We’re introducing excerpts from Linda’s (Dorothy’s partner) blog www.girlcook.com

Balthazar’s Amazing Goat Cheese Tart with Carmelized Onions

On a cold night in Manhattan where we celebrated my mother’s 70th birthday, on a slickened cobblestone street, we tucked into Balthazar Restaurant–so cozy, so buzzy, so carefully designed to bring thoughts of a French bistro circa 1920– and sipped Rose Champagne and ate bouillabaisse and THIS Goat Cheese Tart…all creamy and tangy and sweet and buttery all at once. It was amazing.

I bought the Balthazar cookbook as soon as I got home. It has great recipes for bouillabaisse and chocolat pots de creme and many more; and I particularly love the bright red simulated old-school fabric cover.

What is terrific about this recipe is that it is as perfectly done at home as at the restaurant. I made it for my family that Christmas and it has been a staple every since at gatherings and parties. It takes a little time and it is definitely not fat free, but one rich sliver is all you need. It’s now known in my family as “THE” Goat Cheese Tart. Here goes:

For The Crust:
1 3/4 Cup All-purpose Flour
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Stick plus 2 TBS cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
2 extra large egg yolks
3 TBS ice-cold water
10″ Tart Pan with removable bottom

Combine flour, salt, chilled butter in the bowl of food processor fitted with blade. Pulse until mixture looks like coarse corn meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add the 2 egg yolks and ice water through the feed tube.

Continue to process until the dough forms a ball, about 20 seconds. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator.

For The Filling:

1/4 Cup Olive Oil
3 Large Yellow Onions, halved through the stem end and thinly sliced into 1/8″ half-moons.
1 Sprig of thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 Bay leaf
1 tsp. Salt (split into 2 portions 1/2 tsp each)
1 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper (split into 2 portions 1/2 tsp each)
8 Ounces fresh goat cheese at room temperature
8 Ounces cream cheese at room temperature
2 Extra large eggs
1 Large egg yolk, beaten

Over low flame, in large skillet, heat olive oil. Add onions, thyme, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper (reserve balance of salt and pepper for cheese filling). Stir occasionally, cooking onions until soft and golden, reducing by half, this can take up to one hour. They will be carmelized and soft.

Remove from pan with slotted spoon, draining off any excess oil. Discard thyme sprig if used and bay leaf.

Meanwhile, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8″ thickness. Coat the tart pan with nonstick spray. Fit dough snugly in the pan, pressing it firmly into the bottom edge and fluted sides. Trim excess with a sharp knife and prick the dough several times with the tines of a fork. Place tart pan on a sheet tray for easy handling. Line the dough with aluminum foil and weigh down with raw beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and weights or beans and continue to bake for a few minutes more, until the crust takes on a light brown color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while the filling is completed.

In a food processor or in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the goat cheese, cream cheese, 2 eggs, and the remaining 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper. Process until smooth.

Spread carmelized onions evenly over the bottom of the prebaked tart shell and pour the cheese mixture over the onions, filling to just below the rim.

Using a wide pastry brush, gently brush the beaten egg yolk over the top of the tart, aim for complete coverage. With carefully application, this will cover the top of the tart with a beautiful yellow glaze. Bake for 12 minutes until set (you will see cracks in the top). Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm.

“I’m going to cook for you,” my younger sister Susan said. “You’ve cooked so many meals for me and I want to cook for you.”

This didn’t seem right to me…I don’t want you to fuss, I said. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be, you see. Cooking. I’m supposed to do this for others, right? My house has always been THE house, you know, the gathering place where food is at the ready, the couch available and an extra bedroom always made up. I’ve walked with Susan through many seasons of her life…from the young, eager, optimistic girl I drove to the recruiting station to the girl I carried out of Walter Reed Hospital many years later, emaciated with an invader in her body racking it with the illnesses that would last decades, a cruel reminder of the outcome of war.

And cooking always seemed to be a part of these times. Her young days were days of testing my experimentations with Tortellini Alfredo, Bananas Foster and every kind of pastry imaginable. Later, she lived with me after Desert Storm when her days of healing were filled with my soups and brews to bring her back to health and survival. We feasted through life’s many courses over many years and now, here we were, grown women sitting at Susan’s table for dinner. Susan cooking or me. It had all come full circle.

Her tiny hands moved nervously about the kitchen, apologies sprinkled here and there about her worries that I wouldn’t like the artichoke sauce on the pasta or that I might not like cod, so she also got trout, and in case I didn’t like that, she also got flounder and my favorite salad fixings and, for dessert, fruit since she knows how much I love fruit.

The table was meticulously set, napkins left, check, silverware for every course, check, candles, check, salads all pre-made, check, lighting perfect, check.

She knows how much I love cooking together in the kitchen so she saved the sauce for the trout for me to make with her, offering me knives, cutting boards and pulling ingredients out eagerly awaiting my nod.

