First things first, a giveaway!
CSN Stores has been nice enough to offer me a chance to host a giveaway worth $80 of credit towards anything in any of their 200 stores and I’m very excited to be giving it away to you, my loyal readers!
I don’t have a say in what you buy at all, it is completely up to you. But if it were up to me or I was the one holding the $80 credit, I would be buying a Dutch oven. No joke. The Dutch oven is the single piece of kitchen equipment which I am without and think of constantly. There are so many things that can be made in a Dutch oven and I long to make them, especially bread. My biggest reason for never making bread is the amount of time it takes, but you can make no knead bread in a Dutch oven. Beautiful, crusty on the outside, soft and airy on the inside and….oh never mind. You get the picture. Dutch ovens are amazing..and I strongly encourage you to think about purchasing one. They can run an amazing amount of money ($300 for a Le Creuset!), but with $80 off you’ll be that much closer!
In any case, if you are not familiar with CSN Stores, they are an online retailer who “offer the largest selection of items for most home and office goods”. They ship to the US and Canada and offer a whole host of leading brands.
This contest is now closed. Thank you for participating!
Here’s how the contest is going to work:
1. Leave a me a message in the comment section telling me what you would buy from CSN Stores and why you deserve to win it. Be sure to leave an e-mail address where I can contact you.
2. Contest is open to residents of Canada and the US only. Should the winner be Canadian, there may be International shipping charges. (The Giveaway is subject to all applicable laws of your country, state or province and is applicable therein.)
3. I will pick a random winner using Random.org.
4. I will notify the winner via e-mail upon choosing the number and he/she will have 48 hours to respond before I pick another winner.
5. Contest opens at 4 a.m. PST on Thursday August 20th, 2010 and closes on Sunday August 22nd, 2010 at 12 noon.
6. Winner will be chosen and announced on this website by Monday August 23rd at 4 a.m. PST.
7. Good luck!
Summer.
Summer conjures up different meanings for all of us.
To me, summer is the season where the sound of kids screaming and ice cream trucks tinkling by fills the air on those hot steamy nights. Though, for the most part, there are no ice cream trucks for me anymore. Living in the middle of nowhere will do that to you. Even the garbage man doesn’t venture down our road, leading us to haul our trash a block down the street to make sure it gets taken away.
Summer is a time to spend with family, taking kids out to tourist spots and showing them your love for family activities, like camping, swimming and the like. Living so close to a tourist town has it’s definite benefits. Mostly the sheer volume of delightful restaurants and places to spend a glorious summer afternoon. When we lived in the city we went out almost every day. We would take our dog to the off leash park at the very Southern tip of the island, and enjoy the cool breezes blowing across the perpetually flat landscape.
Or we would spend the afternoon hiking around the areas many mountains and hills, burning off all those calories consumed while creating this website (I’m a food blogger, and it’s making me fat.) Warning, cheesy picture:
But nowadays, summer afternoons are spent at our house on the lake, hanging with our newly expanded family and kicking our feet up with delightful local brews.
Outside, the crickets are chirping in our nearly dead lawn, chipmunks natter away in the trees outside our window and drive our dog mad…
Whatcha lookin’ at? Huh?
But summer means more to me then just tinder dry lawns, annoying chipmunks and sticky vinyl seats.
Mostly food.
August is the peak of all the produce and it’s high time to take advantage. Every meal I cook lately centers around some kind of vegetable. Forget the meat, it’s there all year. There are only so many weeks when corn is at it’s sweetest and tomatoes at their juiciest. So take advantage of those freshly picked crops and makes this tart this weekend. Try to use produce that has been picked that day, as the flavours will dissipate the longer they are away from their host plant.
Heirloom Tomato & Polenta Tart
Yield: One 9″ Tart, about 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 60 minutes4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coarse whole grain cornmeal
2 Tbsp butter
2 medium sized cobs of fresh corn
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
90g Parmesan Cheese, grated fine
2 Tbsp butter
300 g ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 1/2 lb. Heirloom tomatoes (about 2 large tomatoes), sliced (about 1/4″ thick)
sea or kosher salt to taste
fresh cracked pepper to taste1. In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring stock to a boil.
2. In an even stream, pour in the cornmeal, whisking as you do so. Stir in salt.
3. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, stirring very often. Continue to stir and check on the polenta for the next 30-40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, fill about half way with water and add about a tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, add in the corn and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Remove the corn and run under cold water to stop the cooking process and make it easy to handle.
6. Hold the corn upright (vertically) and run a knife blade down all sides to remove the kernels. Like this:
7. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and add in the corn, rosemary and garlic. Sauté on medium high until the corn begins to take on a golden look to it and the garlic is fully cooked. About 6-7 minutes.
