Plum Tart

I pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks the other day, Bon Appétit by Barbara Fairchild. It's 750 pages plus an index of pure cooking joy. These are all recipes pulled from issues of the magazine of the same name, and they are all approachable. Don't be put off by the price of this book ($35) because it includes a two-year subscription to the magazine.

I made last week's menu from the book—Corn, Wild Rice and Sausage Soup; Jamaican Jerk Burgers with Orange-Chipotle Mayo; Fettuccine Bolognese; Grilled Pork Fajitas with Chipotle Chile Sauce; Tandoori-Spiced Chicken with Tomato-Ginger Chutney. I think it was all good, but the Jamaican jerk sauce was the best.

I also made a dessert, which I normally don't bother doing. I made the Country Plum Tart on page 600, and it was all I could do not to eat the entire thing—I didn't, mind you—just had my fair share. I served it with Häagen-Dazs vanilla, specifically the Five sub-brand. Each flavor (ginger is wonderful, by the way) is made with only five ingredients.

I'm pretty sure this would work well with most fruit—apples, pears, berries—but for now, here is the plum version.

Serves 6 to 8

Crust
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons ice water

Filling
1 1/2 pounds red-skinned plums, halved, pitted and sliced
1/3 cup plum jam
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3 tablespoons, divided
1 egg, beaten

For crust: mix flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water by the tablespoon and process just until moist clumps form. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic, and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Roll out dough on large sheet of parchment paper to 1/4-inch-thick round. Trim dough round to 14-inch diameter. Transfer dough on parchment paper to large baking sheet.

For filling: Mix plums, jam, vanilla, allspice in large bowl. Mound plum mixture in center of dough, leaving 3-inch plain boarder. Sprinkle fruit with 2 tablespoons sugar. Fold dough border over fruit, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks. Brush dough with beaten egg. Sprinkle remaining sugar over dough.

Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack and cool tart slightly, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.