Tarts and Tea: The rose family in fall is a beautiful thing

A chilly morning visit to an apple orchard yielded an inspiration jackpot. The rows of trees dripped with clusters of apples in the most beautiful reds and pinks, and the air was delicious with the smell of perfectly ripe fruit, a reminder that apples and roses really are related. And from my own garden the pinkish-orange rose hips, looking like little apples themselves,  poked through the drying, curling leaves of the rose bushes--one of the last gifts of lazy summer gardening, and full immersion into the fall splendor of the Rosaceae family. 

Tea

• Collect 5-6 fresh (untreated) rose hips, rinse them and cut them in half, remove the hairs and seeds and add to your favorite mug

• Cover with boiling water and let steep for 10-15 minutes

• Enjoy the mild tea that is bursting with vitamin C

If you don’t use them all, dry them and store them in jars for later.

Tart

Filling Ingredients

• 3-4 Apples (tart is nice), sliced with peels on

• 1 Cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

• ½ Cup chevre (soft goat milk cheese)

• 4 Shallots, thinly sliced

• 4-5 Sprigs of fresh thyme, removed from stems (or use dried, if that is what you have)

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• Salt 

Crust ingredients

First of all, it’s totally fine to use a pre-made crust if this is just not your thing. I personally have always used a recipe for a food processor—its so easy!

• 1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

• 1/8 Teaspoon baking powder

• 10 Tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into cubes

• 3 Tablespoons cold water (more if needed)

Directions

1. Make pie crust

   • Add dry ingredients to food processor, use chopping blade to blend ( about 10 seconds)

   • Add butter pieces, pulse until mixture resembles coarse corn meal

   • Add water, pulse again until dough holds together

   • Press dough into a ball and refrigerate for an hour

   • Preheat oven to 375 degrees

   • Roll out dough, press into tart pan

   • Cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dry rice or beans) and bake for 15 minutes

   • Remove from oven, and then proceed to next steps

2. Heat butter and olive oil in pan, add shallots and some salt to taste and cook until translucent and start to get crunchy, set aside

3. In crust, spread chevre and mustard (if you like mustard) in thin layer on the bottom

4. Fill with apples

5. Cover with shredded cheese and thyme, and little more crumbled chevre

6. Bake for 30 minutes

7. Remove and let rest for x minutes before serving (I actually like it room temp best)