While I engaged in our kitchen dance together, my mind was partly transfixed as if hovering above the scene,floating. Her care. Her attention to every detail. Her story about the sauce and the stranger at the grocery store who shared her recipe. Her finding only the freshest fish that day. And only the fruits I loved. And the salad dressings on the side so I would have a choice. Of all the ways she has enriched my life, of all the ways she has helped me, broadened my horizons, even saved my only child, this was, for her, for us, somehow most special.

Had I ever put so much thought into a meal? Had I ever spent so much time preparing and planning with sweaty palms? Had I ever set the table just so? Was I on cooking autopilot too many times?

Not tonight. Tonight, I savored. Every detail, every nervous glance at me as I tasted each forkful. Tonight I reflected on how it feels to be cooked for with great love. Because tonight, my little sister cooked for me.

A REMINDER OF WHY WE COOK

I’d like to say it was the juicy blueberries, crunchy walnuts and oh, so light crepe-like pancakes, but that wasn’t what made these pancakes special. On a cold winter’s day in my warm kitchen sat a big bouquet of impossibly spring-like Valentine’s Day flowers in a red glass vase, boxes of chocolates and two of my favorite men in the world…my husband and my Dad. They waited for my arrival in the kitchen, gently padding around, getting a cup of coffee, a glass of water…waiting to see what GirlCook had in store.

I realize that this is what a family does when a cook lives in the house…it’s so subtle, but it’s almost as if they know that the creativity is building, that the inspiration will come.. They know that suddenly the cupboard doors will open, the fridge will swing wide, the ‘honey do we really NEED all these bowls’ will begin clanging, the utensils will click away and the dance will begin.

I will wash, shred, whip, chop, slice, fold, pour, measure, sift, level, saute, grill and taste my heart out, smiling, laughing in a dance that ends not with a bow and applause but with a folded apron, a click of the stove knob and a glance at the faces of my loved ones, all eager anticipation.

We will sit together, they will look all of the food over; shitake eggs, hash browns, these pancakes, oatmeal parfaits, fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade rye toast; planning their strategy, a little this, a little more of that–but I won’t be looking at the food. I will be looking at their faces. My Dad will suddenly become the sensitive, earnest, helpful, non-complaining boy who lived on cracker soup during trying times–suddenly served a feast. And my husband will become the sweet, eager, mischievous, smiling boy at a table of 12 kids–suddenly served a platter just for him.

I take a moment to take it in, I see their faces and I want to weep for the boys they were, for the men they are and for the moments I get to contribute to as their GirlCook,

Blissful Blueberry Walnut PancakesWith Warm Maple Syrup (Love is a batch of made-from-scratch pancakes. No mix here, these are the easiest, fastest, lightest, most delicious scratch pannies ever, adapted from Eric Ripert’s recipe in his “A Return to Home Cooking” book).

2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. coarse salt
2 Cups milk (I use 2 per cent)
1/4 Cup canola oil
3 Large eggs
2 TBS white vinegar
1/2 Cup blueberries (preferably frozen: which is what you ought to be doing in summer, get out there and pick yourself some blueberries or buy them at the farmer’s market and freeze them in bags to use all winter, I use frozen in most baked goods)
1/2 Cup walnut pieces
Canola Oil for griddle

Mix together flour, baking power, soda and salt

In a separate bowl, combine milk, canola and eggs. Add 2 TBS vinegar and whip.

Add this to the dry ingredients whipping only until combined and still lumpy.

Heat up your griddle or fry pan, coat with canola oil and get ready to make the pancakes.

Pour ladles of pancake mixture onto the griddle.

Put blueberries and walnuts on top of each pancake while batter is still very raw.

Cook on one side, flip when bubble form and they are golden, flip to other side cooking until golden. Serve with pure Maple Syrup warmed in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

TALL, DARK & HANDSOME PIE

Just what we girls like to do, sit down together and eat some Tall, Dark & Handsome Pie…. I’m blushing. So Lizzie, Mary and I were sitting around the table today eating THIS pie that I made last night…this smooth, sophisticated version of the chocolate cream pie, well, I called it a big gooey pie and Lizzie added the sophisticated which I now embrace and use whenever I describe it because it sounds so much more important, when Lizzie came up with the perfect name!!!! Tall, Dark and Handsome, “a perfect substitute” as Mary put it!!

I’ve always loved chocolate cream pie. I’ve made many but this one is UNBELIEVABLE in a “look how big and beautiful it is” and “it weighs about 5 pounds” and “whoa, is this chocolately” kind of way. I brought it to work, Lizzie took one look and said, Oh, Yeah, we’re eating this right now…like at 10 AM which Lizzie can do and I can NOT because it would make me totally crazy and I’d for sure need a nap or to be leashed and run around the building a few times. It’s that kind of pie, looks so good, you need it NOW. Kinda like the way you feel about many things Tall, Dark & Handsome.

