Treat of the Week: Panini and Plums, Carrots and Cassis and Leaks and Ladles

This weekend, Bertie and I enjoyed a particularly comforting treat, thanks to my mother's cooking and my father's kindness in driving us to their house.  We began our quiet Sunday with a delicious meal of my mother's homemade potato-leak soup (topped with freshly grated cheddar and jack cheese and sour cream); panini of rosemary ham monterrey jack, cheddar and thinly sliced pear on dark rye bread; and a cooling salad of julienned carrots, raisins and match-sticked cucumbers.  Yum!

For dessert, we feasted on a rustic tart of plums which gleamed like cabochon amethysts.  Isn't it lovely? As good as it looks, it tastes even better. I love these rustic tarts with their delicate, rolled crusts. I adore the uneven way that they cover the filling. Here, my mother has dusted the crust with cinnamon and sugar—giving it a spicy sweetness and a delicious texture which complements the buttery crust and tender plums perfectly.

The plums have been carefully sliced and arranged in alternating rows—leaving the skins on, a technique which makes them all the more gem-like. The flavors of the meat of the fruit and the skin blend perfectly, combined with the other ingredients, to create a beautiful symphony of taste.  Glazed with currant jam, the whole tart shimmers.

My mother served this rustic tart with fresh, stiffly whipped cream into which she infused some creme de cassis—giving it a subtle berry taste. In fact, you could say, it was plum perfect.