8. When the polenta is finished, stir in 2 tbsp of butter, some pepper and the Parmesan cheese. Mix in the corn and rosemary mixture as well and set aside for a minute.
9. Remove ricotta from refrigerator and stir in one egg and salt and pepper to taste, mixing until completely incorporated.
10. Grease a 9″ round baking dish (preferably glass).
11. Line greased baking dish with polenta, pushing it up so it meets the sides and leaves a bit of a well in the center for the remaining ingredients. Kind of like you are making a very thickly crusted pie.
12. Pour the seasoned ricotta into the well and even it out with a spatula or large spoon.
13. Top tart with concentric rings of tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper and bake in a 400°F oven for 45-60 minutes.
14. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serve with a side salad for a wonderfully refreshing, seasonal dinner.
Similarly delicious recipes from other blogs:
Heirloom Tomato Tart in a Parmesan Crust on 101 Cookbooks
Cherry Tomato Tart on La Tartine Gourmand
Peach and Thyme Polenta Tart on The Kitchn
Balsamic Onion and Polenta Tart on Cooking Books
Heirloom Tomato and Quinoa Galette on Canelle et Vanille
I am with you. I don’t have a Dutch Oven. I was looking at all the different ones at CSN in the beautiful colors. Most important, I need one that is 6 quarts. Both Paula Deen and Rachel Ray had them.
Chaya recently posted..Bunuelos de Queso
I’m throwing my daughter a big 3rd birthday party. Her gift? A surprise room makeover! Well, not a makeover;we just moved and started from scratch so I would love to decorate her room with things from csn! Great idea, right? The csn website has a guide craft library shelf that would be great!
quitecontrary1977@hotmail.com
I really really need some shallow creme brulee tart pans to get that thin layer and then the crispy crack of the crust all in one delicious bite!I have an heiloom tomato in my fridge the size of small dinner plate. I could put one slice on top of this delicious tart:D
I would love to get a Mia Moda Facile Stroller from CSN Stores. It’s my baby girl’s birthday next week! I’d love to win this for her.
I would love to own the
CalPak Fusion 20″ Carry-On Luggage with Backpack in Deep Red!
I don’t know if i deserve to win but i would love to. I am moving to Germany on my own to become a nanny and i think that this would be perfect for not only helping me bring as much items as i would like to bring with me. But i also think it would be perfect for weekend trips 🙂
Thank you so mch for the chance
Oh and that food looks really yummy!
How fun is this! I’ve just gotten into the food blogging world myself (4 months now) and would be in heaven to have a (gulp) $80 credit to use in the CSN stores!!!!!! And today happens to be my birthday…maybe that will make me *lucky* Gorgeous Heirloom Tomato Tart by the way! Must try that a.s.a.p.! Have a lovely weekend!
I too would get a dutch oven! Because the little one I have is not enough for a lot of the soups I desperately want to make. This tart looks wonderful. I cannot wait to try it.
Tiffany Rosenberger recently posted..Tomato Tarte Tatin
That tart looks amazing – my mouth is watering!
I would get a Le Creuset 6 qt stock pot. We had a small, shall we say, mishap with my last stock pot. Hubby stuck it out in the garage when cleaning up the kitchen (still haven’t ascertained the logic behind that, something about getting to it later/taking up too much counter space while washing?). Only, later was a couple months later when we finally found it in a cupboard while cleaning to move…it was horrific. I don’t know what was last cooked in it, but I wasn’t sure I could ever cook in it again.
I have been craving a baby-food maker for my new little one – he’s three months old now, and I want to make his baby food when he starts eating – and since I’m a single momma and I work full-time, I’m going to need any help I can get to make that happen! LOL
The tart looks AMAZING, btw! Trying it this weekend . . .
do they sell personal chefs? 🙂
no, i think what i want more than anything is an ice cream maker. yes, it’s a bit late in the summer season by now, but who says we can’t enjoy ice cream year-round?
I need a new dutch oven to make wonderful No Knead Bread in.
Love the Tart. It looks wonderful.
Janis recently posted..Canning makes me happy
Stunning photos and the tart looks delicious! By the way, the Dutch Oven link is incorrect.
I’d love a dutch oven and have been eyeing on at CSN! CSN has a huge variety to choose from.
Fixed it thank you!
oh, that looks so delicious with such fresh ingredients. i would love to be outside enjoying a slice right now in a cool breeze without a care in the world.
Brie recently posted..Raw Milk – How To Make Cream
I think you hit the nail on the head; an enameled cast iron Dutch oven sounds just about right. That, or maybe a set of lightweight pans (easier to haul around) to help me as I start my Personal Chef business. Helping a woman start her first business? I’d say that’s reason enough for me to win!
Love the tart, by the way! Corn and tomatoes don’t get used together enough.
