The Garden Way: Cultivating Intentionality in a Fast-Paced World.

The Feast of the Forgotten

I hate wasting food, and I also hate buying food when there is already food in the house. This past fall, I started a practice that I like to call “the Feast of the Forgotten.” During this feast, I feature at least one dish that uses up something that we have in surplus, or that needs to be used before it is past its prime. I know that having pigs and chickens means I can augment their diet with food scraps, but I’d rather give them things they can eat that we can’t, not items I’ve squandered or neglected.

I also subscribe to a grocery box service that sends me deeply discounted food items that grocery stores need to offload (I use Misfit Foods – click here for a $20 discount). Sometimes they are overstocked. At other times, the company changed its labeling, and it needed to sell off containers with the old branding. Fruit and other produce are often oversized or undersized, but perfectly fresh and nutritious. Or the items may be close to the end of their shelf life. At any rate, I enjoy the surprise of what comes in the box, and like to build a meal component around one of the items in my food box.

For the Christmas season, I created a recipe that highlighted a pint of blueberries, lemons, and some Bosc pears from my Misfit Foods boxes, leftover cream from Thanksgiving meal prep, and an unopened container of cream cheese that revealed itself when I was cleaning my refrigerator recently. The recipe features puff pastry – something I had never worked with but was intrigued to try. I think it came out very tasty – and I hope you do, too.

Blueberry-Pear Tart

Ingredients

• 1 8-oz sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese spread
• 1/4 c half-and-half
• 1/2 lemon (you will use the zest and the juice)
• 3 T confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz fresh blueberries
• 2 small Bosc pears, peeled and sliced thinly

Prepare the Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the puff pastry and smooth to flatten.
2. Use a sharp knife to score a 1-inch border around the pastry sheet, making sure not to cut all the way through. Brush this border with beaten egg, and sprinkle with 1 T of the granulated sugar.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and puffed.
4. Re-score the border, again making sure not to cut all the way through. Gently push the center down flat. Cool completely (15-20 minutes).

Prepare the Cream Filling

1. While the crust cools, combine cream cheese, half-and-half, lemon zest, 2 T of the confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl. Blend with a mixer (I use my Kitchenaid with the whisk attachment) until smooth and creamy.
2. Spread cream filling evenly in the center of the cooled crust.

Prepare Fruit Topping

1. Place blueberries and 1 T of granulated sugar in a small saucepan. Add 2 tsp of lemon juice (reserved previously). Cook berries over medium heat until they are softened but not burst. Spoon berries over cream filling.
2. In the same pan, place pear slices, 2 tsp of lemon juice, and the remaining 1 T of granulated sugar. Cook over medium heat until pears are softened but not mushy. Arrange over berries.

Finishing Touches…

1. Sprinkle remaining confectioner’s sugar over berries and pears. Serve immediately.

Feasting from Your Bounty

What’s your favorite way to use seasonal fruits and leftover ingredients from holiday meal prep? Leave a note and even a photo in the comments, below! And check back for more “Feast of the Forgotten” posts.

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