Carmelized Onion Tart

[Cooper]

I'm doing a search to find out information on Oronoque Orchards because of the discussion in the pie thread ( http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1197799 ). I did a search for "Oronoque Orchards" (in quotes) in Google, and found this. Sounds yummy!

http://www.murrayhill5.net/blo....html


Modified by Cooper at 9:47 PM 1-22-2004

[LangsamKafer]

That does sound yummy! (Into the list it goes )

Quote »

Carmelized Onion Tart Ingredients recipe for 2 deep dish pie crusts OR 2 pre-made frozen crusts, I recommend: Oronoque Orchards 4 small russet potatoes, peeled, sliced, cooked until tender then set aside to cool. 4 large Vidalia Onions, sliced into thin rings Enough Crimini mushrooms to make 2 cups when roughly chopped without their stems 1 small yellow onion diced 3 ounces of pancetta diced into small pieces 3-5 anchovy filets 1 large clove of garlic 1 teaspoon of capers, roughly chopped 3 large eggs, beaten 1 cup heavy cream 2 very large bunches of spinach, washed, pat dry approx. 3 ounces of Goat Cheese salt and fresh ground pepper to taste 2 tablespoons butter olive oil Method Preheat the oven to 375º To Carmelize the Onions Heat the butter together with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy skillet. Add the sliced onions (its' going to seem like a lot but they cook down) and slowly cook over medium heat. The onions should be stirred often while cooking and will be done when they turn a caramel color. Set Aside. In another pan, sauté the pancetta until crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain off most of the fat leaving some to sauté the mushrooms, adding salt and pepper to taste, deglaze the pan with chicken stock or white cooking wine. Set the mushrooms aside. In a heavy pot with a lid, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the garlic and sauté until it just begins to brown-add the capers, anchovies and spinach and quickly cover with the lid. (Don't worry about the spinach if it seems like a lot, it cooks down like the onions). Line the still frozen pie crusts with a layer of potatoes using about half and setting the rest aside. Do the same with the spinach adding dollops of goat cheese throughout. In a bowl, whisk together the left over potatoes, half the onions, the spinach, mushrooms, beaten egg, 1 cup of heavy cream, salt and freshly ground pepper and pour the mixture into the crusts, add the rest of the goat cheese and sprinkle the remaining onions on top. Cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve

[Cooper]

Bought the ingredients on the way home. Gonna try it tonight.

Since it makes two, I can make one that leaves out the things my wife doesn't want, like mushrooms.

Edit: And anchovies stay out of both. Yuk!

Edit: It's 7:21, and they're both in the oven. The directions above are somewhat like reading a patent. Just enough information to grant a patent, but some steps seem to be missing, so it may be difficult to repeat by a competitor. That's great patent protection. That is, where does the pancetta go? We mixed it into the egg/cream mixture.

Depending on how they turn out, I'll edit the directions to what we actually did.


Modified by Cooper at 7:25 PM 1-21-2004

[Cooper]

The verdict from Coolchick: "this recipe's a keeper."

Overall ... excellent!

Pros: makes a lot, lots of onions.
Cons: makes a lot, lots of onions.

I know what we'll be eating for the next few days.

[Edit ... not really ... froze individual slices. A friend is coming up this week. We'll be having N.Y. Strip Steaks, onion tart, and seasoned green beans for dinner.]

Here's what we did, to make two separate tarts. My wife didn't want mushrooms or spinach.

Coolchick's suggestion is that the recipe can easily be cut in half, and what she doesn't like can just be put on my side.

This is actually much easier than it seems.

Carmelized Onion Tart

Ingredients

2 pre-made frozen crusts (Oronoque Orchards)
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 large Vidalia Onions, sliced
2 Italian sausages
A small jar of button mushrooms
1 small yellow onion diced
4 ounces of pancetta, diced into small pieces
1 large clove of garlic (pre-minced stuff in jar is o.k.)
1/2 teaspoon of capers, roughly chopped (cut in half from above, as my wife didn't want this step)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 bag baby spinach from the produce aisle
4 ounces of Goat Cheese
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
butter
olive oil

Directions

The following makes (1) an onion, meat, and cheese tart, and (2) an onion, meat, cheese, mushroom, and spinach tart.

Boil water in a large pot. Boil the sliced potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside in the colander.

Carmelize the Onions: Heat butter together with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large pot. Add the sliced onions. Its' going to seem like a lot but they cook down. Cook over medium heat. The onions should be stirred often while cooking and will be done when they are a caramel color. Set Aside.

While doing the above (it takes time to cook the onions) ...

Heat a non-stick wok. Take the sausages out of the casing and drop balls into the wok. Cook thoroughly. Take cooked sausage out of the wok and place in a bowl.

Sauté the pancetta in the non-stick wok until crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

Drain off most of the fat leaving some to sauté some of the mushrooms (not the whole jar), add ground black pepper while cooking. Add a little white cooking wine at the end. Set the mushrooms aside in another bowl.

In a pot with a lid, heat a little of olive oil, add the garlic and capers. Add some spinach (as much as you want for one tart). Cover with the lid. (Don't worry about the spinach if it seems like a lot; it cooks down like the onions). Cook until the spinach is soft and turn off the heat.

Now turn on the oven to 375F.

By now, you should have (I think ) ...

A large pot with the carmelized onions,
A colander with the cooked, sliced, potatoes,
A bowl with the cooked pancetta,
A bowl with the cooked sausage,
A bowl with the cooked mushrooms,
A pot with the cooked spinach, and
Pie crusts in the freezer.

Line the still frozen pie crusts with a layer of potatoes using about half and setting the rest aside.

Add half the cooked spinach and mushrooms to one pie crust.

Add some pancetta, sausage, and goat cheese to each.

Beat the three eggs in a bowl.

In a two separate pots, add half of the following to what's remaining of each: leftover potatoes, onions, beaten egg, and heavy cream. Whip with a fork, breaking down the potato slices. Add some freshly ground pepper. Add the remaining sausage and pancetta to each. Stir.

Add the remaining mushrooms and spinach to one pot and stir.

Pour the mixture into the crusts and press in. Add the remaining goat cheese and sperad the remaining onions on top. Press down into shape.

Cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

You will have to use a pie ring halfway through, so the crust doesn't burn.

Test when you think it's done with a knife. It should come out fairly clean. If it still needs more, cover with foil and cook more.

When done, turn off oven, open oven door, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Edit: I had Coolchick read this and edit. She suggests to add more sausage and pancetta if this will be dinner.

Edit: Looking at the final tarts, this can probably be further simplified by adding the rest of the mushrooms/spinach after the sausage/pancetta/cheese (i.e., all the added ingredients that differentiate the pies), so that the potato/onion/egg/cream mixture can just be done in a single batch and poured in. We'll do that next time.

Edit 2. And, I should have moved the garlic over to cooking the pancetta, as my wife likes some garlic. Overall, this recipe looks very flexible to what you like.

We really want to make it again.


Modified by Cooper at 9:14 PM 1-30-2004

[1781ccT]

Sounds great!

But Cooper, didn't the patent application come with some rendered drawings?

Maybe I'll see about making it at work when the cooks (and I) have a little spare time.