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Sometimes the simplest things are the most elegant and satisfying. This almost-custard yogurt tart is one example. Strained yogurt, a little sugar, vanilla and some eggs are all there is to it, but the resulting marriage of the rich egg and yogurt flavors along with the sweetness of the sugar, all tied up in the aroma and taste of high quality vanilla is captivating.

Everyone expresses their approval with lots of “mmmm” sounds, not wanting to waste time or attention in talking. That’s when you know you’ve got something special!

Fresh eggs from your backyard chickens, ducks or geese will really make this memorable!

Baked Yogurt Tart

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

45 mins

This incredibly simple but superbly delicious vanilla-spiked tart is very close to a custard, but made with strained yogurt. Originally made with "labneh" - which is a thick strained yogurt, we substituted a plain Greek strained yogurt. We dressed it up with fresh organic whipped cream and some fresh strawberries. It is lightly sweet, creamy and very satisfying! We used one goose egg in place of the 3 eggs, making it a bit richer. Another alternative is duck eggs, which also have a larger yolk than chicken eggs.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter melted
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING

1 lb. labneh
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
3 eggs

Instructions

Make the crust

Heat oven to 350°.
Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in butter and vanilla until dough forms; press into bottom and up sides of a 9" Springform pan.
Using a fork, prick dough all over.
Line dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans; bake until pale golden, 13–15 minutes.
Remove paper and weights and bake until golden brown, 8–10 minutes more; let cool.

Make the filling

Lower oven to 300°.
Whisk labneh, sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs in a bowl until smooth; pour filling into crust.
Bake until just set in the center, about 20 minutes.
Let cool before serving.

Recipe Notes

Make sure to use the highest quality vanilla extract, as it really will make this dessert! We have used and have fallen in love with Nielsen-Massey pure vanilla bean paste from King Arthur Flour. It is absolutely scrumptious with a great aroma and delicate flavor that is wonderful.
If you are pressed for time, substitute a prepared pie crust. Then the time needed to make this is about 10 minutes of prep and the 20 minutes of baking.

Adapted from Saveur Magazine #163

We made this yogurt tart with a fresh goose egg, as one of those monsters is equal to 3 large chicken eggs. Goose and duck eggs have more yolk than other eggs, so the dish winds up being richer and much more full of flavor. Here’s the comparison on size, as well as the glamor photo of the incredible vanilla paste we love.

The goose egg will fill my hand, while I can hold 3 or 4 of the chicken eggs!

Since I had the Kamado grill going, I just baked the tart on the grill with a heat diffuser underneath. The tart is almost ready here! It had just finished rising and had about 5 minutes to finish firming up.

After it sat for about 30 minutes, this is what greeted us:

And of course, the final glamor shot – ready to wow guests and birthday wife!

by Stephen Scott

Recipes

Smoked Yogurt Marinated Beef Roast

This smoked, yogurt marinated beef roast was served for Cindy’s birthday dinner, where I wanted to do something very tasty, a bit unusual and didn’t require hovering over the stove in the kitchen for a long time, as we were busy with catching up in the office after two successive weekends presenting at gardening shows.

We are fortunate to have some locally raised beef that is delicious in its own right, so that made a perfect base on which to build. I was perusing one of the newer issues of Saveur magazine and came across the dessert idea – a baked yogurt tart – and saw the recipe for grilled yogurt marinated lamb chops. This is our version, slow roasted and smoked over mesquite charcoal in a Kamado, or Japanese ceramic grill. I roasted this at about 300Â°F for just a bit over 2 hours, as grass-fed beef shouldn’t be cooked as long as conventionally raised beef roast.

The results were fabulous – the beef roast had a rich, smoky beef flavor that is missing in store bought beef, followed by the tangy, complex flavors of the marinade. Prepare this in the morning and roast it in the afternoon, planning about 2 – 3 hours for the roasting, depending on the size of your roast.

This is the perfect centerpiece for an impressive and delicious dinner that won’t take all of your day to prepare!

Scroll down after the recipe for photos showing the process.

Here’s what could come out of your garden for this recipe – Onion and Cumin, along with garlic you’ve grown!

Smoked Yogurt Marinated Beef Roast

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 large beef roast about 4 - 6 lbs
1 large red onion finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup plain full-fat yogurt
2½ tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground green cardamom
1/2 section star anise
1 tsp. ground caraway seeds
8 cloves garlic mashed into a paste
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Grind cumin, green cardamom, caraway, star anise in a mortar and pestle. Add to mixing bowl with yogurt.
Peel and crush garlic into a paste in mortar and pestle.
Stir yogurt, freshly ground spices, garlic paste, zest and lemon juice in a bowl.
Butterfly beef roast in a circular cut about 1 inch thick, lay open and spoon yogurt marinade over, leaving a small amount for the outside.
Roll up and tie with butcher's twine, spoon remainder of marinade on outside.
Cover with foil, marinade for 4 hours in refrigerator.
Heat charcoal or covered gas grill to medium. 300°F is target temperature. Once temperature is stabilized, roast beef for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, turning once each hour.
Roast until desired doneness, then remove and let sit on platter for 5 - 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

Grass-fed beef will be tough and chewy if cooked to the usual USDA temperatures most of us are used to. The USDA recommends the beef be cooked to 145 - 170°F, while 120 - 140°F is best for pastured or grass-fed beef. Shannon Hayes at www.grassfedcooking.com has taught me the most about bringing the rich and delicious flavors from these meats!

Adapted from Saveur Magazine #163

We assembled all of the ingredients to start.

A close-up view of the spices. I actually didn’t use all of them, but had gathered them when doing the brainstorming and adaptation of the original recipe.

I prefer to hand grind my spices when I have the time, the flavor is much better, more defined and richer than with a blender or mechanical spice grinder. The crushing and twisting motion really does make a difference. We also found this applies to the flavors of pesto!

There is green cardamom, star anise, caraway and cumin seeds in there.

During the grinding process, the most amazing aromas drift up. Cindy had come in and commented on how wonderful it smelled already, and I was only grinding the spices! I ground the cardamom pods whole to begin with, then pulled the shells out after crushing them a bit to release their flavors.

Next up was the garlic. I used the “Peel Garlic in 10 Seconds” trick, this time for the whole head. It still only took me maybe 15 seconds! The reason for grinding it instead of dicing or chopping it is to release the oils and flavors that only crushing or grinding will achieve.

After mixing the marinade and butterflying the roast into about an inch thick roll, I applied the marinade and wrapped it back up.

After liberally spooning the marinade on the inside and rolling it back up, I tied it with butcher’s twine, spooned the remainder of the marinade on the outside, put it into a bowl and then into the refrigerator for 4 – 5 hours to do it’s magic!

That afternoon I fired the Kamado up and once the temperature stabilized, the roast went on. I had spread the coals to the outside and put a small round cast iron griddle underneath to divert the heat to be more indirect. Once the internal temperature was 125Â°F in the center, it was ready to let rest and then slice. Beautiful and mouthwateringly aromatic!

It was hard to walk down wind of the smoker without popping the lid every time to check on it!

Once it had rested for 5 – 10 minutes, I sliced it and we dug in. Of the 4 – 6 pound roast, 3 of us ate only about 1/4 of it, so there will be a number of other tasty dishes that result from this one.

by Stephen Scott