Thinking about French Leave: Alsatian Leek and Onion Tart, or 'Tarte Alsacienne'

 

 

In a couple of months I'll be off to France again for a some sun, good wine, good food and returning home with a motorhome full of French goodies and I'll be honest I am already in the mood for it. Although, it has to be said that the first part of our holiday is in south west France and I am a bit concerned that the weather is at least as bad if not worse as than it is here just now. Anyway, there is a bit of time for that problem to sort itself out and in the meantime I am going to be getting myself in the mood with the odd foray into French cuisine which if it's any good will no doubt reveal itself in some guise on this blog.

 

Being that I am on one hand quite predictable and on the other hand just a bit random I thought I would pick 'quiche' (how 'cliche') from the complete opposite area from where I am visiting, from Alsace in north east France. This recipe is based on the one from my 'Best Ever French Cooking Course' cookbook with the odd tweak, mainly turning this recipe from 'tartlette' to 'tarte' as I am not one for little quichy things. The whole tartlet thing strikes as too much pastry and not enough filling. Anyway, I'm rambling; here's the recipe:

 

Alsatian Leek and Onion Tart, or 'Tarte Alsacienne' adapted from 'The Best Ever French Cooking Course'.

 

Makes a 9 inch tart approx

 

For the pastry:

 

6oz plain flour

3oz cold butter

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp salt

2 - 3 tbsp cold water to bind

 

(or buy some shortcrust pastry - you'll need about half a block)

 

For the filling:

 

1oz butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1lb leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced

2oz Gruyere cheese

3 eggs

1/2 pint double cream

salt and pepper to taste

 

Method:

 

Make the pastry by blitzing or rubbing together the flour and the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and then the egg yolk. Use the cold water to bind the mixture, adding the water sparingly.  Roll into a bowl and put in the fridge for half an hour to rest.

 

Or, use ready made shortcrust pastry.

 

 

 

When rested, use the pastry to line a prepared loose bottomed tart tin (my rectangular is 13 x 4 inch) and the same kind of quantity fills about a 9 inch round pan, ish)

 

Prick the base and return to the fridge to rest once more (for about 20 minutes).

 

Preheat the oven to 190c/375f  and put a baking tray into the oven to heat up.

 

 

 

Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper/foil and baking beans.

 

Put the pastry case in the oven and cook for about 8 minutes or until the edges of the pastry look golden. Take the baking beans out and return to the oven for another 2 or 3 minutes to dry out the base of the tart. Transfer to a rack to cool and reduce the oven temperature to 180c/350f. and begin to make the filling.

 

 

 

In a large frying pan, melt the butter over a medium heat and then add the onion and the thyme and cook for about 3 - 5 minutes until the onion is just softened but not coloured.

 

 

 

Add the leeks and cook for 10 - 12 minutes until they are soft and tender.

 

Once softened, place the onion/leek mixture into the base of the tart.

 

 

 

Sprinkle the cheese over the onions and leeks and put the case onto the baking tray so you can transfer the full case into the oven easily once the cream and eggs are added.

 

 

 

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, the cream and the salt and pepper (to taste). Pour the mixture over the onions, leeks and cheese. Don't overfill.

 

 

 

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until set and golden.

 

Transfer the tart onto a wire rack to cool slightly. When cooled, remove the tart from the tin.

 

 

 

Serve warm, or at room temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Je vous présente le cake! Sun dried tomato, Olive and Basil 'cake'

Because I couldn't wait...

 

Regular readers of this blog will know all about my love affair with France. From 'Joie de Vivre' through to 'Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité', I am a fan of all things Français. If some of my ancestors had stayed put a couple of hundred years ago I could have been French, but then messing around with the past affects the future and swapping my happy existence now for some kind of Frenchness is not what I am about, so I will just embrace that little part of me that is French and cook like a French woman, which brings me to cake, or should I say 'le cake', for that is what today's blog post is about.

 

Savoury cake might sound just a bit weird but allow me to convert you. Firstly, it sings Provence, particularly this one with its glorious flavours of olives, tomatoes and 'des herbes'. Secondly, as it cooks I swear the glorious smell escaping from the oven will transport you to some little bistro somewhere in the south of France where you are sipping pastis (or something) and looking suitable chic and thirdly, cut into little slices or cubes, maybe on cocktail sticks with some French sausisson and cold, cold glass of Chablis and you have a suitable 'Apero' experience and if you are one of those lightweight drinkers like I am and you've hurled a large glass of wine down your neck and are already feeling at best 'confident' or at worst 'other people', then a couple of slices of this contains suitable ballast to retain your equilibrium and natural 'French chic'. C'est genial, n'est ce pas?

