Onion and Rosemary Tart

I served this dish at a potluck where it received rave reviews. I think its success is due in part to the use of sweet onions. This dish is quite easy, except for the hassle of making the pastry. I skipped a few steps and it turned out great. I'll tell you how I did it, and how it was supposed to be done.

I'm not exactly clear what makes something a tart rather than a quiche, but I think it may be the use of a tart pan which is shallow and has scalloped edges, such as the one shown in the picture. My tart pan has a removable bottom, so you can remove the sides of the pan and serve the tart with just the crust showing, which is much prettier than including the pan in your presentation.

To make a tart shell according to the recipe you have to make the dough, let it chill in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes, roll it out and put it in the tart pan, freeze it for half an hour or more, pre-bake it, take it out of the oven and fill it with your filling, and then bake. If you started early in the day or made your shell ahead of time, that would be fine. I didn't have time for all that so I let it chill for about 5 minutes, didn't bother freezing it, and pre-baked it while preparing the filling. It turned out great and saved some time. You could also use a store-bought pie crust and save a lot of time, but increase your cost for the dish. The homemade crust uses half all-purpose flour, and half whole-wheat pastry flour, which makes it better for you than a store-bought crust. Even if you use store-bought, I think you would still need to pre-bake it so that it doesn't get soggy when you add the wet ingredients.

It may sound a little strange to make a quiche-like filling out of just onions and rosemary, but it is absolutely delicious and very simple.

To get started

• Prepare the tart shell: In a food processor, combine 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, and 3/4 t. salt. Pulse just to combine. Add 5 T. cold butter, cut into small pieces. Pulse until the mixture resembles course meal. Add 3 T. sour cream. Pulse again. Add 1 T. ice water and pulse again. The mixture should be moist and crumbly. Turn the mixture out onto a board, gather it into a ball, then flatten it into a disk. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

• While the dough is chilling, melt 2 teaspoons butter in a dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Quarter 4 small or 3 medium onions, and then slice them thinly crosswise. Add the onions to the butter, add a pinch of salt, stir and cover. Cook the onions until soft and pale golden, about half an hour, stirring occasionally.

• Mince 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 425º

• Flour a work surface. Roll out the dough into a 10 inch circle. Drape it over your rolling pin and settle it into the tart pan. (No need to grease the pan.) Using your fingers, shape the dough on the sides of the pan and try to make it uniformly about 1/4 inch thick. Remove any excess dough. Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes. When you take the pre-baked shell out of the oven, lower the heat to 350º.
• When the onions are soft, add the rosemary and several grinds of fresh pepper. Taste the onions, and add salt as needed. I also raised the heat a little and cooked the onions for an extra 5 or 10 minutes to cook off some of the liquid.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 1 cup fromage blanc. (This is a non-fat french cheese. It was ridiculously expensive at my store, so I used creme fraiche instead which was absolutely delicious.) Add a little salt and pepper.
• Pour the onions into the egg-cheese mixture. Combine and put in the prepared tart shell.
• Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

I had some leftover onion filling mixture, so I put it in buttered ramekins and baked it along with the tart.

Cost to prepare tart shell

1/2 cup all purpose flour - $.40

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour - $.50

5 T. butter - .40

3 T. sour cream - $.20

TOTAL - $1.50 (maybe less)

Cost to prepare filling

3 medium sweet onions - $1.50

fresh rosemary - free from your garden (steal some from a neighbor if you don't have any)

2 eggs - $.50

1 cup fromage blanc or creme fraiche - $4.00 (more for fromage blanc)

salt and pepper - negligible

TOTAL - $6.00

Total cost for dish - $6.85, Serves 6

A light, crisp Sauvignon Blanc would go nicely with this dish.

Baked Kalamata Olives

I've been making these wonderful olives for years. This recipe comes from another of Deborah Madison's cookbooks, "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone". I know it sounds odd to bake olives, but once they've simmered in the oven in the wine, olive oil, garlic and spices, they get plump and juicy, and the smells in your kitchen elicit sighs of happiness. I usually make these in the winter, but they're a wonderful accompaniment to any meal. I have put them in gift baskets at the holidays and served them at Thanksgiving. Every time my daughter's boyfriend comes to visit, this is what he wants me to make.

The recipe calls for Kalamata olives with the pits in. This is how I usually make them, but lately I've gotten lazy and used pitted olives. They are usually cheaper and they save you some time since you don't have to poke each one after they come out of the oven. If you're making them for the first time, I recommend that you use Kalamata's with the pits still in.

Here's what you do:

Rinse 2 cups kalamata olives and put them in a baking dish large enough for them to be in one layer. Add 1/2 cup dry red wine, 2 T. olive oil, 1 clove sliced garlic, and 1 bay leaf. Cover and bake at 375º for about 45 minutes.

While they're in the oven, chop 2 cloves of garlic and pound it in a mortar with 2 T. marjoram, 1 T. parsley, and a few grinds of pepper. When the olives come out of the oven, poke each one with the tip of a knife. Stir in the garlic-herb paste, 2 T. olive oil, and several pinches red pepper flakes.

Serve with crusty french bread. You can dip your bread in the extra juice from the olives.

Cost to prepare:

2 cups kalamata olives - $5.00

1/2 cup dry red wine - $1.00

4 T. olive oil - $1.00 (?)

3 garlic cloves - $.50

bay leaf, red pepper flakes, 2 T. marjoram, 1 T. parsley - $.75 (?)

Total - $8.25 and SO worth it

Pecorino and Bean Salad

January 17, 2009

This recipe is from Giada de Laurentis of the Food Network. It is super easy, beautiful, and really yummy. Another must try. Here's the link to the recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pecorino-and-bean-salad-recipe/index.html

This salad combines the creaminess of the cannelini beans, with the bright, fresh, crispiness of the shelled edamame. It is dressed with garlic and rosemary infused olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley. Then you add cheese for a tangy finish. I couldn't find pecorino romano, so I used lemon-garlic feta, which was really tasty. I also used the cannelini beans I had in my freezer, rather than canned.

Giada says that this is a great dish to take to a potluck or on a picnic because it doesn't need to be refrigerated. I suppose that is more true of a semi-dry cheese like pecorino, though I would be more careful with the feta, I think.

I served this with leftover root veggies over brown and wild rice. (I scraped off the old pancake and just served the veggies that were underneath. I added a bit more salt and balsamic vinegar to wake up the flavors. The combination of the deep purple vegetables and the bright green salad was really beautiful.

Approximate cost
1 can cannelini beans - $1.00
2 cups edamame - $2.00
oil, garlic, rosemary - negligible
parsley - .20
feta, 4 oz. - $2.50 (I'm sure it would cost more if you used pecorino)
TOTAL cost - $5.70, serves 6 or more