The Puff Pastry Tart recipe I use at Boreas is derived from the KCTS Cooks Breakfast cookbook compiled from the kitchens of viewers of Public Station KCTS in Seattle. We have contributed to this cookbook.  This is, by far, one of my favorite breakfast cookbooks and contributing towards viewer supported public television is something we love to do!  This recipe was originally contributed by Kim Walton of Seattle.  Thank you, Kim!!  And our guests thank you also!  There are three parts to this surprisingly easy recipe.  It can be adapted in many ways by cutting the puff pastry into four pieces and making a savory filling or even a larger version of this lovely tart.  I also have made these tarts in mini-muffin tins for just a bite for our “second” pastries at our three and four-course breakfasts at Boreas Inn.  I will add an image when I remember to take a picture next time I bake them! (Sorry!) Enjoy the recipe!

Puff Pastry Cheesecake Tarts

Cheese Filling

2              tablespoons butter at room temp

1              8 oz. package cream cheese at room temp

1              egg

1 ½        teaspoons vanilla

4             tablespoons brown sugar

3             teaspoons lemon juice

½-1       teaspoon lemon zest

1             teaspoon orange liqueur (optional)

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and set aside.

Blueberry Filling (or any other berry of your choice)

2          tablespoons water (less if using frozen berries)

1          tablespoon cornstarch

1-3       tablespoons white sugar (depending upon sweetness of berries)

1           tablespoon lemon juice

1           teaspoon lemon zest

1           cup berries

2           teaspoons orange liqueur (optional)

Pastry Shells

1          package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1          egg beaten to brush on pastry

Preheat oven to 400 and spray regular size muffin tins with cooking spray. Open up the puff pastry sheets and cut the pastry into three long rectangles along the folds.  Cut each rectangle into three squares so you have nine squares per sheet. Press each square completely into the muffin tins so that the edges show above the top of each tin opening.

Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of the cheese filling on the center of each puff pastry. The cheese mixture will puff up during the baking process.  Place a dollop of the fruit filling on top of the cheese filling. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and bake approximately 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown.

Note: You can use a canned peach or apricot cut side down over the cheese filling instead of the berries.  If you’d like to be able to use only a few puff pastry tarts at a time, after composing the tarts (don’t bake!) wrap tightly in plastic, place muffin tins in the freezer and once frozen, gently pop each tart out of the tin, place in a zip lock freezer bag and put back in the freezer.  Place the frozen pastries into muffin tins in desired numbers, brush with egg wash and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Blaine took this video last week and it’s so beautiful!  It is whale-watching season and we’ve had some great days to look for the migrating gray whales, heading north to Alaska!   When you come stay at Boreas Inn, we will set you up to eat dinner at Blaine and Cheri Walker’s 42nd Street Cafe.  Unique dining, and the coziest, most romantic  Bed and Breakfast in Washington State are yours for the asking!  Come visit soon–the whales will be running up the coast for the next couple of months and the weather in the Columbia Pacific region is alternating between being warm and glorious and… not!

I'm trying a new recipe--Pineapple Toasted Macadamia Bundt Cake!

The mini-daffodils are blooming and the banners flying on a sunny day!

The thermometers have been reading in the 70’s in the sun and in the 60’s in the shade and we are ever so grateful to celebrate this precious sunshine in our mild winter season.  If we say this too loudly, winter will return, as gentle as it has been this season. So shhhhhh!  It has snowed in March the last two years;  just when we thought we had sailed through winter into springtime. Long Beach, Washington weather is tough to predict–and always a surprise–but thinking back the 15 seasons we’ve been here, this isn’t all that unusual for February!

I baked a Pineapple Toasted Macadamia Nut coffee cake for one of the pastry courses for our guests for tomorrow’s breakfast.  Fine breakfast cuisine is our tradition at Boreas Inn and we hope that we rank with the best in the west at our romantic beach getaway in Long Beach, Washington!  I will post the recipe on our website when I get a chance.

The mini-daffodils are so bright and hopeful on the front deck of the inn and the banners are bright against our residence.  I have been fighting the urge to buy more spring plants–but know if I do, we will have a freeze.  Guests are walking on the beach, exploring the lighthouses and dining at The Depot, Pelicano Restaurant and Jimella’s tonight for dinner.  The best dining in the state of Washington is right here on the Peninsula. Lucky us!

The Dunes Suite awaits you!

We have rooms available for next weekend, the 26th and 27th of February–and even the Dunes Suite awaits your escape to the beach.   The gray whales are cruising by and the North Head Lighthouse and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is a great place for spotting them!  On occasion, they approach the jetty and scrape off their barnacles.  Next weekend at the World Kite Museum, the Asian New Year Celebration continues with the spectacular kites of Malaysia and Singapore.  The Kite Museum has the largest private collection of kites in the entire world and is well worth a visit–walking distance from Boreas!

