I love Potatoes Part 2

Again I am raving about yet another Smitten Kitchen recipe, and yes, potatoes are involved. This might be a new favorite, and as I forgot to bring blue cheese to the cabin I used Parmesan and Gruyere instead - AMAZING!!! I decided on this dish for a 4th of July/Birthday celebration not only for the butter, cheese, and potatoes, but also because it is Red, White, and Blue!

Blue Cheese and Red Potato Tart

• 1 Savory Tart Shell, below
• 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped herb or herbs of your choice, such as a mixture of thyme and rosemary
• Fine sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. If the potatoes don't seem very dry, pat them dry with towels.

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles around the tart pan. Sprinkle blue cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pout into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs of your choice and salt. 

Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. cool in pan on rack and serve warm or cold. 

Savory Tart Shell

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, diced
• 1 egg

In a large bowl, combine the flour, constarch and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two kinves until it is in very tiny bits. Add on egg and mix with a fork  until a dough forms. If this does not happen easily, toss it out onto a counter and knead it together. This dough is rather tough but with a little elbow grease, it does come together nicely.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Level the edges and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with a filling of your choice, no parbaking required.

Cheers!