Warm Sweet Onion Tart

Recipe: Warm Sweet Onion Tart

Page: 22
Date Cooked: Saturday, August 21, 2010

Jonathan Waxman's "Warm Sweet Onion Tart" is inspired by the tarts he had in Alsace, one of the smallest regions in France. With only seven ingredients, I initially doubted the intricacy in both flavor and depth but was pleasantly surprised.

The 7 ingredients: sweet onions, butter, balsamic vinegar, puff pastry, eggs, heavy cream, and thyme

It is apparent from the beginning that the key to this tart is the onions. They are placed in 4 tablespoons of butter over very low heat to caramelize. The recipe said it would take about 30 minutes, mine took closer to 50 minutes. My guess is Jonathan Waxman's stove top cooking times correlate with gas stoves and I have an electric. So the likelihood is the pan didn't get hot enough but I cooked them till they acquired that deep golden brown. Balsamic vinegar is then added to the onions and cooked until reduced.

Caramelized onion with a balsamic vinegar reduction

The one surprising thing in this recipe is that it doesn't call for you to make your own dough. While this saved me some time, I think by making your own dough this tart would have an extra dimension of flavor that can't be found in store bought puff pastry. Nonetheless, I rolled out the puff pastry and placed it into a springfoam pan (the recipe calls for a tart pan with a removable bottom). 

While the onion mixture cooled and the puff pastry baked, I went on to create the egg mixture. I used fresh thyme leaves and they smelt delicious - I knew at that moment the thyme was going to make a big difference. Then for the final step - placing the onion mixture and egg mixture into the cooked puff pastry shell.

While putting the final three components together I began to somewhat worry. There appeared to be too much onion mixture and I decided to leave out about two spoonfuls of it out. I was also weary of the amount of egg mixture - but put it all in the tart and it came up to the brim of the tart shell. The tart was placed in the oven for 25 minutes, cooled, and then ready for consumption.

Sweet Onion Tart

The tart came out beautifully. And it was all about the onions. If you don't like onions, this is not the tart for you. The time you spend caramelizing the onions and reducing them with balsamic vinegar really comes through (of course the 4 tablespoons of butter probably didn't hurt as well). The tart itself was light and fluffy, just how Jonathan Waxman claims it to be. But like I mentioned earlier, if I was to make this again I would lean towards a homemade crust.

Enjoy!

The Beginning

Jonathan Waxman has been declared the "Obi-Wan" of the cooking world as well as "one of the original practitioners of New American cuisine." Those exact two acknowledgements are the reason why I decided to embark on this journey. Not only did I want to find out what made him so wise with ingredients in the kitchen, but also needed to flex my New American culinary muscles. 


I wouldn't call myself an amateur cook but by no means am I professional. While I am knowledgeable of various cooking techniques, ingredients, and methods, I am sure I will encounter combinations I had never thought of and skills I will have to garner. Moreover, "New American" cuisine isn't exactly what I cook on a regular basis and like I mentioned earlier is a large reason why I chose this cookbook. I grew up in an Indian household but food is something we were encouraged to explore. My parents were always up for trying something different and I think that is a large reason why I am ambitious and fearless when it comes to sampling food. 


The idea is simple. I cook every recipe in Jonathan Waxman's "A Great American Cook." There is no particular time frame to complete this task and I surmise it's really just about the journey. But there are two rules I hope to abide by:

1. Follow the recipes exactly how they are described
2. No ingredient substitutions 

Of course there are caveats to even these two rules, but I'll deal with them as they come up. Most of all I hope you all enjoy following me in this journey.