How to get away with eating a tart for breakfast…

A friend of mine, who is always in the know when it comes to all things food, and if she doesn’t know she will find out for you, had a post up on Facebook. She made a comment about not ever hearing of a chef but that she should of because his stuff was awesome. So I asked who it was and she told me, Laurent Tourondel. I told her that I too, had never heard of this chef before. She told me I should and when Traca tells me I should, I listen. So before you know it she was getting me a copy of the latest book from the publisher (disclosure, I received this cookbook for free from publisher).
When Fresh from the Market arrived at my door, I did what I do with all cookbooks, quickly skim through it. I could tell right away that this was a keeper. Now this is not a baking book, this is a seasonal menu book broken down into Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, but I of course found a dessert to highlight. I figured since it is Fall and all, I best feature a dessert from the Fall section. Which I did. I chose the Granola-Cranberry Tart. I’ve been on a huge granola kick as of late and I figured if it was in a tart surely that was my excuse to eat a tart for breakfast, eh? See, always thinking. 😛
I like the granola a lot, so that alone is something worth making. But top it on some dried cranberries that have been reduced down in strawberry juice and you have something quite lovely. The original recipe called for it to go with a mandarin sorbet, which I think would pair nicely with it, I was just too lazy to go the extra step.
Though the desserts are nice, I must admit that most of my oh and awing came from the more savory dishes.  Halibut with Caramelized Cauliflower and Hazelnuts is what I plan to make next from this book. This book is a mixture of skill levels in my opinion. So if you are a beginner you can easily make many of the things from this book. Like many chef books, the recipes look intimidating because they have several steps, but in actuality they are not that hard. Just long. There are some recipes that the more advanced chef may want to tackle, like making your own suckling pig. Which I won’t be doing, because as previously stated, I am lazy.
Perhaps it’s time for you to know who Laurent Tourondel is as well.

Granola-Cranberry Tart

Cranberry compote:
2 pounds strawberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
2 cups dried cranberries
1 TBSP orange zest

Tart Dough:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 -inch pieces
4 tsp. vegetable shortening
2 TBSP cold water
1/2 tsp. white vinegar

Granola topping:
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup corn flake cereal
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
4 TBSP canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
Zest of 1 orange
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Use a 9-inch Tart Pan…I used 3 mini ones. Baking time is same.

Make compote:
Combine the strawberries, 1 cup of water and sugar in a medium pot set over low heat and gently cook until all the juices from the strawberries are released, approximately 15 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the liquid into a clean pot and discard the solid. Heat the liquid from the strawberries and whisk in the cornstarch, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the cranberries while the liquid is still hot, cover and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 8 hours.

Make dough:
Preheat oven to 325° F. Using a Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar and salt and mix well. Slowly add the butter and mix until pea-size lumps form. Add the shortening and mix until coarse grains form. Add the water and vinegar and mix until the dough is smooth and uniform. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. Blind bake the tart for 10-12 minutes at 350F.

Make the granola:
In a large bowl combine the oatmeal, steel-cut oats, almonds, corn flakes, cinnamon and salt and mix until well combined. Bring the canola oil, honey, maple syrup, orange zest and split and scraped vanilla bean and seeds to a boil in a small pot set over medium heat. Allow to boil for 1 minute. Remove the vanilla bean from the liquid and pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, mix until well combined.
Bake the granola:

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread the granola evenly using a metal spatula. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing the granola with spatula every 5 minutes, until golden brown and evenly toasted. Remove from the oven. Place the baking sheet on a rack and cool until it reaches room temperature. Break the granola into smaller, bite-size, pieces. Store the cool granola in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Serving:
Preheat oven 325° F. Remove compote from refrigerator, add the orange zest and mix until well combined. Fill the tart shell with the compote and cover the compote evenly with granola. Bake for 15 minutes until tart is warm and granola is crisp.

Recipe from Fresh from the Market: Seasonal Cooking with Laurent Tourondel and Charlotte March