Rainbow Beet(root) Tart Recipe

My sister-in-law Nicole made this mouthwatering multicoloured tart while we were on holiday together in Portland, Maine. The pastry here acts as a canvas, showcasing just how stunning and varied a humble root vegetable can be.

I love beets (or 'beetroot' as it's known in the UK). They taste like earth. This may well be what puts some people off them, but I adore the hearty soil-tinged flavour touched with a bit of sweetness.

And I'm not alone, when Nicole put this stunner down on the dining table, it was inhaled with glee by family from the age of two to, uh, significantly older than two.

I asked Nicole to share the recipe with me, and you, so we can all put such an eye-catching earthy treat down on our own tables soon.

First, obviously, you need to procure bunches of beets in varying hues. Nicole bought hers at the Portland Farmers' Market, a showcase of vibrant fresh produce.

Tarragon Twosome (part two)

This recipe was originally called Pea, Tarragon and Cream Cheese Pithivier. Pithivier is a word of French origin, that, according to Wikipedia "is used on English menus as a pretentious way of saying pie". I'll get straight to le point and call it a pie, particularly as I've shaped mine into mini pies (as opposed to a hump) using a muffin tray.

One day Alex ducked into a kitchen shop and bought me a much-desired muffin tin, not realising the enormity of its cups. It's fine if you like making muffins modeled after those found heaving on shelves in coffee shops; cakes covertly operating as breakfast food. But I've found it more useful for pressing pastry into and producing personalised pies (say that five times fast). This method works a treat if you'd like to bake pies with different fillings at the same time, as I did on this occasion — half were veggie, half were meaty.