Saturday, October 23, 2010

Gerard's Mustard Tart...French Fridays with Dorie...a little late


I guess blogging without obligation should become my middle name. I have all the best intentions but life just gets in the way. I feel guilty when I have pictures waiting to be uploaded and blog posts to write...but that is the way it is. No excuses. I have been trying to get here and comment on as many of my friends blog posts as I can, but that is about all the time I have had. It is ok...my kids have been busy...my husband is back home from Belgium...real life has been full and I am just fine with that.

 I joined French Fridays with Dorie with all of the best intentions to get going from the start...but well...so it goes. No matter, I will try my best to catch up. We had a very Dorie week this week...we had this gorgeous, delicious, Mustard Tart and a salad for dinner one night and I will post the rest of the meals we had when I can. I am delighted so far with this new book...."Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan. Everything I have tried has been wonderful. One of the rules of "French Fridays with Dorie" is not to post the actual recipes...that should encourage all of you to buy this book and try the recipes. I highly recommend it. It is a gorgeous book. A labor of love that is for sure...I am enjoying reading through it and I have made four dinners from it this week alone...which for me is pretty amazing!
We loved the bold flavors in this unusual tart. I also loved Dories wonderful recipe for the tart dough itself. It came together in an instant and rolled out like a dream. It was very easy to handle and tasted delicious.
I made the dough the day before I needed it and parked it in the fridge. It differs from my usual Pate Brisee as it has an egg in it. This may just become my new favorite! After being rolled out and placed in the tart pan it gets stashed in the freezer for a while and since it was frozen it was very easy to blind bake. I just used a sheet of non stick foil to line the dough in the pan...no pie weights, rice, or beans were needed.
We really enjoyed this. My 17 year old not as much, he is not a huge mustard fan and carrots are not his favorite veggie, I would not gauge the success of this recipe by him. He was eyeing it suspiciously as soon as he saw those carrots and the two jars of mustard on the counter. Ahhh.....his loss...more for us!
I had gorgeous thin organic carrots with tops, the leeks were fresh from the Farmer's market and also tender and lovely. When baked into the tart, the veggies were meltingly soft and tender, very easy to eat in this tart. Some folks reported that they had problems with the texture of the veggies being too hard. I did not find that at all. I loved the flavor of the Creme Fraiche in this.We had the tart with a lightly dressed green salad. I made the recipe exactly as written and I know I will make it again and again. I can not wait to make the tomato version.My husband enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. A winner! Thank you Dorie!
Please go out and buy this book...you will be so happy that you did. There is a link to French Fridays with Dorie on my sidebar...take a look and see what wonderful things all of the members there are cooking up!
You can download the recipes for this month only right here....


17 comments:

  1. You know the photos you have posted particularly the first makes me NEED this book..w/ the new Ina one..

    I am just wondering are the carrots blanched first? Could they be..?
    In the past I loved my veggies w/ a crunch and a half..Right now they need to be so soft..could it be adapted? Beautiful.. Dear Linda.

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  2. Thank you sweet Monique(((((HUGS)))))
    ....the veggies are steamed first( there is a picture of them in the steamer) and I cut mine thin enough so that they were very soft in the tart. They were really a Julienne...in fact they were quite soft even before the time for steaming in the recipe was over. But I let them go all the way. No crunch at all here.

    This book is really lovely...I got three new cookbooks this week. Two baking books and this one...I have been going crazy with post it notes marking recipes. I am having fun! I did not order Ina yet...but I know I will end up getting it!
    (eyes rolling here...I can not resist!)

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  3. Linda, kids are crazy not to love this tart... mustard is one of my favorite things (just had a mustard, raclette and cornichon sandwich for lunch!). I am making this for my brunch next week... the book looks like a keeper!

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  4. Once again, I'll call you a temptress, (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) sweet friend! :D

    Just yesterday I was perusing French Friday's with Dorie, the website, and became transfixed on this Mustard Tart, and everyone's photos--and now yours! Yum. Very nice, and thanks for the positive review.

    I think this will be the first thing I make from the book. (It should be here today or tomorrow.)
    Can't wait. xo~m.

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  5. Just beautiful Linda.........on my list of one of her recipes to try soon. All of us are big mustard fans. Tomorrow I think I'm starting with the Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Soup. Your photos are always so lovely and the tune is great too!

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  6. What a beautiful tart! The colors of this dish are amazing and your photos are just wonderful!

    I'm on a self-imposed cookbook moratorium right now - we'll see how long that lasts! :D


    Lori
    xoxo

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  7. Thank you my friends...I appreciate your kind words!
    Lori... the good news is you can download this recipe on the FFwithDorie site...

    Thanks again!

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  8. Thats a beautiful tart Linda! The carrots make sucha pretty pattern. The book sounds wonderful. tis a lovely meme that you joined. :)

    btw the photos are wonderful !

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  9. I like how you arranged the strips of carrots on the tart, makes it looks so beautiful!

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  10. I recently discovered quiche again and your recipe is like another inspiration for a tarte as main dish. it looks really scrumptious.

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  11. Linda, your version of the tart looks wonderful! This one is still on my list to make. Hopefully this week.

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  12. So pretty!
    I love Dorie's Desserts cookbook, so I'm going to buy this one to keep it company! It sounds like a winner.

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  13. Thank so much everyone, I appreciate you all stopping by!...I am sure you will like this very much if you try it.

    I am swimming in new cookbooks...but this book has thus far been a delight! I can not wait to make some more things from it.:)

    Anja...I have been thinking of you in Canada...hugs!

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  14. Thanks to cookbookshelf's blog roll, I found you. This is a delightful blog and I can't wait to discover more deliciousness. The mustard tart...oh my....looks heavenly. I have a heirloom tomato tart that uses mustard as base as well and YUM. Would love for you to stop by my blog as well. :)

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  15. this is gorgeous... i have the book on order from the library to try it out first~

    get a dog, just not 3 at the same time like us!

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  16. Jain...you will love the book...
    I have made several things already and all are keepers...
    Hope you are feeling better!
    xoxoxoxo

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