Remember that I told you about how that "freeze" is coming and soon the color of green will disappear? Well, that freeze hasn't visited my farm yet! We're busy harvesting milo now and looking after our winter wheat fields.

Last week, to celebrate the last harvests from my kitchen garden, I made you some of my special mint chutney and an old-fashioned green tomato sweet pie.

Today I want to make us a savory green tomato pie that I call a green tomato tart.

This tart will remind you of a quiche perhaps, as it is rich in eggs. When cold weather comes, my hens won't lay as many eggs. So, in gratitude for the fresh eggs I have now, I thought our green kitchen extravaganza should use a few. I call this pie a tart due to the delectable crust and the custard consistency of the filling. It may also remind you of flan, but without the caramel. Well, I should stop trying to describe it and just bake one so that you can have a bite...

I am lucky because most of this recipe's ingredients, I have raised here on my farm. I'll be using my own eggs, basil, chives, thyme, and tomatoes. The cream and feta that I'll be using are from a friend's dairy operation. But, of course, you city folks can easily find all of these ingredients in your super market too! I buy my flour from the market, but, who knows, it's possible that some of our own wheat contributed to the flour I use.

To make our tart, we will do it in three steps - make the crust, make the filling, and then, assemble and bake. For some reason, making a crust from scratch is daunting to many. It really shouldn't be - especially a "shortcrust" type.

Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart. It does not puff up during baking because it usually contains no leavening agent. It is based on a 'half-fat-to-flour' ratio. Fat (butter or full-fat margarine) is rubbed into plain flour to create a loose mixture that is then bound using a small amount of very cold water, rolled out, then shaped and placed to create the top or bottom of a flan or pie. Let's get started....

Green Tomato Tart

Step 1: Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of table salt
2 tablespoons of water, extremely cold

First we will combine all ingredients except for the water. This crust is easiest if made in a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor, don't use a blender or a mixer. Instead use two knives and keep "cutting" the mixture until the butter pieces are as tiny as green peas.)

To make the pastry add the flour, salt and butter into the processor bowl. Using pulse, process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Taking 1 tablespoon of iced water at a time, add it to the mixture, process briefly after each addition and check for consistency. You may need as many as 4 tablespoons of water before it starts to form a ball. Each batch will be different. But, try to avoid adding too much water as then your dough will be too sticky to roll.

Once it forms a ball, take it out of the processor and place on a very lightly floured board. Knead briefly and pat it into shape - the one in the picture has been formed into a rectangle but if you will be using a pie pan or pastry tin for your tart, you will want to form yours into a flattened ball. Now, wrap your dough ball in baking paper, wax paper or plastic wrap. Store it in the fridge. It is good to let your dough rest in the fridge for at least one hour minimum and even several hours or over night.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When you bring your dough out, you will roll it into shape, place it in your tin and crimp the edges. This crust will shrink, so be sure and leave generous edges to allow for shrinkage. Cover your crust with a disk of parchment or baking paper and fill with your pastry weights (I use dried pinto beans). Bake your shortcrust in a 350 degree oven until it begins to look golden. Remove from oven, remove paper and weights. Let cool.

Step 2: Prepare the Filling

Ingredients:
10 green tomatoes, or so, depending on size
Sprig of fresh thyme
10 garlic cloves, sliced
Olive oil
Black pepper, fresh ground
2 eggs
1/2 cup of cream

Preheat your oven to 280 degrees. First we'll roast our green tomatoes. If they are Roma (like mine) and smallish (like mine), you can slice the tomatoes in half. If they're large, you may wish to quarter them. Place your tomato pieces in a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Drizzle the tomatoes generously with olive oil.

Mince up your fresh thyme and sprinkle on the tomatoes. If you like pepper, generously sprinkle fresh ground pepper over them too. Now top your tomatoes with slices of garlic cloves. Bake the tomatoes slowly, uncovered, in your 280 degree oven for 2 hours or until they have shrunk some and are a little soft. They should still look like tomatoes and retain their shape but be rather floppy. Let them cool.

While the tomatoes cool, let's make the custard. Crack two eggs into a bowl. Add the cream and whisk by hand until frothy and thoroughly mixed.

Step 3: Assemble and Bake

Ingredients:
6 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of chives, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of feta cheese, crumbled
Roasted Tomatoes (from above)
Golden Pastry (from above)
Cream and Egg Mixture (from above)

Preheat your oven to 280 degrees. Place your already baked pie crust and tin onto a baking sheet.

Spoon the roasted tomato pieces, roasted garlic cloves and bits of roasted thyme into the pie shell, then, top with crumbled feta cheese. Now, sprinkle everything with the coarsely chopped chives and basil. Pour the egg and cream mixture over it all.

Bake in your oven until the filling has set. You can check this by opening the oven door in about 10 minutes and "jiggling" the baking sheet. If the mixture jiggles like jello or doesn't move, it's done. However, if it laps around like liquid, give it more time. This pie should be done in 10 to 20 minutes. Remember it continues to "set" a bit after you remove from the heat.

Serve immediately and enjoy.

I'm more motivated than ever to get the right people in office in 2008 so that we have a truly compassionate and sensible congressional majority and president.

We need a 360 degree change. We're going to have to work hard next year.

Now that our bellies are full, we should have the energy to get the job done.

(one sidenote: I just joined us to blogcatalog.com and am putting a link here to verify: http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/politics)