ocean house

Chef Timothy Meyers

Executive Chef with Ocean House
Management Collection

While Chef Timothy Meyers’s family did not own a farm in rural upstate New York, just about everyone around them in Chenango County did. Local produce was a way of life, and local businesses were local families.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Bard College in Massachusetts, Chef Timothy  Meyers enrolled in New York’s Culinary Institute of America to blend his passion for responsible agriculture with his affinity for the restaurant business.

Chef Tim joined Ocean House as Director of Culinary Education and Food Forager, where he led culinary classes and activities at Ocean House and the Center for Wine & Culinary Arts, one of the country’s top resort culinary schools. He now holds a new title of Executive Chef with Ocean House Management Collection.

Sweet Potato Tart  

This is a rich, buttery, crumbly dough-this type holds up better in for this tart than its flakier cousin.

1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons Ice Water
½ Teaspoon Sugar
½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes

In a medium size bowl, combine the butter, salt, sugar, and flour. Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour. As you work you should notice the mixture start to look mealy-that’s good. When all the butter is evenly combined, add the ice water. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix the water in until a homogenous dough forms. If it seems to dry to come together, add a touch of extra ice water.

Push the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and let rest in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, take the dough ball out, and roll it into a circle no thicker than 1/16”.  Line a non-stick, circular tart mold with the dough (I like the kind with a removable bottom, so that making beautiful slices is a breeze).  Heat your oven to 350 degrees and cover the tart with foil.  Bake it for ten minutes to set the crust, but not fully cook it through.  Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool while you prepare the filling.

The filling of the tart is an elegant version of Pommes au Gratin.  The key is to take the time to layer each slice individually.  It may sound tedious, but it ensures everything cooks evenly, looks awe-inspiring, and really doesn’t take a very long time.

3# Sweet Potatoes
1 Pint Heavy Cream
1 Cup Asiago Cheese, grated
4 Whole Eggs 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper, freshly cracked
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

Peel all the sweet potatoes and cut them evenly in two, from tip to tip.  Adjust a mandolin to about 1/16” and slice all the sweet potatoes.  Make sure you slice perpendicular to the flat side of the potato, so that every slice maintains its flat side.

Place all the sweet potatoes in a large metal bowl.  Sprinkle them lightly with salt and let sit for 5 minutes.  Salt will pull a little moisture out and soften the sweet potatoes so that they are easier to layer.

Separately, combine the cream, Asiago, eggs, and salt.  Stir to create a homogenous liquid, but try not to use a whisk as you’ll not want to aerate the mixture at all.

Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes, and mix it up so that all the sweet potatoes are coated.

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