While many chocolate cream pies are a little too old-school, common crust, lifeless pudding that tastes out-of-the-box, this is different, maybe it’s the crust with brown sugar and chocolate wafers or maybe the whack of espresso that I added, or maybe it’s just that anything made with this many egg YOLKS, this much cream and butter can’t miss. Don’t let is scare you gals and guys, I believe in the adage that the best and only kinds of desserts you should eat are the ones that are labored over with natural ingredients, and the more labor the better. The great thing about this pie is that you really only need a sliver although just try to get just a little of something this Tall, Dark & Handsome!

(This recipe was adapted from one in Saveur magazine with a few extra touches like a little espresso added to the chocolate custard. I have a funny feeling that this will be one of those recipes that goes into the “vault”—those awesome crowd pleasers that become a part of a cook’s signature…you know, “Nana’s fig cookies” or “Mom’s Meatballs” or “Mary’s Banana Nut Bread,” …..”Linnie’s Tall, Dark & Handsome Pie,” I like that, some might even think I’m talking about my Buffalo boy!

Tall, Dark & Handsome Pie
I made this in the morning and served it that night, it was BETTER the next day!

16 TBS. unsalted butter but into 1/2″ cubes and chilled, plus a little more for the pie plate (1/2 used for crust/1/2 used for filling)
1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 9-oz. package chocolate wafers, such as Nabisco, finely ground (about 2 1/4 cups) ** (see note below)
3 1/2 Cups half-and-half
2/3 Cups plus 2 tbs. sugar
1/4 Cups cornstarch
9 Egg yolks
9 oz. Semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz. Unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp powdered instant espresso (optional)
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (1 1/2 used for filling/1 tsp. used for whipped cream)
2 Cups heavy cream
Dark chocolate for garnish

The Filling:

OK, take a deep breath, I took a photo of these ingredients just so you can have your “this is just crazy” moment and then carry on.

Heat half-and-half in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat until it just begins to simmer; remove pan from heat. In a large bowl, whisk together 2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch; add egg yolks and whisk until smooth, (this will take several minutes of continuous whipping with a your whisk).

Drizzle half-and-half into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. It will get very frothy kids, don’t worrry.
Return mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbles rise to the surface and mixture is very thick, 3-4 minutes. (Watch this very carefully and whisk constantly.) Now trust me, you let this out of your sight for a minute and it will coagulate so stir it up and keep it up until it’s nice and thick!

Remove pan from heat and add remaining 8 TBS. of butter and both semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in small batches, whisking until smooth; stir in 1 1/2 ts. vanilla. Add the espresso at this time if using. (Note: do this all swiftly and whisk it continously to keep it smooth). You will feel like you’re whisking forever, keep it up, it’s good toning for your arms anyway.

Set a sieve over a medium bowl and strain chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic onto surface; refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

The Crust

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease bottom and sides of 9″ glass pie plate with butter; set aside. Heat 8 TBS butter and brown sugar in a 1-qt. saucepan until sugar dissolves. Now trust me, it will look weird and the butter and sugar may look separated but don’t worry.

Transfer butter mixture to a medium bowl; stir in ground wafers. Transfer mixture to pie plate, press into bottom and sides using the bottom of a measuring cup to compress crust. This is a lot of crust and will be very thick if you don’t spread it around.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake until set, about 15 minutes; let cool. (Check after 10 minutes into cooking to ensure cookies to not blacken/if it’s overcooked, it gets very hard).

Final Step: Putting it all together

Remove plastic wrap from chocolate filling and, using a rubber spatula, stir mixture until smooth. Perfect time to have your sweetie there to help you lick the spatula which I did with my sweetie, Buffalo boy, except that after his first lick, I plunged the spatula into the sink at which point he said, “HEY, there was more left on that!” But I digress:

Spoon mixture into reserved crust, forming a dome, and smooth surface with the spatula. (if you’re into that level of detail which I am not so I didn’t smooth it and it made the cut pie a little more interesting).

In a large bowl, whisk remaining sugar, remaining vanilla, and heavy cream until stiff peaks form (or use your stand mixer with whip attachment which, of course, you should do because hand whipping is a pain although also fun in that old-school kinda way and we are toning arms right?); spread on top of filling, forming a dome.

Using a peeler, shave some of the dark chocolate onto top of pie.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

TA DA, This pie looks AMAZING…a mile high! It looks even better when it is cut…fridge overnight is really the answer to make it especially picturesque!

**A word on those chocolate wafers. First of all, they’re hard to find and when you do, they are more than $4 for a small box of them, ridiculous. Sure, you could use oreo crumbs, but this would move the pie from the sophisticated cocoa dream to a more traditional sweet pudding pie. So the wafers are worth looking for and worth the price…although I am going to research a recipe for homemade chocolate wafers and definitely try it once with oreos!

Remember, make it with love….what you feel is what you cook!

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