Let’s Get Baking!

Baking an Onion and Potato Tart. I don’t know what got into me. I had fun yesterday making cookies and we’ve had these onions sitting on the counter forever! Joe was doing dishes when I got home so the kitchen was nice and clean for me to make a mess Sorry, hon.

I dried the dishes and got to it.

First thing was finding a Pâte Brisée recipe. Pâte Brisée is just basic pie dough. I say Pâte Brisée because I think it makes me look fancy. teehee. First, the recipe in Joe’s school book was for 5lbs of dough! I didn’t want to convert it. The one in Chez Panisse Desserts was a little too complicated, and I didn’t want to think that hard. Plus the pages kept turning on me and I didn’t want to get the cook book holder down. So I decided on an adapted recipe from a Season Baking Class hand out by Julie Fether. (I did have to half it, the exact recipe I used tonight below) I adapted it to fit my own style.

Pâte Brisée
enough for one 11″ tart, plus extra

1 cup AP Flour
1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3~3/4 cup cold water
8 oz. cold butter

Sift flour, add salt. Cube cold butter. Working quickly use your finger tips to work the butter into the flour until you reach an oatmeal/cornmeal consistency. Don’t over work the butter as it will melt. Cold flakes of butter = Flaky dough. If needed you can toss the mixture back in the fridge.

Quickly and all at once, add the water and mix until incorporated. Always err on the side of less water. It’s easier to add water than take it out.

Once the dough has gathered, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead it gently. Don’t overwork the dough. There should still be “marbled” butter batches visible. Once the dough is smooth and firm shape it into a disc and wrap it in plastic, chill completely.

Lasts 3-4 days; 2 months in freezer.
Take the dough out a few minutes before working with it. Always work with a cold dough. If it begins to warm up too much, toss it back in the fridge.

Once I had the dough made and in the fridge I moved on to the filling. I was searching for Caramelized Onion Tarts in our cook books and online. This is the one I based my recipe on. There are many many variations all over the place. The filling isn’t an exact science – mix and match fillings and spices to your hearts content. Experiment!

Caramelized Onion & Potato Tart
enough for one 11″ Tart

5 small yellow onions (red would probably be great too, more sweet)
2~3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt, pepper
celery seed (you can use any herb or spice you like. keep it simple.)
3/4 cup swiss cheese (Gruyère would have been great, but we didn’t have any)
3~4 small red potatoes

Peel and slice the onions. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and sprinkle a little salt over them. Cook on high for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent. Just as they start to brown, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be cooked completely, not burnt, and when you taste them – there should be no crunch.

While the onions are cooking steam your potatoes for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level in your steamer (I ran out, and almost scorched my pot). You could probably microwave, or bake these.Preheat your oven to 450°F. Grate or chop the cheese, set aside. Take your Potatoes off the stove to cool. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes before rolling it out. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch diameter. Lift and lay in your tart pan. Trim the edges and dock the dough with a fort (poke some holes in the bottom). If you can, stick it back in the fridge to chill up.You are going to Blind Bake the shell before filling. Line the tart dough with some tin foil. Fill with some dried beans, or in my case some brown rice. This will simulate filling, and par bake (pre bake) the dough. Since the filling will be fully cooked before going in the tart blind baking will allow the crust to cook completely without burning the filling.

Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes. Remove the tin foil and rice/beans. Layer in your filling. Half of the cheese, slices of steamed potato, salt and pepper, celery seed or other seasonings, caramelized onions, and the rest of the cheese. Continue to bake at 450 for 10-15 more minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F for 20-25 minutes. The cheese should be bubbly and the crust should be golden.

Remove and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.