Red Potato and Blue Cheese Tartlets

We got a little taste of Summer, yesterday, in Seattle! To celebrate the long-anticipated arrival of sunshine and clear skies, my boyfriend, James, and I had an evening picnic. Initially, I thought it would be easy to whip up some good eats for a picnic, however I struggled to find recipes that inspired me. After a while, I gave up with my recipe search and resorted to rummaging through my fridge and cupboards. I pulled all ingredients I thought I could work with: red potatoes, all-purpose gluten-free flour, unsalted European-style butter, and eggs (amongst a few other things). And dear ol' epicurious.com provided me with a lovely recipe for a Red Potato, Blue Cheese Tartlet. These tartlets turned out to be great picnic food--easy to transport and very filling!

(A beautiful picnic with a beautiful boy)

Red Potato and Blue Cheese Tartlets

Recipe from Epicurious.com

Ingredients for pastry

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold Plugrá (ultracreamy) butter or other unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 3 to 4 tablespoons San Pellegrino or tap water

Ingredients for filling

• 3/4 pound small red potatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• Fleur de sel or other coarse sea salt for sprinkling

• Special equipment: a pastry or bench scraper; 6 (4-inch) tartlet pans

Make pastry:
Blend together flour, salt, and butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 3 tablespoons water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful of dough. If it doesn't hold together, add up to 1 tablespoon more water, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Be careful not to overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough portions together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Fill and bake tartlets:
Put oven rack in middle position |and preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut potatoes into ¼-inch-thick slices and cover with cold water by 2 inches in a 1-quart saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Whisk together cream and yolk until combined.

Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a 5-inch round with a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, then fit each into a tartlet pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/4-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pans to reinforce edge. Chill shells until pastry is firm, at least 10 minutes.

Arrange about 4 potato slices, overlapping slightly, in each tart shell and crumble 2 tablespoons cheese into each. Divide cream mixture among tartlets, filling to 1/8 inch from top. Sprinkle each tartlet with 1/4 teaspoon each of thyme and rosemary and season lightly with fleur de sel. (If your sea salt is very coarse, lightly crush before sprinkling.)

Bake tartlets on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans and serve warm.