Lockdown diaries, day thirty-one, a tricky tart

At church on the first Sunday in Advent

Day thirty-one, Sunday 29^th November 2020

 

November is drawing to a close and today is the first Sunday of advent, although we are not peeking into our advent calendars just yet. Our thirty-two-kilometre bike ride today took us to a sweet little church in the Charente, where we stopped for our cake, perched in the sunshine on an ancient, lichen covered tomb stone. It was an invigorating ride as although the sun was out, there was a cold wind from the north, but I have now cycled over four thousand, eight hundred kilometres this year, so fingers crossed I’ll hit the five thousand.

 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's French Onion Tart

A tricky tart

I mentioned a few days ago that I’d set myself a December challenge; to follow a recipe from one of my many cookbooks at least once a week. Well, I have a cooking confession to make.

 

I was so excited at trying something new that even though it was still November, I found myself flicking through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Year, which is cleverly set out in months to help with ideas on seasonal produce. Tucked into the November section was a French onion tart, that looked just perfect. I may have cobbled together an onion tart of sorts before, but not following this (or any other) recipe, I love any dish with onions, and having made Adrian cycle home with a five-kilo bag recently, knew I had the ingredients to hand. I was also confident it was a recipe I could cope with. How difficult can an onion tart be?

 

Well, trickier than I thought. I was very good and followed the recipe to the letter and as Hugh has never let me down before, I even dropped my own pastry recipe for his, including the bit where you don't chill it or roll it, just finger-press it into the dish and blind bake. The kilo of onions that had to be peeled, sliced and gently softened took me way longer than he said, but I can forgive him that, it was a delicious mix. My usual standard quiche recipe turns out successful quiches with a variety of fillings, time and again, made in a rectangle tray bake tin, which I find easier to portion than a round one. As directed by Hugh, this time I used a 23cm round dish and carefully cooked it for his 'around 30mins', whereas I'd normally ignore the clock completely and do it by eye. I was a little concerned about it getting too brown on top, so whipped it out to serve, hot from the oven, as per the book.

 

My first attempt at French onion tart

I will admit that the flavour was good, and everyone ate it (although there were no alternatives offered), but I have to say it's my first experience of soggy bottoms and undercooked pastry. When Ed enquired as to what it was he could taste in the tart, I at first thought it was the nutmeg he was referring to, but when he clarified it as a funny texture he couldn’t identify, I realised he meant uncooked pastry. Adrian is not a fussy eater, in fact he’d eat anything I put in front of him, but when it comes to cooking, his idea of giving me a night off is when he’s in charge of the lasagne, and by that I mean warming up the one I’ve made earlier in the day. When even he suggested it might need a bit longer in the oven, maybe I should have listened. It definitely could have done with more cooking, as even the filling did its best to escape from its own pastry and flow over the plate.

 

I will not be defeated, however, but next time it will be Hugh’s filling and I’m going back to my pastry and my rectangle tin. Adrian says it just goes to show I don't actually need to follow a recipe to produce a tasty meal, bless him. 

 

With December only days away, my challenge may be more of a challenge than I at first thought and although in some ways this has spurred me on to do better next time, it has also given me a sinking feeling whenever I pick up a cookbook. Tonight it’s a family favourite, risotto, and no recipe required. 

O is for Onions and Olives

French food alphabet advent calendar

Welcome to today’s post in my French Food Alphabet Advent Calendar series - a foodie’s countdown to Christmas Day, sharing posts including French regional specialities, my personal favourite foods, and some new recipes. I hope you are enjoying your virtual tastings.

It’s the 15^th December and O is for Onions and Olives.

There is nothing quite like the flavour of onions gently softened in butter and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I rarely cook a main meal that doesn’t contain onions and as much as I love my daily coffee and dark chocolate, I think if I had to choose between onions and chocolate, I would pick onions.

I have previously written about the pink onions from Roscoff and shared a French onion soup recipe here. So today I’m combining onions with olives in a delicious tart called a Pissaladière, one of my favourite recipes from Rick Stein's French Odyssey.

Ingredients

Pissaladière

Pizza base (see here for my recipe)

50ml olive oil

A knob of butter

1.5kg of onions, thinly sliced

A bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaves and rosemary)

Anchovy paste

6 to 8 anchovy fillets, halved

Black olives, enough to decorate

Salt and pepper

Using a frying pan with a lid, cook the onions (seasoned with the bouquet garni, salt and pepper) in the oil and butter for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue cooking until all the moisture has evaporated, then discard the bouquet garni.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle and place it on an oiled baking tray 30 x 37.5cm. Spread with a thin layer of anchovy paste and then spread the onions evenly over the top leaving a small border around the edges. Criss-cross the top with the anchovy fillets and dot with the black olives. Leave to rise slightly for 15 mins and then bake in a pre-heated very hot oven for 15 to 20 mins. The crust will have browned and the onions will have caramelized to perfection. Serve warm and enjoy the heavenly combination of freshly baked bread and soft, sweet onions.

For more information on olive production in France see my review of An Olive Oil Tour of France by Alice Alech.

Don’t forget to pop back tomorrow for the letter P, our locally produced aperitif. If you have missed my previous advent posts you can catch up by clicking on the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N. 

French Onion Soup

What do wine and onions have in common?

Quite a bit actually - they are both produced in France, they both come in red, white and rosé varieties and they both have an Appellation d'Origine Controlée AOC (the certification to ensure a product comes from a specific region). Yes, you can buy a pink onion, the Onion de Roscoff and I am a little bit in love with it as it is a good size, has a lovely pink tinge and tastes fantastic.

The Pink Onion de Roscoff

Here is a little bit of history. Onions have been grown in the north of France in Finistère for over three hundred years it was this onion growing region that gave us the now iconic image of the Frenchman; on his bicycle, wearing a blue stripy top and with his strings of onions. In 1828 a young onion grower from Roscoff decided to travel to Great Britain to sell his onions and each year more and more producers followed him. Some on foot, some on bicycles, all with their plaited onion strings as this made them easier to store and to transport. These sellers became known by the British housewives as Johnny Onions. I found it quite amazing that local people in our area of western France were unaware of this tradition and couldn't understand why we thought of onions and bicycles as being typically French. It was another expat, who grew up in Wales and remembers the onion sellers knocking on the door, who explained it to our French friends. I must point out that she was not growing up in Wales in 1828 as this trade route continued for well over a hundred a years! 

A perfect hint of pink

Here is a traditional recipe for French Onion Soup.

500g onions, finely sliced

1 litre of (chicken) stock

1 tbsp of flour

50g butter or goose fat

Salt, Pepper and Garlic

100g grated cheese gruyère if possible

Slices of baguette

Cook the onions in the fat until lightly coloured. Add the flour, salt and pepper and stir over a low heat for two to three minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil and then keep at simmering point for about thirty minutes. While this is cooking make the croutons. Grill a slice of baguette per person, rub with the garlic clove and place in the soup bowls. When the soup is ready, pour over the croutons, top with cheese and grill for a few minutes. A delicious and comforting lunch or light supper on a cold and damp day.