Spring is in the air? Only the vegetables will know
I’m back writing! This week has been a busy week for me. It’s a spring break for my whole family (hubby decided to take a week break as well) and I had guests coming over at the beginning of the week. I was so busy preparing lots of things for them that I didn’t have time to take care of this blog. With all the cleaning of the house, cooking Indonesian foods, and baking few cakes, I was left exhausted. My guests were happy with all the goodies I made for them, too bad they’re not staying too long to enjoy more! 
On top of that my son was discovered to contract a weak case of pneumonia. He’s been coughing almost a month without any improvement so few days before spring break I finally got him into his pediatrician. I felt bad for him, I wish I went sooner. But the pediatrician wasn’t too concerned because it’s an extreme case. He’s given an antibiotic and thankfully he was fine after all the medication was gone. After the guests left, we had fun swimming, going to the Japanese garden and playing in the park. So, yeah, my days were filled with family activities.
Now, back to the post. Why would I say a funny title this time? Because the weather completely turned back to winter mode just this whole week. Rain started pouring down relentlessly, pretty soon hails were coming down as well and oh, don’t forget the wind as well. On and off, on and off. Last night all weathermen predicted an inch or so snow in the valley (Willamette Valley) in the morning. This time their prediction was true, it snowed in the morning. According to Oregon’s history, the last time it snowed this late or during spring time was around 1950’s. So, it’s not new but it’s not something that we experience every spring. It has stopped snowing or raining or hailing but we could still feel the chill.
The asparagus is starting to show up though and it’s something that I rejoice. It’s really spring time already despite the uncompromising weather. I grabbed a bundle this week and decided to make asparagus tart with Gruyère cheese. It’s something that I’ve made before but I burned the tart ;-P Not all completely but it was so crispy and brown that I was embarrassed to put it in the blog the first time. This time around I learned from my mistake. I adjusted the baking time and the size of the tart. I really enjoy the simplicity of the flavor and the crispness of the tart.
Asparagus Gruyère Tart
Makes 6-8 servings
Flour, for work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
5 1/2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1 1/2 pounds medium or thick asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400°F. On a floured surface, roll puff pastry into a 12-by-12-inch square. Trim uneven edges.
Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a square. Using a fork, pierce the dough inside the markings at 1/2-inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
Remove the pastry shell from the oven and sprinkle with cheese. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell. Arrange in a single layer over the cheese, alternating ends and tips.
Brush with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake until the asparagus is tender, 15-20 minutes.
Source: adapted from Favorite Recipes the Costco Way
Gruyere and asparagus in a tart? Mmmmm.
I wish you warm weather!
thanks Lori! we really need to get more sunshine here in Oregon
Comment by RecipeGirl — March 28, 2008 @ 10:33 pm
Thats a beautiful picture of your tart!
thank you Jessica
Comment by Jessica — March 29, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
cakepp tartnya…looksss yummyy….:D..asparagusnya menggoda
emang enak Sye….
Comment by elsye — March 29, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
Di tempatku belom musim asparague, Liz. Aku belom pernah nyobain asparagus yg warna ijo, belinya selalu yg warna putih. Rasanya sama ya?
Ngomong2, anakmu kena pneumonia juga? Sama kayak anakku yg paling kecil. Aku suka bete banget sama dokter di sini. Mereka itu terlalu anti ngasih obat sama anak2. Udah tau anakku lemes gitu, tetep aja gak dikasih apa2. Katanya, “biar daya tahan tubuhnya yg ngelawan sendiri”. Ampun deh
yg putih rasanya lebih mild ya, disini yg putih lebih mahal dan lebih jarang ada, kecuali ke farmers market.
iya, dia sih jarang sekali sakit, thn ini parah rupanya, gak bisa ilang itu muscous di paru2 karena bekas batuk pilek sblmnya. biasanya aku jg gak mau dikit2 dikasih antibiotik, tapi kalo perlu ya mau
Comment by Sheila — March 29, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
Walah, pake PHP segala?? Kalo CSS sih masih agak ngerti dikit2 lah. Tapi PHP??? Aku angkat tangan, Liz
Bentuknya kayak apa juga kagak tau…hehehe.
Gak nyoba transmigrasi ke blogger? ngomporin Hmmm…tapi arsip kamu lumayan lama juga di Blogsome. Dari taon 2005?? Ck..ck..ck..rajin euy!
kalo ini mau pake wordpress theme, dia semuanya terpisah, jadi harus masukin satu2, kecuali style sheet nya. pusing lah, lain kali siapa tau ada yg mau bikinin hahaha…
Comment by Sheila — March 29, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Yeah you’re back! This looks wonderful. And yesterday afternoon when I left Portland, he plane was de-iced on the runway…very, very strange! We loved the snow though and so did the kids!
I agree…this spring break is the most unusual one for us too
Comment by Noble Pig — March 30, 2008 @ 7:57 am
Such a good use of spring vegetables to make savory tarts!Lovely.
yes, this is one of my faves eating asparagus
Comment by tigerfish — March 31, 2008 @ 1:46 am
Just what I need, a bit of Spring on my table (cause it’s certainly not Spring outside)!
Comment by Mari — April 1, 2008 @ 11:22 am