It’s been a busy week already, between enjoying a weekend-through-Monday visit to the Orland/Chico area (California), to the now-official merger of the company where my IT day-job is, with a larger company. This merger will effectively put me out of a job within two months (what a way to say; “Happy Holidays!” during an “economic down-turn“). But am I worn out, am I depressed? NO. Not when there’s cheese to be consumed.
In fact, I had SO much cheese at home that I decided I’d better cut my losses and utilize that Jacques Pépin left-over cheese recipe that I copied onto Canyon a couple posts ago. As you can see from the pictures, I had a variety of older cheeses on hand, some of which were getting undesirable types of surface mold. 
Although cheese rind is typically part of the cheese and is meant to be consumed, I went ahead and trimmed off the cheese’s rinds so that the spread would have a smoother consistency. Also, this was an easy way to get rid of any bad mold which had started to grow on the rinds. One of the cheeses you see (the one in the lower left corner of the cutting board) is a fantastic and different cheese from Utah. “Barely Buzzed” is produced by the Beehive Cheese Company. My photo doesn’t show it too well, but the rind of Barely Buzzed has a rub of roasted coffee beans applied to it. There’s a short write up about the rub on their website [here]. The taste? Deep; satisfying. If, like myself, you enjoy having Emmentaler for breakfast along with coffee, that almost describes the satisfaction that this cheese provides, but without having to brew a pot of coffee. Since I was unsure, however, 
if the rind’s coffee grounds would taste well in the mix of the cheese spread, I removed that rind as well. …the final spread? Marvelous. It is calling to me even now as I type this post. Be warned, however, if you are not a fan of garlic, you should either reduce the amount that Pépin’s recipe calls for, or cut it out entirely. Me? I LOVE fresh garlic.
Cheese spread isn’t dinner, however. What did you make?
Ah, inner cheese voice, you’re always there trying to keep me on track… Which means I either should listen to you, or go see a psychiatrist to get you out of my head… What I made for dinner was a savory tart using some fresh onions and tomatoes from Kathy’s Dad’s wonderful garden. 
While visiting Chico we benefited by receiving some of the end-of-harvest gems; tomatoes (red and some still green), red onions, jalapeños and both red and green bell peppers.
The recipe below is from Gourmet Magazine, but we have it also in Gourmet’s “Five Ingredients” cookbook (2002, published by Random House). It’s a very satisfying, fresh meal which is easy to make. If at all possible, be sure to use good quality ripe tomatoes, and don’t feel you have to limit yourself to Plum Tomatoes (which the recipe calls for). The main thing is to try to get some tomatoes other than the awful genetically modified stone-like ones which are bred for longer transport/shelf life (common at large chain grocery stores). Also, I cheated last night on this recipe, I used a sheet of puff-pastry I had in the freezer instead of pie dough. As you can see from the pictures, you do not necessarily need a pan with a removable bottom, but to assure that the tart would come out of the baking dish I used, I buttered the bottom and sides. The cheese I used was two types of goat-milk cheese; some OK quality crumbled feta, and some goat-milk gouda that I shredded.
Tomato, Goat Cheese, and Onion Tart
(From Gourmet Magazine, August 2002)
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min
Servings: Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1 (9-inch) prepared pie dough, thawed if frozen (not pie shells)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
6 oz crumbled goat cheese (1 1/3 cups)
1 lb plum tomatoes, thinly sliced crosswise
Garnish: fresh basil leaves
Special equipment: a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; pie weights or raw rice
PREPERATION:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
If necessary, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into an 11-inch round and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom and sides with a fork.
Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pastry is pale golden around rim, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil and bake until golden all over, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.
While tart shell is baking, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt and black pepper to taste, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat broiler.
Spread onion over bottom of tart shell and top with 1 rounded cup goat cheese. Arrange tomatoes, slightly overlapping, in concentric circles over cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil. Put foil over edge of crust (to prevent over-browning).
Put tart pan on a baking sheet and broil tart about 7 inches from heat until cheese starts to brown slightly, 3 to 4 minutes.
