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Two ways of looking at nectarine tarts
Lisa McKinnon / Star staff A nectarine tart in the process of being assembled on a pre/blind-baked crust.
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You are what you bake. The question is, are you a nectarine tart in which dozens of slices of the seasonal stone fruit have been painstakingly arranged to look like roses, or are you more of a rustic, brown-'em-in-butter kind of person?
The former, in case you hadn't already guessed, has more than a nodding acquaintance with Martha Stewart. Her "Baking Handbook" (Clarkson Potter, 2005, $40) is the recipe source for the nectarine tart shown here, its in-progress "flowers" blooming against a pre-baked crust. It's a bit of work but worth it, especially if you need a pretty dessert for a garden party.
And the more rustic approach? That comes courtesy of Amelia Saltsman, whose "The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook" (Blenheim Press) arrives Aug. 1. Its pages include a recipe for an open-faced tart in which the fruit is cut in half and then seared in butter.
Nectarines are about $2.25 per pound at area markets. For the recipes described here, go to VenturaCountyStar.com, click on "Lifestyle" and find the link to this story.
Also in the market: pasilla peppers, $2 per pound, and Perlette grapes, $2.50 per pound.
Finding the markets: Camarillo: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, 2220 Ventura Blvd. 482-1507. Ojai: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays, 300 E. Matilija St. 698-5555. Oxnard: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays, Plaza Park at Fifth and C streets, 483-7960, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays (includes a fish market), Channel Islands Harbor, 643-6458. Simi Valley: 3 to 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Simi Valley Town Center. 643-6458. Thousand Oaks: 2 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, 403 W. Hillcrest Drive. 529-6266. Ventura: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays, Pacific View mall, and 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Palm and Santa Clara streets, 529-6266
— Lisa McKinnon
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