A Man, a Fruit, a Tart, and a Muffin

This weekend's trip to the farmer's market produced the first raspberries and blueberries of the season resulting in a minor culinary explosion of creativity. The aroma of blueberry polenta muffins wafted through my kitchen, resulting in ravenous attacks by family members on my blueberry muffin stash. The recipe is based upon the one used at Stars in San Francisco, see Stars Desserts by Emily Luchetti. Al Forno's in Providence, Rhode Island, one of my favorite restaurants, provided the inspiration for a raspberry crostata, based on a recipe from their cookbook, Cucina Simpatica. A labor of love, I have been making crostatas based on Al Forno's recipe for years. A sweet pastry dough first must be made, frisaged (a French technique of massaging the dough), chilled and rested for at least an hour, carefully rolled out, then chilled again before I can place the raspberries and a little sugar on the pastry, after which it must be chilled for the third time before baking. Once baked, the tart is served warm oozing the luscious juices of raspberries, which have mingled with a dollop of cold creamy Hagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. This raspberry tart is one of the highlights of summer. As always music must accompany my culinary efforts and the rewards produced. Click here to listen.

1. Iron and Blood - Shalabi Effect
2. Come Another Rain Down - Brightblack Morning Light
3. Flaming Telepaths - Espers
4. In Sand And Dirt - Howlin Rain
5. Tuesday Evening - Paul Brett's Sage
6. Lavender Popcorn - Scrugg
7. The Swimmer (For Kurt Cobain) - Tom Rapp
8. Sugar Mountain - Neil Young
9. I Hope You're Happy Now - The Television Personalities
10. Doot Doot Plot - The Hidden Cameras
11. Papillon De Nuit - Le Volume Courbe
12. November And Everything After - Mountain Con
13. The Dark Side of Maria - Mecca Normal