This is the time of year when I feel that we are turning a corner. Summer gives way to Autumn, daylight savings time starts, the school year is in full swing, my eldest daughter celebrates another birthday , as do I, and the holidays are bearing down on us like a locomotive at full speed. All good stuff!

We are preparing for the winter ahead and nesting; battening the hatches and our menus are becoming hardier. Rich thick smells are coming out of the kitchen now. We are baking more bread and using cinnamon in the squash. I’m stuffing fish and roasting root vegetables with wine, garlic and butter.

I’ve talked to famous chefs and asked them what they like to cook for family and friends and the overwhelming response that I get is comfort food with lots of ingredients.

It seems to me that our cooking instinct is to fill our meals with the ingredients that evoke the best of our childhood memories. And food smells always seem to have that effect.

I will never forget my daughter’s 16th birthday this past week. We had dinner at Pier W, a lovely seafood restaurant complete with a piano bar and vast water and city views.

She has definitely turned the corner from little girl to young lady. She, of course, ordered the lobster and had white chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Her younger sister had a swanky version of macaroni and cheese.

As I sit at the table I am drinking in every nuance, every smell and every feeling. I am taking mental notes; notes on ingredients and techniques for meals that I want to cook and on flavors long forgotten and rediscovered. And remembering meals past, like this one; celebrations with family and friends.

Listening to Jazzy standards on the piano and being with my family, sharing a glass of wine and beautiful food; I felt the weight of this moment, the grand significance of a threshold being crossed. You could almost see it; I could definitely feel it and holding back the tears became my challenge

So, for now, back to the food, because the tastes and smells will forever create these stirrings of love and family and the memory of the innocence of a journey just begun.

The Scallops Piccata was perfect and served with braised spinach and crispy fried carrot strings. We had a bottle of, surprise, Colume Malbec. What can I say? It is my current favorite grape and complimented our meals quite nicely.

We finished with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot; it’s a family favorite and the kids love it. (Just special occasions, of course!)

I will never think of scallops the same, again. And I am sure that I will never be able to eat white chocolate cheesecake without tearing up just a bit.

This pie crust recipe comes from, The Martha Stewart Cookbook; Collected Recipes for Every Day. It is called the Perfect Pie Crust because it is! The only thing that I do differently is use 15 tablespoons of butter instead of the 12 tbspn plus 3 tbspn shortening recommended; mostly because I never seem to have shortening but also because it works so well.
I, also, use crushed ice and water and let the chips fall where they may in the food processor. Yes, the food processor; secret of perfect pie crust. If you don’t have a food processor, treat yourself to one. It will revolutionize your baking range. I do not consider myself a baker and do so only when I can’t avoid it, however, with the help of the food processor, Julia Child and Martha Stewart, I have conquered some of my fears and ventured into pie crust, and even puff pastry!

Since I have been using this recipe, I have had friends who have scraped off the filling of pies and eaten only the crust! This was a first for me as I always seemed to be tossing leftover crust from holiday meals into the trash.

Perfect Pie Crust:
Adapted from Martha Stewart
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
15 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 12 tablespoons plus 3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening)
¼ cup ice water

Put the flour and salt into the bowl of the machine. Cut the butter (shortening) into the flour. Process a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop add water, process a bit more. The whole procedure should take 20-30 seconds. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Lightly flour a work surface. Divide the pastry in half. Pat each half into a flat round. Lightly flour a rolling pin. Roll pastry in one direction only, to 1/8 inch thick, turning the pastry to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Using your pie plate, measure the rolled out pastry-it should be slightly larger than the plate. Fold it in half so that you can lift it easily. Unfold, gently fitting the pastry into the pie plate, allowing it to hang evenly over the edges. Don’t trim off the excess just yet. (wrap the other half in plastic wrap and save for another pie, it also freezes well)
Hint: I place parchment paper on the bottom of the dish for flawless serving at the table. I love this pretty pie plate!

This is where I make the edge. I fold over the excess and create a nice thick crust and form the best decorative finish that I can manage. (Again, I am not a baker) Then gently poke holes with a fork to prevent bubbling.

I bake this at 425 degrees fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Now you are ready to add the filling.

Filling:
3-4 Vidalia onions
a pinch of Tarragon
Olive oil
Salt
2 Cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 egg
heavy cream
a pinch of Nutmeg
1-2 Heirloom Tomato (or what ever kind you have handy, Yellow tomatoes would also do nicely)

Slice the onions in rings and sauté in olive oil and Tarragon until they are caramelized; golden brown. Fill the cooked pie crust with the onions.

To the 2 cups of shredded Gruyere, add a slightly beaten egg with about ¼ cup of heavy cream and a pinch of nutmeg and gently fold the mixture together, then pour on top of the onions.

Slice the tomatoes in nice even 1/8 inch slices and arrange on top of the pie and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is melted and tomatoes are starting to cook.

I served this Tart at a small dinner party and it was a hit. I would recommend this for autumn and winter meals as it is rich and filling. I would serve it with a salad of baby greens with a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Keep it very simple. A nice pinot noir or Malbec would accompany this very well.