Beet, Brie and Bacon Tart

I finished my vegetable week rather uneventfully with a lot of salads and fennel just sliced. I ended up getting very busy and did not create any amazing new dishes....until today.

I started to make a pie. I have a lot of Ed's peaches in my house and they are ripe. I made a single crust thinking I might do it open faced with a little infused cream. When I opened the refrigerator the beets from the CSA complete with great looking greens staring at me. In the recess of my mind I went to France, the south to those rustic summer tarts of many wonderful vegetables. The thyme called my name and to the garden I went for some tarragon. Ingredients began to tumble out at me and the following tart was born, and it is superb.

1 pastry crust
3/4 cup of heavy cream
4 medium beets, roasted or boiled and thinly sliced
All those lovely beet greens chopped fine sauteed with water squeezed out
2 chopped scallion (green part too, not just the white)
8 ounces of brie thinly sliced (I put it in the freezer and sliced while assembling)
2 medium potatoes thinly sliced
Big handful of thyme and tarragon
Salt and pepper
3 slices of bacon pan fried and crumbled (save fat)
1/2 stick of butter

Warm your cream on the stove top with the tarragon and thyme stalks in it. Keep it on a super low flame for about 10 minutes then remove and let rest with the herb. Do not worry if it develops a skin.

Chop and saute your beet greens with a touch of salt. Squeeze water out and keep in a colander.

Fry the bacon, reserve the fat and crumble the bacon on a plate.

Layer your beets in the bottom of the pastry shell. Top with 1/2 of the sliced brie. The greens go on top of the brie, the onion on the greens, the bacon on the onion and the potato on the bacon. Now, drizzle that lovely bacon fat on the potato slices and top with the remaining brie.

Remove the herbs from your cream and pour the cream over everything. Lightly salt and give those potatoes a a grind of fresh pepper. Now dot with butter, yes butter , bacon fat and cream. Julia Child will be proud of you.

Bake 375 for about approximately 70 minutes. It will smell so good, you will be tempted but let it rest for a couple of hours so it can be cut into wedges. Serve with a salad, and if yours is as good as mine excuse yourself from your guests, bring the laptop to the kitchen counter and share the recipe. Actually I was egged on to post by my guests...'Make sure you write it down before you forget it."

I have hungry mouths clamouring for a second piece.