Habitable Worlds, Asparagus, Movie.

I see in the news lately, that three potentially habitable worlds have been discovered orbiting a star 22 light years away. This is a very positive discovery. I am not very sure how long it would take us to travel that far, but as far as I know we haven’t found any other potentially habitable worlds so far.

I went to the asparagus farm for the last time this year and decided to buy some of their “seconds”. I made some more Asparagus and Almond Soup which I had to end up sieving as the texture was full of strings from the asparagus. I don’t know if this was because they were seconds or what. The final soup was OK, but sieving was a damned nuisance. I didn’t get as much soup as I expected either. Anyway, I have a good batch of #1 quality to stuff my face with.

Started to watch A Bridge Too Far on TV last night, but in the end got fed up with it. Matt has always been interested in World War II, we lived through it after all. I watched it for a while, but got a mite bored. I am pretty sure I have seen it before anyway. Absolutely everyone was in the movie both British and American actors. It’s an interesting movie if only from that point of view.

I nearly forgot, told our foot nurse all about Didgeridoos and blowing raspberries in order to learn circular breathing.  For the rest of our time with her she was blowing raspberries and intends to keep practising she said. It was quite funny.

I’m not a big fan of pastry, be it pies or tarts, but the picture here was so appealing, I read the recipe and decided to share it with you.

Free-Form Blueberry Tart

Contributed by Jeremy Sewall

• SERVINGS: 8 

Jeremy Sewall adds a little candied ginger to the tart's crust for a hint of spice; feel free to add more or omit it altogether.
pastry

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
2. 1 tablespoon minced candied ginger
3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
5. 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water

filling

1. 1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2. 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
3. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4. 4 cups blueberries
5. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6. 1 egg white, beaten

1. In a food processor, combine the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the candied ginger and salt and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Sprinkle on the ice water and pulse just until the pastry starts to come together. Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a 14-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the pastry in half and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Unfold the pastry and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of sugar with the lemon zest and flour. Fold in the blueberries and lemon juice and let stand for 15 minutes.
4. Spoon the blueberries in the center of the pastry, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border all around. Fold the pastry border up and over the blueberries, pleating it as necessary. Brush the egg white on the pastry and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 55 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the tart cool to warm. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Make Ahead: The pastry can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve With Lemon or vanilla ice cream.

Have a great day