Kitchen Conundrum

Tarte a l’Oignon (Onion Tart) Recipe

by

20110308-DSC_8240This is one of our favorite tarts to serve at Brunch. It’s classic French bistro fare. Creamy and savory with a hint of sweetness. It’s the perfect combination and disappears within minutes. Serve with a salad of field greens and you have an entire meal.  It normally serves 6 but if I am being really honest, it serves 2. The prep is actually very easy, but the dough must rest for a good half hour before baking, which accounts for the long prep time/cook time.

The dough recipe is our standard pie crust recipe. We  have at least four different variations of it to use for everything from tarts, pies, to quiches and more. It can be used for both sweet or savory dishes. This one does not have any sugar or eggs in it and is perfect for savory dishes.

 

Serves 6

Pate Brisee or Tart Shell Dough:

  • 3/4 cups Flour
  • 7 tablespoons Butter, very cold
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 60 milliliters water, very cold

Sift flour and salt into the bowl of your mixer.

Cut butter into very small pieces and add to the flour and salt mixture. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the water.

When the dough is a sandy texture, remove it from the bowl of the mixer and knead into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for one half hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

When ready, remove from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface about 1/4″ thick.

Butter and flour a 9″ tart ring/mold or a 9″ shallow pie pan.

Place the dough in the pan and crimp the edges.

Cut a piece of parchment to lay on top of the tart bottom and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until it is dry and chalky white. Remove the beans and set aside to cool.

For the Filling:

  • 1 Onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • nutmeg, a pinch

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the onions and cook about 30 minutes until they are very soft and caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and prepare the custard.

Combine the egg with the egg yolk in a small bowl with a whisk.

Add the milk, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg, whisking gently until combined. Do not over whisk and create bubbles or froth/foam.

Spread the onions on the bottom of the prepared tart shell and pour the custard over the onions filling the shell completely.

Bake for 30 minutes until the custard is just set. Do not let the custard rise, as this is a sign of overbaking. Serve warm or at room temperature. Goes great with a field green salad and light vinaigrette.

 

      Enjoy!

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato. A Fresh Tart for Summer Entertaining!

by

 

We threw this together for an annual brunch block party. It was gone in mere minutes and we only got one tiny slice to share. We love tomatoes in the summer.  And even though it’s not officially summer, it’s been such nice weather that we thought it was time to break out this simple and delicious tart.  The best is when we find the big, sweet Jersey tomatoes. Sprinkled with a little salt, they are amazing. We grow tomatoes in our garden and they have a very good flavor but nothing compares to those Jersey tomatoes. For this recipe we just used store bought tomatoes as it is still a bit too early in the season to find good local ones.

This tart can be made with most any cheese but Gruyère is the most common cheese to use. It would be delicious with an herbed goat cheese too.  We used shredded cheddar this time, as it was all we had on hand and it was already shredded. You can also drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar on top right before you serve but it’s not necessary. This is a perfect meal in itself when served with a handful of salad greens on the side or it makes a nice side dish.  Sometimes, we will make small individual ones for parties. It’s very versatile!

Ingredients

1 Par-baked Tart Shell (11” Tart Shell baked for only 10 mintues), recipe below

¼ Cup Dijon, Stone Ground, or Whole Grain Mustard

1 Cup Shredded Cheese (Gruyere, Cheddar, Goat Cheese, or any other cheese you may have)

3 large Tomatoes, thickly sliced

Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Thyme

1 Tablespoon Parsley

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In the bottom of the tart shell, evenly spread the mustard.

Add the shredded cheese.

Arrange the tomatoes in a circular pattern slightly overlapping them on one side.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tomatoes are fork tender.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, thyme, parsley and garlic.

Spread over the baked tart while it is still warm.

Tart can be served either hot or at room temperature.


Pâte Brisée (Pie/Tart Dough)

This buttery dough is our standard tart and quiche crust. It’s produces a firm crust, making it perfect to hold up well with weighty ingredients. The dough can also be made by hand by using two knives to cut the ingredients into one another or by food processor. We have given you the conversions to the weighed ingredients. It’s a good idea to make several batches at a time as it freezes really well and you will always have some on hand for a last minute meal. The key to a good crust is to use very cold butter and very cold water and to not overwork the dough.

Ingredients

200 Grams Flour

100 Grams Butter, Very Cold

5 Grams Salt

60 ml Water, Very Cold

Ingredients Conversion

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

7 Tablespoons Butter, Very Cold

1 Teaspoon Salt

¼ Cup Water, Very Cold

Method

In your food processor fitted with a dough blade, add flour and salt.

Cut butter into very small pieces and add quickly to the flour and salt. Pulse until the butter is well incorporated and resembles a fine meal, about 15 seconds.

Add the cold water and pulse a few more times until the dough comes together.

Turn dough out and form into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to rest for ½ hour. The dough can also now be frozen for future use.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to fit into an 11” tart pan. The key to making sure your dough is the right size is to turn your tart pan upside down over the dough and making sure there is at least another inch around all the sides still visible.

Transfer to the tart pan gently pressing the dough to the pan’s shape. Prick the bottom with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing during baking.

To prebake the crust, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in center of oven.

Line the unbaked crust with a round cut out of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill tart pan with pie weights or dry beans, making sure they are evenly distributed over the entire bottom surface.

Bake crust for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is dry and lightly browned. Remove weights and cool crust on wire rack. Proceed with your recipe that calls for a prebaked crust. To par bake, only bake for 10 minutes to set the shell and ready for ingredients.