 

So, this recipe is loosely based on one that I cut out of a magazine but I really couldn't tell you which one. I think, to be honest, once you have the basic dough down you could hurl anything you wanted at it, as the dough, or cake, is merely a vehicle for savoury treats, but you would have to go a long way beat the combination of sun dried tomatoes, black olives, herbes de provence and chopped basil not just for taste, but for bespeckled warm colours through every golden slice.

 

So, embrace your inner Frenchness, and make...

 

Sun dried tomato, olive and basil 'cake'

 

Serves 6 (maybe...)

 

Ingredients:

 

175g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

3 large eggs

100ml milk

100ml olive oil

100g Gruyere cheese, grated (You could probably get away with a decent mature cheddar)

100g sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped

60g stoned black olives, chopped

2 tsp herbes de provence (you could also use other Mediterranean herbs if that is what you have).

a small handful of basil leaves, roughly sliced

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 180c Gas 4

 

 

 

Sift the flour and the baking powder and season well with salt and pepper

 

 

 

Whisk the eggs, the milk and the oil together. Add the liquid to the flour a little at a time, beating after each addition.

 

 

 

Next, mix in the Gruyere, tomatoes, herbs, olives and basil, then tip the mixture into a prepared (greased and lined) standard loaf tin.

 

Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes or until a skewer put into the middle comes out clean. If you are concerned that the top is browning but the middle seems uncooked, then place some foil over the top of the loaf, though bear in mind that the nature of the ingredients in the loaf will produce something that will be quite dense and damp whilst cooking.

 

 

 

Leave to cool and then remove from the tin. You can keep this wrapped in foil in the fridge if you are not using it immediately but when you do serve it, make sure it is at room temperature.

 

 

 

Délicieux!

Random Recipe Challenge, picked by Lola and Finn - Easy Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Croutons

As I enjoyed last month's Random Recipe challenge so much I was looking forward to taking part in the challenge once again. My method for randomness, I decided, would come in the shape of the two children to whom this blog is dedicated. So, Lola selected the book from the shelves...

 

Lola with her choice. Barefoot Contessa Foolproof

 

And Finn picked the recipe. (he's 5; he can't read too well just yet - so, totally random)

 

Finn with the chosen recipe. Easy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

 

Now the irony wasn't lost on me that between the pair of them they managed to choose a recipe that neither of them like. Tomato soup has been an abject failure chez Lola and Finn on several previous occasions that I am not going to bother trying again until they are teenagers or something so once I saw the chosen recipe I laughed and immediately decided to half the ingredients and treat Phill and me to a Saturday afternoon lunch. And a treat it was. Unctuous yet sharp, with some pretty amazing croutons. The days of dunking ordinary bread may be over.

 

Anyway, much as it was a shame that Lola and Finn didn't have this soup for lunch (they had hot dogs and frankly, I don't blame them. If I had have been 5 or 6, that's what I would have chosen) I am very pleased that Lola managed to happen upon this particular cookbook, firstly because it was a Christmas present that I hadn't actually cooked anything from until now, and I knew that the recipe would turn out well because I have never made a Barefoot Contessa recipe that hasn't turned out anything other than brilliant. What else is pleasing is that Lola managed to avoid the Rosemary Conley 'Eat yourself Slim' cookbook, bottom shelf right. I may have to remove this tome of riotous high living and all round excess before next month, to avoid the possibility of having to cook something involving bouillon powder and egg white. Bletch.

 

Easy Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Croutons, from 'Foolproof' by Ina Garten

 

Serves 4 - 6 (I halved the ingredients below to suit two hungry people)

 

Ingredients (in cups, for it is an American recipe)

 

3 tablespoons good olive oil

3 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, (I used tinned cherry tomatoes)

Large pinch of saffron threads

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup orzo

1/2 cup double cream

Grilled Cheese Croutons (see below)

 

Method:

 

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

 

Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

 

Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

 

Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, saffron, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water, add 2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil.

 

Add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes. (It will finish cooking in the soup.)

 

Drain the orzo and add it to the soup.

 

Stir in the cream, return the soup to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.

 

Serve hot with Grilled Cheese Croutons scattered on top.

Grilled Cheese Croutons

 

4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices country white bread

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

Heat a panini grill. (I did mine in the frying pan - my panini maker is buried and I would have wreaked havoc in my newly tidied kitchen trying to unearth the bloody thing).

 

Place the four slices of bread on a cutting board and brush lightly with the melted butter, being sure to butter the corners.

 

Turn the slices over and pile Gruyere on two of the slices. Place the remaining two slices of bread on top of the Gruyere, buttered sides up.

 

Grill the sandwiches on the panini grill (or frying pan, pressing them down with a fish slice and turning them back and forth from time to time) for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned.

 

Place on a cutting board, allow to rest for 1 minute and cut into 1-inch cubes.

 

So, here I am, submitting this recipe to the February Random Recipe challenge hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen.