French Classics Made Easy (16 page)

5.
After placing the pastry in the tart pan, place your bent index finger at the upper inside edge of the mold. Push about ½ inch of the overlapping pastry in over your finger and press gently with your thumb. Continue around the pan to form a rim.

6.
Cut off the excess pastry by rolling the pin across the top of the pan. Remove the cutoff pastry from the outer edge of the pan.

7.
Lift the rim of dough (see step 5) up at a 45-degree angle and press between the thumb and forefinger to make a raised rim. Note that without a rim, you will have a shallower tart shell that may not hold all the custard in your recipe. To decorate the rim, see “Making a Decorative Rim” (
page 68
).

ONION TART

[TARTE À L’ OIGNON]

This simple onion tart, a member of the quiche family, reminds me of many wonderful meals I have had at inexpensive restaurants in rural France.

In the traditional recipe, the onions are cooked slowly until soft and then mixed with a thick béchamel sauce into which several eggs have been beaten. The finished tart makes a hearty first course.

My recipe is made with the light custard mixture I use for most of my quiches, to make it less filling and easier to fit into a contemporary dinner menu.

SERVES 6 TO 8

Tart Pastry (
page 213
)

1 tablespoon butter

3 onions, halved and thinly sliced

2 eggs plus

1 egg yolk

1½ cups milk

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 pinches of freshly grated nutmeg

1.
Preheat the oven to 475°F with the rack set in the middle position.

2.
Line a 9½- or 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom with the pastry (see “How to Line a Tart Pan,”
page 65
).

3.
Prick the pastry (see Note,
page 64
) and line the pastry with aluminum foil and weight with 1 pound dried beans, rice, or aluminum pie weights. Bake until the edges of the pastry begin to color, 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, but leave the oven on. Remove the foil and beans from the pan.

4.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Gently steam the onions in their own moisture until soft, uncovering to stir occasionally, about 20 minutes. Lower the heat, if necessary, to keep the onions from browning.

5.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and yolk lightly. Blend in the milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

6.
Spread the cooked onions evenly over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the custard into the pan to within ⅛ inch of the top of the crust. Holding the tart pan by the outer rim (so you do not dislodge the bottom), place the pan on the middle rack of the oven.

7.
Bake until the custard puff s, about 20 minutes.

8.
Unmold as soon as possible (see “Unmolding a Tart or Quiche,”
page 218
). Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving. The tart is delicious served at any temperature. (The onion tart can be made in advance. It will keep well in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.)

CURRIED CRAB QUICHE

[QUICHE AU CRABE À L’ORIENTALE]

While planning a series of classes on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean, I was inspired to take the classic quiche of the island’s motherland and combine it with the wonderful local seafood. Although I originally made this with langouste (rock lobster), which is plentiful in the Caribbean, I ultimately substituted crab, which is far more easily available elsewhere. Shrimp, scallops, lobster, or mussels can also be used with excellent results (see Note).

The custard for the quiche is delicately flavored with curry powder, Cognac, and Madeira and is made with milk instead of cream. The tart shell is made with puff pastry, which bakes quickly and doesn’t need prebaking. Feel free, however, to use
pâte brisée
(Tart Pastry,
page 213
).

SERVES 6 TO 8

½ recipe Rough Puff Pastry (
page 230
), or 1 pound store-bought puff pastry, or Tart Pastry (
page 213
)

2 eggs plus

1 egg yolk

1½ cups milk

2 tablespoons Madeira

2 tablespoons Cognac

½ teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¾ pound crabmeat (pasteurized or canned), picked over to remove any shell or cartilage

1.
Preheat the oven to 475°F with the rack set in the lowest position.

2.
Roll out the pastry: 1 16 inch for the puff pastry and ⅛ inch for the tart pastry. Line a 9½- or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with the pastry (see “How to Line a Tart Pan,”
page 65
) and prick the pastry well all over with the point of a sharp knife. Freeze the lined tart pan until you are ready to bake your quiche. (If you are using tart pastry, prebake the shell as in step 3 of Quiche Lorraine,
page 64
.)

3.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, milk, Madeira, Cognac, curry powder, salt, and pepper and mix well with a whisk without vigorously beating.

4.
Cover the bottom of the tart shell with the crabmeat and fill three-quarters full with the custard mixture.

5.
Holding the tart pan by the outer rim (so as not to dislodge the bottom), place it in the oven. (If using a prebaked tart shell, do not put it in the oven until the temperature is reduced to 425°F.) After 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 425°F and bake until the pastry is golden brown and the custard begins to puff and brown lightly, 25 to 30 minutes more.

6.
Unmold as soon as possible (see “Unmolding a Tart or Quiche,”
page 218
). Allow it to cool for
at least 10 minutes before serving. The quiche is delicious served at any temperature. (The quiche can be made up to a day in advance. It will keep well in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.)

NOTE

If you do substitute another kind of shellfish for the crab, be sure to cook it first. (Crabmeat is already cooked when purchased.) Also, be sure to cut the seafood into bite-size pieces.

SERVING SUGGESTION

If you serve the quiche as a first course, you might follow it with grilled lamb chops and vegetables, or a sautéed chicken or veal dish. Since such a meal starts with pastry, fruit or sorbet makes a good dessert.

M
AKING A
D
ECORATIVE
R
IM

Here’s how to make a decorative rim like those typically found in pastry shops. Follow the instructions in “How to Line a Tart Pan” (
page 65
) through step 7, then proceed with the steps shown below.

1.
Supporting the inner wall of the rim with the forefinger of one hand, use a fork or pastry pinch (a tweezer-like instrument used to give a decorative edge to both tarts and quiches) to decorate the top edge.

2.
Gently run your thumb along the outer top edge of the pan to ensure that the pastry remains on the inside of the pan when baked. This will prevent problems when unmolding.

SAVORY CREAM-PUFF PASTRIES

Most people know
pâte à choux
or cream-puff pastry in its dessert form—such as cream puffs or éclairs—but the dough is also used for savory dishes.

Savory cream-puff pastries can be filled with numerous mixtures. For a hot presentation, the fillings can be similar to those used in the puff -pastry cases (see Puff-Pastry Shells Filled with Seafood in White Wine Sauce,
page 76
). Served cold, the pastry can be filled with shrimp or chicken salad.

The recipes that follow are for two uses of cream-puff pastry that are a little more unusual. For Parisian-Style Gnocchi (
page 70
), small pieces of the pastry are poached like dumplings and served with a sauce. For the Gruyère Pastry Ring Filled with Cheese Soufflé (
page 72
), a cheese-flavored cream-puff pastry is baked in the form of a ring, filled with a cheese soufflé mixture, and baked again.

PARISIAN-STYLE GNOCCHI

[GNOCCHI À LA PARISIENNE]

Gnocchi are Italian dumplings usually made from potatoes. If you’ve ever had them, you probably remembered them long after the meal was over as they often tend to be heavy and, in the hands of an inexperienced cook, leaden.

F
ORMING
P
ARISIAN
G
NOCCHI