[blogger bowl] tomato tart with goat cheese & bacon

well hey, y'all. kinda disappeared for a minute there. i've got a post coming up with more details, but i'll be sorta brief: my computer died.

apparently, 2011 macbooks have a known defect (read more here) and are fixed for free, by apple. however, when it's a sunday night, your e-book is set to debut the next day, and you just sat down to write some blog posts, and your screen goes black... you immediately start looking for a quick fix. and can't find one. and spend all night booting your machine up into different modes. and end up wiping it. and losing everything.

needless to say, my e-book did not debut, and i haven't blogged in 2 weeks. whoops. life happens. more on that in another post soon. i'm getting my shit together, i promise.

really though, this tomato tart is pretty damn important right now. forget technology. let's talk goat cheese and football. ready? ok.

this. is. amazing. and as the last humid summer nights still linger and football season gears up, it's the perfect time to make it for gameday. on a saturday, before a ballgame, wander down to your farmers market, pick up some local tomatoes and maybe local goat cheese, grab some fresh herbs and get busy. this tart comes together really quickly and is super easy.

maybe i'm reaching, but i thought the tomatoes were a simple, fresh homage to my team, the alabama crimson tide. i'm all for your typical gameday party fare, but a tomato tart is a festive, fresh way to spice it up, and the buttery, flaky puff pastry crust makes it taste just as savory as a bowl of fritos and some french onion dip (but a bazillion times better).

this easy appetizer or side dish will impress your tailgating friends and make for a delicious gameday snack. enjoy!

tomato tart with goat cheese and bacon

1 14 oz puff pastry, thawed
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
5 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 egg
fresh thyme & basil, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste

preheat your oven to 400 degrees. thaw your puff pastry in the fridge according to package directions. when thawed, unwrap pastry on a well-floured surface and form into a rectangle, slightly curling the edges. crumble goat cheese on to pastry. fry your bacon, then crumble on to pastry on top of cheese.

thinly slice tomatoes and arrange on pastry, then top with spices. whisk together egg and a splash of water in a small bowl, then brush along edges of pastry to help it brown. bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

it’s finally college football season, and i’ve teamed up with a few other bloggers for the blogger bowl! we’ll be sharing everything from a great tailgate recipe to the perfect game day style throughout the fall. keep up with our posts on social media using the hashtag #thebloggerbowl and check out our blogs, too!

Liz from Pretty Sweet Life // Molly from Hey There Sunshine // Aubry from Finding Beautiful Truth // Beth from Bethcakes // Meredith from Meredith Noelle // Rachel from Stupid Good Rachel  

review + recipe: lighten up y'all

i know a thing or two about southern cooking. growing up in alabama with ties to mississippi, i've seen my fair share of biscuits, sweet tea and fried okra. and i'll be damned if it's not all delicious - but man, it isn't exactly the best for you. living in the south, you're kind of conditioned to not bat an eyelash at things like "fried oreos" or "buttermilk sausage gravy".

virginia willis's lighten up, y'all is a cookbook full of lightened up renditions of classic, tried & true southern staples - baked okra, oven-fried chicken, sweet potato gratin, summer squash lasagna, light pimento cheese & so much more. the recipes span from appetizers to main courses, seafood, bread/biscuits and dessert, an ample variety for any southern cook. i thoroughly enjoyed the photography and presentation of the book, which, as the title suggests, is light, airy and delightfully reader friendly.

i set to the pages to find a recipe that caught my eye. so, so many did (basil peach chicken breasts, YUM!) but i settled on whipping up a salad that uses some of my absolute favorite flavors. i added my own spin on it, but you can find virginia's original recipe.

i had some help from the wonderfully talented rachel of stupid good rachel for the food styling in these photos. she's the best y'all. aren't these greens stunning?

 

greens with bacon, pecan-crusted goat cheese

makes two servings. adapted from lighten up, y'all by virginia willis.

you will need:

• 4 center cut bacon slices
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 apples, preferably granny smith, gala or honeycrisp, diced or thinly sliced
• 6 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
• 1 6 ounce log goat cheese
• 4-5 cups washed, tender greens (kale, spinach, your choice)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt & pepper

 

to assemble your salads...

1. in a skillet over medium heat, fry your bacon until cooked. remove bacon from pan and pat dry. once your bacon is cool, crumble it or break it into smaller pieces. if you wish, saute your greens with bacon grease - this is optional.

2. thinly slice 1/2 red onion, and saute slices in remaining bacon renderings for 30 seconds. remove from pan.

3. thinly slice or dice your apples, set aside.

4. form goat cheese into small balls, then roll in chopped pecans. if necessary, put in fridge to firm.

5. to make your dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic and salt and pepper to taste in a container, whisk together.

6. top greens with sauteed onion, bacon crumbles, apples, goat cheese balls and balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

 

disclosure: i received this book from blogging for books for this review. all opinions are my own.

maple bacon cupcakes

make something a little different for thanksgiving this year. you know you want to. these cupcakes combine flavors that i used to believe should never be combined. gross. bacon and cupcakes? what is the world coming to?

welp, turns out it's delicious - so, don't knock it till you try it.

as a birminghamian, i had to make this recipe, included in southern living's big book of cupcakes. this recipe was provided by jan moon of dreamcakes, birmingham's local cupcakery (they've even got a cupcake truck!) holy perfect, right?!

for the cake:

1 cup butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

4 large eggs 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup milk 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

for the maple frosting:

1 cup butter 

1 (16-oz.) package dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup evaporated milk 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 tablespoon light corn syrup 

4 cups powdered sugar 

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

for the toppings:

12 cooked bacon slices, broken to pieces (super crispy!)

preheat your oven to 350 degrees. combine butter & sugar and beat until light and fluffy. add in eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. in a separate bowl, sift together flour, tabking powder and salt. slowly add flour mixture, alternating with milk, starting & ending with flour. add vanilla extract. be sure not to overbeat! spoon batter into cupcake tins & bake the cupcake for 15-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

for the frosting, melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat.  add brown sugar, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. add evaporated milk, baking soda & light corn syrup. bring to a boil. remove from heat and let cool (this could take a while, but it's important! the caramel mixture needs to be 100% cool before you move on). once cool, beat in powdered sugar with an electric mixer. add maple flavoring. this frosting firms up quickly and is much easier to work with that way, so you may want to wait a few minutes before icing.

fry up some bacon, break into pieces for your topping, and voila!

i'm very excited to head to my parents house in fairhope for thanksgiving - it's going to be a wonderful weekend catching up with a few friends and family members. and nah, i'm not doing the black friday thing this year. i'll stick to online shopping, thanks.

i'm taking a little blogging break the rest of this week to enjoy the holidays - see you in december!

recipe via my recipes.