So come dine at the source, sleep in the lap of luxury and play at the prettiest beach in the Northwest.  Make each day a cause for celebration and we will be your co-conspirators in planning a quick getaway to Long Beach!

Boreas Inn’s 2010  New Years’ Day Crab Cake and Champagne Brunch

Boreas Inn's 2009 Five-Course New Years' Day Brunch

MENU

STARTERS

Chilled fruit soup with five berries and soft cream

&

Boreas Famous Butterscotch Sticky Buns

&

Apricot Tarts with a delicate Cream Cheese and Butter Crust

Champagne

Orange Juice

Coffee and tea

ENTREES

Fresh Dungeness Crab Cakes with Romesco

&

Scrambled Eggs with Cream Cheese & Smoked Salmon

&

Wild Porcini Mushroom and Sausage Gravy

Served over Fresh Chive Butter Biscuits

Our favorite shot of the Dec. 19, 2008 snowfall from the Garden Suite.

Kitties are Angels with Attitude is our favorite decorating party gift given by Cindy (Zikes) and Robert Davis.

The Boreas Hearth glows with warmth and holiday lights!

We have hosted over a dozen holiday open houses for our locals each year.

We will be having a full house at Boreas Inn this weekend.  The inn will be bustling full of Santa’s helpers!  Each year, our loyal guests come to Boreas on the first weekend of December to work and eat (and get a free night!) and make the Inn beautiful for the holidays. We drag out the decorations and make the tree (this year a perfect Noble Fir) beautiful.  We call it a Hanukkah Bush/Christmas Tree to be inclusive!  We will not be holding our traditional Open House on the second weekend of the year, but will be open for informal tours and will hopefully be finding a time when the Long Beach Peninsula Visitor’s Bureau volunteers can come to Boreas for a Open House to thank them for  their work!  Cindy and Robert Davis, Walter and Tracey Voll, Fred Humphrey, Odell Hathaway, Su and Ray Benson are among long-time Boreas friends and loved ones. Jessica and Chris Miller will also be helping out.  Chris is the new school district psychologist and Jessica is a teacher who helped us out over the summertime.  They moved here in June from Colorado and we have adopted them.  We are looking forward to the decorating, the potluck and the company.  So come see Boreas  Inn decorated for the holidays. We have rooms open for Christmas and for our New Years three day holiday weekend.  Take advantage of our “Walk-in” Special rate for all of December and January, except for one night over New Years’ when you will pay our regular price for that night.  We have included our Annual Dungeness Crab Cake and Champagne Breakfast for New Years’ Day! Make your reservations now!  We would love to see you!

"A breakfast like no other awaits" at Boreas Inn

or other entree of the morning. This always held us over until we went to dinner at the best restaurants in the area that had been reserved for us in advance by Susie.”

Since you will indeed be feeling well-fed until dinner time, let us set up your dinners!  The Depot Restaurant’s clam chowder, with each bowl beautifully hand-crafted, has been receiving the “best clam chowder I’ve ever had”  reviews from our guests for years.  It’s no surprise! Chef Michael and his team steam the Willapa clams for each bowl and add the razor clams and freshly sauteed veggies just for your bowl of chowder!  We love the philosophy of hand-crafted local foods, made with attention to detail with the love of the art of fine cuisine as demonstated by our local Chefs, particularly at The Depot, Pelicano, the 42nd Street Cafe and The Shelburne Restaurant and Pub.

“Dining At The Source” is what it’s all about here on the Long Beach Peninsula. Fresh, local ingredients and the passion for cooking are evident not only at Boreas Inn.  The variety of “the best” grilled steaks, seafood and fresh specials makes The Depot, especially when we reserve the Chef’s Table for our guests, a top pick of our guests along with Pelicano Restaurant on the Port of Ilwaco. Pelicano receives top reviews for their variations on their fried fresh Willapa Bay oysters and the deliciously crisp, perfectly balanced Caesar salad, one of my favorite combinations. Order them as appetizers and you get a full meal deal for $16. Then you have room for Chocolate Pot au Creme for dessert. The most decadent dark chocolate preparation available on the peninsula.  The 42nd Street Cafe has Jean Marc, the waiter extraordinaire, exotic daily changing seafood stews, pot roast like your mom used to make (well maybe….) and THE BEST sturgeon preparation when in season!  I could go on and on about our local restaurants, the wait staff, chefs and dear friends who are the proprietors. You have to eat it to believe it! Experience our wild winter weather, beautiful holiday decor (going up with help from guests on December 6th) and our annual New Years’ Day Crabcake and Champagne Brunch, offered at no extra charge to our guests! We will set up everything to make your stay simply perfect! We have a couple of openings left for Thanksgiving and lots of rooms available for Christmas and afterwards. Relax by the fire places and dine on the best cuisine the Pacific Northwest has to offer!  Boreas Inn was chosen as the Top Five Best B&B’s by KING 5 TV “Northwest Best Getaways” in 2009!