Introductions and Banana-Chocolate Tart

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein

I am convinced that my husband (it still feels strange to call him that!) mostly decided he liked me because I wanted to join him and his friends for one of their many failed attempts at a Lord of the Rings marathon. (They did finally complete a marathon during his bachelor party.) We are both hobbits, although at 6'4" Andrew is really too tall to claim the title. I am much littler at 5'2", and second breakfast is my favorite. Andrew and I got married just a month ago, on June 16, and now live in a cute little midcentury house in Tallahassee. We have a huge, wild garden with fig trees and oak trees and foxes, so we named our new home the Shire. So that is why I have named my blog "Food, Love and Hobbits," at least temporarily until I think of something more clever.

Some of my high school friends told me that I should start a blog about my new life, especially all the food I've been making. I have always considered myself a good cook, especially when it comes to helping my mom and my aunties get ready for Thanksgiving. I lived in an apartment my junior and senior years of college and made myself dinner most nights, usually without much of a recipe. But having my own house and cooking for two on as much of a budget as I can handle is definitely a different experience from defrosting a few shrimp and making some pasta every night. I've been reading cookbooks and recipe blogs a lot more, trying to find recipes that are healthy, cost-effective and not too complicated, but still flavorful. I believe that gourmet food is not out of anyone's reach, and it certainly beats takeout or cheap restaurants.

So here we are, and here is a blog. I'm going to start with this delicious dessert I made last night. It was our one-monthiversary, so I promised Andrew I would make him something special. (Disclaimer: he is also a good cook and makes me yummy dinners all the time. He is worried that I would use this blog as an excuse to ban him from the kitchen, but I would never.) He had a long day in the lab--he is a biology grad student--so when he came home I poured him a glass of milk and put the finishing touches on...

• Baked herbed goat cheese with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, served on baguette slices (leftover from our Bastille Day celebration). This was our appetizer
• Rosemary chicken, which has been my favorite since I was little
• Oven-roasted tomatoes provençales
• Green beans almandine
• Yeast rolls (I used some of the dough to make cinnamon rolls for second breakfast today!)
• Banana-chocolate tart

The following recipe is from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan, which is an amazing cookbook. I've organized the recipe in a way that makes more sense to me and added my own commentary, but I do not claim to have invented it.

Banana-chocolate tart: This tart is made of four components prepared separately, which you can do earlier in the day. It's a long recipe, which looks intimidating. I promise it isn't. The finished product is so beautiful, and none of the steps were particularly challenging. I timed out the different components, which need to cool or set, and used them as a break from preparing the rest of dinner, cleaning the house, etc. I did them in the following order, and then it sat in the fridge until dinner was over.

Chocolate shortbread dough: This is more of a cookie dough, but you make a crust by pressing it into your tart pan (or pie pan, if that's what you have). I got to break in my Cuisinart food processor... although I was on the phone with one of my best friends at the time, which impeded my ability to get the lid on correctly. It cut in the butter perfectly! I may actually start using it to make my own pie crusts, something I foreswore when we had to make them by hand in eighth grade home ec class.

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Put the above ingredients in the food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter 9 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces) over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in coarsely. For me, this took like a minute. Stir one large egg yolk just enough to break it up, and add it to the dough. When the egg is in, process in long pulses--about 10 second each--until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly knead it to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have escaped mixing.
You can either press the dough into a tart pan (this is what I did) or roll it out for a pie-style crust, or maybe for cookies. If you want to roll it out, flatten it into a disk and refrigerate it for a few hours, or up to 5 days. Once the dough is in the tart pan, prick it all over with a fork and freeze it for at least 30 minutes before baking.

To bake it, put it in a 375-degree oven with a buttered circle of aluminum foil over it for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 8 minutes. Let it cool on a cooling rack before filling it.

Caramelized bananas: This is the layer closest to the crust, and it is such a nice surprise when you dig in! I found that my caramelized bananas only covered the center of the crust, so you could increase these proportions (maybe double them). I would also be more careful than I was about arranging the slices when you take them off the skillet--once they've cooled in a clump, they're stuck.

Cover a plate with parchment paper. Slice 1 ripe but firm banana into 1/8-inch-thick slices and toss them with a little lemon juice to keep them from blackening. Put a large nonstick skillet over high heat, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter and add the bananas. When both sides of all the slices are covered in butter, add 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar and cook, turning the slices until they are golden and caramelized on both sides. Transfer the bananas to the parchment-lined plate, dab them with a paper towel to remove excess butter and let them sit until they reach room temperature.

Chocolate ganache: Chop 1 pound bittersweet chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl. Bring 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour it over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a few seconds, then mix it together with a whisk or a spatula. Stir gently, and when the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into four pieces and at room temperature. If you refrigerate the ganache before using it, reheat gently in a microwave.

Arrange the caramelized bananas in an even layer on the crust, then pour the ganache on top. Gently rotate the tart pan so the ganache covers everything evenly. Refrigerate everything for 30 to 60 minutes, at least until the ganache has set.

Banana topping: Cut 2 or 3 bananas into 1/4-inch-thick slices and toss them with a little lemon juice. Arrange them on the tart in concentric circles. Bring 1/2 cup apricot jam (or less) to a boil and brush it over the bananas. Allow the glaze to cool and set before serving.