A springform tart pan. Maybe even two of them.
Mama JJ recently posted..How to get your refrigerator clean in two hours
Thanks for this giveaway…I would love to get a new sandwich maker from CSN….the polenta tart looks awesome…
ramvinayak_81@rediffmail.com
Your tart is gorgeous! I can’t imagine a better way to enjoy tomatoes!
I need some new kitchen tools to brighten up my new kitchen. We just moved into a new house and the place needs some color and TLC. Something new would be great since I am cooking so much at home these days!
I need some new cake pans badly! I’d love a couple of 8″ rounds so I can make layer cakes for birthdays! Lovely!
I would use the credit towards a pizza stone and a cast iron skillet. I just moved into my own apartment, two hours away from my friends and family, to go to college. Being a poor college who is NOT content to live off ramen noodles means I have to be creative! Thanks for the recipe!
I should probably get something for myself, but in typical mom fashion, I would get something for the kids, likely some bedding for my second daughter who will be in a twin bed soon.
Thanks for the giveaway.
I love mini pans, but I’ve also had my eye on a pastry mat. Thanks for the chance to win!
Michelle recently posted..I can’t wait to get my hands on this book
I am obsessed with these cooking blogs…I want to create all of these beautiful pictures that people post. The things I really want are cake decorating piping bag/tips, a madeline pan, doughnut pan, a pastry blender and a kitchen torch. That might help me get started.
Thanks and have a great weekend.
Leslie
I would get an ice cream machine – I would love to experiment with homemade ice cream!
I’d love a food processor!
kelly.klaas@gmail.com
I would definetly buy the pasta attatchment to my kitchen aid mixer, i have been wanting to make home-made pasta with my four year old daughter for quite sometime! Don’t think I deserve it anymore than anyone else but it would sure be nice! Ps love the pics of you and your hubby:)
WOW, that tart looks amazing! I will definitely be giving it a try. 🙂
Also-fantastic giveaway! If I won, I would get a small non-stick saucepan. My roommate just moved out and took hers with her, so I’ve been cooking all my little bits of beans and soup in big, non-non-stick pots, and I’m getting sick of cleaning them! I want a good-for-one-person pot that will be easy to wash! 🙂
sara recently posted..Snapper with Grapefruit and Rosemary
Boy, the tart looks wonderful. I am going to give it a try. If I won, I think I would get some madeline pans which are my new obsession. I also think that I would look at the bundt pan, mine is quite old and I am looking for a new design. Thanks for the chance to win and have a great week-end!
Wow, CSN has too many wonderful options for me to choose. I have wanted a dutch oven for quite a while, but a large stock pot with a colander insert would be great too. There have been a couple of recipes that I wanted to try but they required a springform pan, but i don’t have one. We are buying our first house (we close on Monday) so I think my options at CSN are almost limitless!
I would also like a new, large stock pot. I am 25% into radiation treatment for breast cancer. Summer, and the heat, is almost over. I love soup in the cold months. The stockpot would be my treat for enduring this torture.
Carole recently posted..I will return shortly
I would have to look around the site a great deal before I decided for sure but and like you am living without a dutch oven:(
Thank you for the contest. If I won, I would get the oven liners to help with the clean up in the oven. I would rather spend more time cooking then the clean up. Thank you again.
Thanks for a cool giveaway Elizabeth! I would get the Zojirushi Mr. Bento lunch box set since the peak of summer quickly turns to fall, and I will need a bento box that can accommodate hot soups and filling stews. Thanks for the polenta tart recipe! It looks so tasty.
I think I’d go with the pasta maker attachment for my mizer. Why? Seems ridiculous being the Italophile I am, that I don’t make pasta often enough – need a little bit more help!
Tarte looks fantastic. Great new way to use up tomatoes.
I NEED new flatware and glasses. I am still using the same flatware from when we were first married. 37 years. It’s still good, but missing a few pieces. And glasses, wine from a jelly glass just doesn’t get it…
Margaret recently posted..Modern Baker Instant Sandwich Bread
What a beautiful tart and such great pictures as usual. I would love to buy a dehydrator for sure! Been wanting one for some time now.
Noelle recently posted..Chicago Diner Comfort Food for the Vegan
If I won? I’d replace all my nice stemware that my current roommate has broken…
And the tart? Looks delicious! Making fresh tomato sauce today from the abundance of tomatoes we’ve grown… but I’m sure we’ll have extra and this will be a great way to use them up!
