Fresh Strawberry Tart, and Birthdays to Celebrate!

I decided to feature this photo of my lovely fresh Strawberry Tart, before slicing it, just when it finally set... with my homemade Strawberry "thick" glaze, or coulis, or sauce, but it really is a glaze, ... not your ordinary clear glaze, because instead of a cream filling, or maybe even a curd type of filling, I chose the thick glaze, which is so easy to make. I willing to bet no one has heard of this kind of tart with a light "Nilla" Vanilla Tart Shell, instead of a Shortbread type, or a Graham Cracker type tart. I'm not really a an avid baker, but I do get enthusiastic about easy things to make that does not require a lot of work...and I don't even want to get involved in "yeast dough" unless I have to. I leave all that to my daughter. She is always making yeast all kinds of things with yeast...especially, since I gave her the brand new Bread Machine, even with the instruction from my thrift find, at Goodwill, for $9.99. Now, I'm trying to find one for myself, which is difficult, and think people are getting more interest in "dough" making...and why not? You can't beat fresh homemade bread, rolls, and pizza dough!

Enough said...had a busy week with my daughter's lovely in-law's from Italy staying here for their vacation, and loving every minute of it. They are so sweet, down to earth, and are so adventurous trying out new foods, and desserts, so this is one of the desserts that anyone who loves fresh strawberries would love. Light, not too sweet and the vanilla cookie crust is a treat, just by itself!
I've always loved fresh strawberry pie, when strawberry is in season, and just simple, with a nice crust, glaze, and served with fresh whipped cream, and of course, Strawberry Shortcakes...another yummy fresh strawberry dessert.

The way I started to make this, is not having enough time to make a fresh pie dough, and not wanting to buy frozen...I didn't have graham crackers or crumbs in my cupboard for the crust, but I just bought a huge box of Nilla Vanilla wafers from Costco's that I wanted to make a nice Banana Cream Pie with it, and ended up making this quick dessert instead. I realize the glaze takes up a pint of strawberries, just like the whole strawberry pieces, but at
$1.75 a pint, not too expensive for two.

Fresh Strawberry Tart
 my own recipe

3 - 6 cups of fresh strawberries (for topping)
2 cups fresh strawberries (for filling)
(depending how much you want to use)
3/4 cup water
grated fresh orange

juice of 1 fresh orange, (after grating)
grated fresh lemon
juice of 1 fresh lemon, (after grating)
2 Tablespoon cornstarch, or potato starch (not gelatin)
Fresh whipped cream for garnish, or to serve with

For Filling:
Mash the 2 cups of strawberries, with a potato masher, in a medium bowl. Combined the mashed strawberries, and water, in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and add the cornstarch, the juices of the lemon, and the orange, and the grated rinds. Cook until it gets to a sauce, and strawberries are cooked down, stirring constantly. This will take only a few minutes. You can add about another 1/4 cup of water if it gets too thick.

Remove from saucepan, and add the hot sauce to a blender container. Carefully blend the sauce, holding the lid down so it doesn't "fly off" and splatter.
Remove from blender. In the meantime, line the tart with the nicest whole strawberries, stems removed, in around a circle, you can overlap them if you like, (I just added single rows.)

Drizzle all the strawberry sauce over the fresh strawberries, to fill the tart, or if you like just a small amount, but in that case you will have to totally fill the crust with lots of strawberries. Let it cool down in the fridge, or if you need it fast, you can place it in the freezer for 30 minutes for the glaze to set.
You can serve this with fresh whipped cream, or decorate it with the whipped cream, piping nice rosettes on it, (which I did not have the time). It is absolutely "out of this world" light, and delicious, so perfect after a heavy meal, or just for a light dessert!

For the Crust:
2 cups of vanilla wafers ground
1/4 cup butter (1 stick) melted
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grind the wafers in a food processor to make 2 cups. Add sugar, and grated orange, stir in the melted butter, just to moisten evenly, and press into a large non-stick tart pan, with a removable bottom.
Use a large soup spoon to press down, and not with your fingers, or hand, (so butter does not get too pressed into the crust) Also, do the same on the sides of the tart pan. Bake crust for no longer than 15 minutes, and follow the topping, and filling process.

Now, you know why you need a light dessert?...A gorgeous beef ragu (an Italian Beef Stew) cooked by Teresa, for a fabulous get-together dinner with next door BFF...of Lora's. This was our contribution, plus my dessert.

Marisa's beautiful fresh home garden kale and beans soup...our first course.

Eric... (Dr. Schnirman's) baked fish on the grill, was my choice to eat, with mixed salad. The Fish was to "die for" delicate, spicy, with freshly ground pepper, paprika, and lime juice. baked in buttery, and extra virgin olive oil, and aluminum foil lined, right on the grill. (don't remember what kind, a red fish, of some kind...lol) Amazing!

OMG...(by the way, OMG, and LOL, has just been added to the Webster's Dictionary, as official words...how about that?!)
Grilled lamb steaks...or is it chops?...at any rate, so goooood!

As you can see, the lamb is so nice and rare (sorry vegetarians, next post will be all vegan treats)...grandson Luca just working on his soup, and ate pasta...

I was not even going to try to take photo of the slice of tart, but just to show you how gorgeous the fresh sauce/glaze combo on top of the crunchy vanilla wafer/cookie crust, with the fresh whole strawberries, and the hint of the lemon/orange flavor from the grated rinds, and juice. (photo is dark, whipped cream looks sloppy)...not prepared to pose or "stage this shot"...also, not inspiring to get into Top 9 for Foodbuzz, or Foodgawker, or Stumbleupon which I will be figuring out. Just having a nice time with family, loving, and caring friends, and appreciate togetherness.
That's what life is about, caring about, each other,
 sharing, and loving FOOD!


...and enjoying a fabulous Cappucino!