Free Nuts in the Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis

any extra pastry for another use.
     
    2. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).
     
    3. Brush two baking sheets with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and place the rounds of eggplant and the strips of zucchini on the baking sheet. Brush the rounds of eggplant and the zucchini with another tablespoon of the oil. Season the eggplant and zucchini lightly with salt and pepper. Place the bell peppers on a sheet of thick aluminum foil. Place the vegetables in the oven and roast until the eggplant and zucchini are golden on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip the eggplant and zucchini, season them lightly with salt and pepper, and roast until goldenon the other side, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Remove them from the oven. Leave the peppers in the oven until they are soft and their skin is wrinkled, another 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven and wrap them in the aluminium foil.
     
    4. As soon as the zucchini is cool, dice the strips and place them in a medium bowl. As soon as the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove all the skin and seeds and dice the peppers. Add them to the zucchini in the bowl.
     
    5. Place the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the onion in a heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until tender through, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and add to the vegetables in the bowl. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the ras el hanout over the vegetables and fold them together until all the vegetables are thoroughly combined. Taste for seasoning and add the remaining ras el hanout and salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the vinegar. Keep warm.
     
    6. Reduce the oven temperature to 425°F (220° C). Bake the pastry in the center of the oven until the rounds are golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer one to each of six warmed plates.
     
    7. Fold the toasted pumpkin seeds into the vegetable mixture. Top each pastry with an equal number of eggplant rounds, then top the eggplant with an equal amount of the roasted vegetables. Garnish with the fresh herbs and serve.
    Pistachio Music
    The moon has risen full, softly illuminating the inky sky above a pistachio orchard near Aleppo, in Syria. The silvery branches of the trees shimmer like skin through wide and velvety green leaves. Hanging from them are endless grapelike clusters of nuts, their dusty-rose skins soft in the moonlight. The nuts are secretive; they give neither juice nor aroma to hint at their ripeness; the harvest moon reveals their progress.
    The farmer stands at the edge of the orchard, waiting. He thinks tonight the bright green nuts may grow that final bit to burst the shell and skin. His head, bathed by moonlight, inclines. In the dark, a tiny puff of air floats through the orchard, audible to itself. Then there is another and another as nut follows nut with its final spurt of growth, bursting its shell, until all through the orchard the tiny hot breaths become music. Out under the moon more and more farmers come to hear pistachio music, the hauntingly joyful tune of the harvest.

 
     
    Mushroom and Walnut Tarte Tatin
    Makes one 9-inch (23-cm) tart; 4 to 6 servings
    This is a savory play on France’s most popular dessert, tarte Tatin, which is made with slowly caramelized apples baked under a tender crust. When removed from the oven, the tart is flipped onto a platter so that the caramelized apples that were hidden under the pastry now glisten in the light. This savory mushroom and walnut version, inspired by my dear friend Patricia Wells, gets the same treatment, resulting in a perfect first course for an elegant meal or a main course accompanied by a green salad.
    One-half recipe On Rue Tatin’s Tender Tart Pastry (Chapter The Basics)
    3 tablespoons goose or duck fat or extra virgin olive oil
    1½ pounds (625 g) cultivated or wild mushrooms, trimmed and cut into thick slices
    Sea salt
    1 cup (10 g) flat-leaf parsley leaves, gently packed
    1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
    3 garlic cloves, minced
    ½ cup (50 g)