Springtime in Chicago
It’s finally springtime in Chicago, or at least it feels that way. The days are warmer, the snow has melted, and the people have stopped acting so gruff. Actually, I think the past few days of 60-degree weather have left Chicagoans feeling a little giddy.
Erin and I were discussing last weekend how during the winter, the streets belong to us – well, while we’re taking ridiculously long morning walks anyway. We could cover miles without seeing anyone except the tamale/empanada vendors. But now? We have to hustle our way past crowds of people out to take in the sunshine. I know I’ll get used to it again, but all I could say last Sunday was “Jeez, where did these people come from?”
Well, to celebrate the end of hibernation, I thought I would make something that captured the fresh, newly washed and scrubbed attitude that had taken hold of the city. I wanted to make something I had never tried before, so I chose a rustic tomato-onion tart.
I know tomatoes aren’t in season, and neither is the basil I added, but I was enthusiastic about making pate brisee – pastry dough. I’ve always had some reason or other for not making pastry, like the lack of a tart pan with a removable bottom, or even a rolling pin.
This year, Jereme gave me a great rolling pin for Christmas (yes, that’s really what I wanted), so that obstacle was removed. It all came together when I recently read about the galette. A galette is a tart that can be either savory or sweet, and is informal in shape. This means that I don’t need a tart pan to make one. Instead, I can fold the dough around the ingredients I choose and bake it on a regular sheet pan. Hey, it’s rustic, and that suits me fine.
So armed with my rolling pin and a recipe, I set to work. Though the directions are simple, success depends on using cold butter and carefully adding just the right amount of ice water to the dough. I was sure that I had added a little too much water while I was mixing, but the results were fine.
It really was a snap to make, taking a lot less time and effort than I supposed it would. I was definitely pleased with the tender and flaky pastry that emerged from my oven. I folded the tart around a base of carmelized onions and roma tomatoes, with a sprinkling of fresh basil and cracked black pepper.
A real treat was the Bucheron de chevre tucked inside and peeking out from the crust. Bucheron is a tangy, smooth goat’s cheese that has a dry and crumbly paste.
With a glass of white wine and the windows open to let the warm breeze in, this tart was a casual and delicious way to welcome back the sunny days of spring.
Tomato-Onion Galette
Serves 4
Adapted from www.joyofbaking.com and The Big Book of Vegetarian
by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley
For the pate brisee, I used a recipe from joyofbaking.com, a site that I find to be informative whenever I’m curious about something I haven’t made before. The only change I made was to reduce the amount of sugar to 1 teaspoon. I don’t know if the whole tablespoon would have made much of a difference, but I wanted to see if I could get away with using less. Apparently, 1 teaspoon works just fine. I took inspiration for the contents of the galette from Kathy Farrell-Kingsley’s book, with just a few minor tweaks. Now that I’ve created my first successful pastry, I can imagine all the possibilities for next time around.
Pate Brisee
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp sugar
2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 – 1/2 cup ice water
1. Put the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse just to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and process a few seconds until the mix looks like coarse crumbs. Now comes the tricky part: adding the water. I added a whole 1/4 cup at once while processing, and splashed a little more in. The dough came together really fast, too fast for me to judge whether I had added too much water. I would recommend adding the water in small splashes, and then pulsing to combine. Continue doing this until the dough just holds together. A few crumbs in the bottom of the bowl are fine. You can incorporate them when you form the dough into discs. Of course, dough that’s overprocessed isn’t the end of the world – you’ll still end up with good pastry. It just might not be as flaky and tender as it could be.
2. Bring the dough to a work surface. Divide it into two equal pieces and flatten into discs. Wrap securely in plastic wrap and refridgerate for at least one hour.
Galette
1 Tbs olive oil
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large handful of fresh basil, rinsed and torn
1 bucheron de chevre, sliced into nickel sized pieces (the bucheron will vary in size according to what you find at the store, probably a half pound or less)
Salt and cracked black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat olive oil on medium – low in a large sauté pan. Add the onions when it’s hot. Cook the onions until they carmelize, about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir frequently and add a pinch of salt at the end. Set aside.
3. Line a sturdy work surface with wax paper. Sprinkle the paper with flour. Place one disc of pate brisee on the paper and sprinkle it lightly with flour.
4. Roll out the dough, starting from the middle and working your way out. Rotate the dough and continue rolling in this manner until you have a circle that’s 1/4 inch thick.
5. Invert the dough onto a baking sheet and peel off the wax paper. Spread on half of the onion mixture, leaving a one inch border all the way around. Place a tomato slice level with the top of the onion mix, leaving the border still free. Place more slices so that they overlap and complete a circle around the edge of the tart. Sprinkle with half of the basil and a little cracked black pepper to taste. Dot the Bucheron over the rest of the ingredients.
6. Now comes the fun part. Fold one side of the dough over the ingredients. Continue folding up the sides until you have an irregular bowl shape. It’s okay to have part of the filling uncovered.
7. Repeat steps 1 – 7 with the second disc of dough.
8. Bake for 20 –25 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Cool slightly and cut into wedges. Serve warm.