An avid foodie needs a little help to get their imagination going, and that job falls on equipment and ingredients! I am that foodie, and happen to be a rather young one who is moving out for the first time independently (residence doesn’t count!) and am a little overwhelmed by the amount of cooking supplies I will need- so far, I have cutlery, a wooden spoon, a kettle, and four pots. So, the first order of business would have to be a good, functioning pan (I would kill for titanium coated), but really any little piece of kitchen equipment would help at this point. Thanks, and wonderful posts, you must be so busy but you still manage to turn out interesting and tasty blogs very often! Keep up the good work, we all appreciate it!
Jenny recently posted..Guaranteed- with Garlic
I just moved back in with mom after grad school and would love to thank her for helping me this year by impressing her with my culinary skills. WIth that said, I would use the money to buy a mixer to make cakes, breads, and pastries to serve her breakfast on her way to work.
Love the tart. I am making it tomorrow right after my visit to the farmers market!!
I would love more baking sheets and some silpats. I go through parchment paper like crazy!!
Beautiful tart & great pictures of your summer adventures. That blueberry “pail” ale looks awfully tempting right now.
I have been salivating over several Le Creuset baking dishes for quite some time, so they would be at the top of my CSN list.
I am not just saying this…that looks delicious! I still have some tomatoes on the vine that need to be used and soon. Now I know what to make 🙂 Thanks!
Tickled Red recently posted..Riddle Me This… & CSN Stores Giveaway
If I won the CSN giveaway I think I’d love to have equipement to sous vide….more realistically, probably a meat grinder or ice cream maker….I’d love to have those!!! Great giveaway
That beach pic you posted is one of my fav. spots on Dallas Rd.
If I won I would probably buy new measuring cups, spoons, and mixing bowls. One of my rescue poochies has some major health problems right now and part of her treatment regime is home cooked food, which I enjoy doing for her because she loves the taste and it is helping her health. HOWEVER, I am a bit of a picky eater and the thought of some of the stuff my precious kitchen equipment touches while making her food just puts me right off. So I would like to take my existing equipment and have it as designated “dog gear”.
Also I would probably have to get an ice cream maker. I’m a big believer in keeping it simple when it comes to kitchen gadgets and am generally opposed to having all kinds of special accessories (hello tiny kitchen) but Key Lime and Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Icecream….COME ON, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I will break my rule for this one thing, and if I only ever make it once and the machine sits in storage collecting dust for the rest of it’s “life” it will still be worth it!!!
i would buy the OIA 30″ Triple Laundry Sorter. Our bathroom is very tiny and so often the laundry is in such a mess I don’t get the important things, like underwear & socks, washed in time because I can’t tell what’s in the pile of dirty clothes. So I end up staying up much later at night washing the things we need tomorrow!
nblexp at gmail dot com
I would probably get some dinnerware, or a new skillet, since the majority of my dishes seem to be either chipping or altogether breaking lately. I have seen better stocked cupboards at the thrift store! And, I’m not used to saying I “deserve” anything, but I’ll give it my best shot – here goes: I deserve to win because the last year has been absolute tragedy for me. I lost my job ten days before my husband (and soulmate) died and I’ve been unemployed ever since. It would certainly be uplifting to win!
And of course, that tart looks like poetry in a dish! Saved to my favorites…. ^_^
Thanks!!
Yummm …that tart looks awesome! Ii I won, I would put the GC towards a Le Creuset Braiser, I think. I love the eggplant-purple one on their site. Thanks for the entry!
I would love to purchase a le creuset 9.5″ stainless steel pan. I only have one pan for cooking and it is old, old, old. I love le creuset, but I’ve never owned one of their pans before!
I agree with you – I would love a Dutch oven. I don’t have an ovenproof one, and really need one!
That tomato and polenta tart is a thing of beauty. I like that you put in the fresh corn kernels.
One thing that is missing from our kitchen is a blender. We gave that up when we moved here to Kuching. We could really use one now as it would make sauce and salsa making so much faster.
Nate @ House of Annie recently posted..Pandan Spiral Moon Cake Recipe
A set of cookware for my daughter who is getting married.
That looks SO good…..Mmmmm. I hope I get to try some of it soon……..:0))))
What a beautiful tart!
Anh recently posted..Sticky date scones – International Incident Party
Such a lovely tart!! Love it!
Beautiful photos! And what an awesome looking tart!
I would love to purchase a le creuset dutch oven!!! : ) That tart looks incredibly tasty!
That is one gorgeous tart! WOW!!
deeba recently posted..No bake – Frozen PLUM FRO YO POPSICLES chilling adieu to stone fruit!
Cooking this as we type, just stumbled across your blog so excited. ill post results
Thank you for sharing the yummy recipe, but more so the pictures. It reminds me of where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest.
Love polenta always looking for more great recipes!
Great blog from what I’ve read thus far. My name’s Sharon
and I’m very glad to view your site. By the way, I’d really like
to get in contact with you. Will you make sure you drop me a
e-mai?
washery recently posted..washery
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