookie like contrast to the rhubarb. I'll leave you with it.

Prebaked Tart Shell
from David Lebovitz' Ready for Dessert
*the mixing in his recipe utilizes a stand mixer, but I did it by hand so I'm leaving the mixer info out

6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup (140g) all purpose-flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Beat the butter and sugar on low speed until smooth. Add the egg yolk and mix until well incorporated. Add the flour and salt and mix just until the dough comes together in a smooth, homogenous mass. Don't overmix. Pinch off a jelly bean-size piece of dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and set aside.

Place the remaining dough in the centre of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Use the heel of your hand to press the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan; try to get the dough as smooth as possible. Use your fingers to press the dough up the sides and to the rim of the pan; make sure that the dough is not too thick in the corners.

Freeze the dough-lined tart pan until the dough is firm, at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the frozen tart dough about 10 times with a fork. Bake the tart shell on the baking sheet for 7 minutes, then check if the bottom has puffed up; if it has, gently press it down with the back of a metal spatula. Continue baking until deep golden brown, 15-20 minutes more.

Remove from the oven. While the tart shell is hot, if there are any large fissures, pinch off small pieces of the reserved unbaked dough, and use your fingertip to gently smooth them into the cracks until the cracks are filled. (There is no need to bake longer as the heat from the still-warm tart shell will firm it up.)

Storage: Tart dough can be frozen for 1 month, either formed into a disk or pressed into the tart pan. The tart shell needs to be used the day that it's prebaked, so don't bake it until you need it.