August Bonus Recipe: Fore Street's Tomato Tart (2024)

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Maine Is Not All About Lobsters

Going to Maine for the summer seems to be on my Instagram feed a lot these days. It is an iconic, truly American vacation destination. One thinks immediately of lobsters, mussels and oysters galore, charming antique stores, and New England Bed & Breakfasts. For some silly reason, I resisted Maine’s charms until I was reluctantly dragged by my sister-in-law, who now resides there. I was an instant convert, and the Resident Wine Maniac and I have returned happily several times – once even in February. To keep the Maine mood going, we make the lobster roll from our stained copy of Jasper White’s Lobster At Home. After lots of comparison shopping, we still vote his recipe to be the best – and we are not alone!

Fore Street Grill Is A Must for Tomato Tart

But no matter the season, when we fly into Portland, we always, always eat at Fore Street Grill. This unique restaurant is my idea of farm-to-table heaven. Its unassuming chef and crew are devoted to nose-to-tail cooking. Plus they feature Maine food products at their best. And certainly we could, but we never eat lobster there, in favor of too many other unusual seasonal delights, such as their delectable appetizer featuring monkfish liver. Butour go-to dish, when we are lucky enough to find it available, is this divine tomato tart.

Do-It-Yourself Fore Street Tomato Tart

Sadly, I have no precise recipe for this superlative use of tomatoes. But from our culinary forensic investigation, we have unearthed a video describing the Fore Street tart, coupled with some Internet efforts to help us re-create this simple, but devilishly clever, dish. Fore Street has a local farm grow Jet Star tomatoes especially for the restaurant, but we have used Campari and something awfully similar from our local farmers’ markets. All yield great results. If you make your own puff pastry – terrific – as this is an easy and unusual use for it. If using a commercial version, I highly recommend DuFour over Pepperidge Farm. And although the video voice-over detects savory tastes like sage, she’s wrong – it is a little more like a combination of marjoram and thyme. After trying out topping the tart with lightly whipped cream mixed with goat cheese, I switched to crème fraiche, with much better results. I use my Mauviel copper or Pillivuyt individual bakers, But you can use the De Buyer Blini pans, as they do at Fore Street. And please don’t try this with cherry tomatoes or even plum tomatoes – you’ll completely miss out on the unique flavor and texture of this dish. Home version is on the left and the Fore Street Grill version is on the right. Please check out the somewhat informative video from The Cooking Channel as a start. The rewards are substantial!