Alsatian Beef And Mushroom Tart Recipes

MUSHROOM TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Heat 2 large saute pans over high heat. Working in batches divide the olive oil between the 2 pans. When the oil is hot but not quite smoking, add the mushrooms, season with gray salt and pepper, add the butter to each pan and allow to caramelize. Once mushrooms have cooked down to half their volume, transfer all mushrooms to 1 pan. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until the light brown and fragrant. Add the thyme until it crackles. Add the cream and bring up to a simmer. Reduce the cream by about half and stir in the grated parmesan, and the lemon juice. Shut off the flame and quickly stir in the beaten egg. Remove from the stove and let cool to room temperature. Add parsley and stir.
• While mushroom mixture is cooling, roll out the pastry dough on a floured surface. Roll the dough out so that it will line a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan. Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with the dry beans. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Remove beans and paper.
• Lower oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
• When both the filling and shell have cooled to room temperature fill the shell with the mushroom mixture and top with the crumbled blue cheese. Arrange the tart mold on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before serving. Slice in wedges and serve.

ALSATIAN BEEF AND MUSHROOM TART

Steps:

• Prepare the tart shell and set it aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat two teaspoons of the butter in a skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring, until they are wilted. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up any lumps with the side of a heavy metal spoon. Cook until the meat has lost its raw look. If any fat has accumulated, drain it off in a sieve and discard it.
• Add the remaining butter, the mushrooms, green pepper, celery, marjoram, salt and pepper.
• Combine the whole egg, egg yolk, cream, milk and chives or scallions in a mixing bowl and beat thoroughly. Add the meat mixture and stir to blend.
• Pour the mixture into the tart shell. Place a baking sheet in the oven. Put the filled tart shell on the sheet and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the custard is set.

ALSATIAN PORK AND ZUCCHINI TART

Steps:

• Prepare the tart shell and set it aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Cut the zucchini into one-quarter-inch slices. Stack the slices and cut them into one-quarter-inch strips. Cut the strips into one-quarter-inch cubes. There should be about two cups.
• Heat the butter in a skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring, until they are wilted. Add the pork and cook, stirring and breaking up any lumps with the side of a heavy metal spoon. Sprinkle with the scallions and the zucchini and cook until any liquid has evaporated and the mixture is relatively dry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg and curry powder.
• Combine the whole egg, egg yolk, cream and milk in a mixing bowl and beat thoroughly. Add the meat mixture. Stir to blend.
• Pour the mixture into the tart shell. Place a baking sheet in the oven. Put the filled tart shell on the sheet and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the custard is set.

TARTE FLAMBEE (ALSATIAN BACON & ONION TART)

Steps:

• Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until cooked but not crisp and fat has rendered out, about 8 minutes. Drain in a strainer; reserve the fat.
• Place skillet back over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Cook briefly just until they lose their raw edge and soften up slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a teaspoon or 2 of bacon fat if pan seems too dry. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Mix fromage blanc, creme fraiche, nutmeg, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a mixing bowl.
• Place 1 ball of pizza dough on a well-floured surface. Flatten and roll out to a 10- or 12-inch thin circle. Transfer to a cold cast iron pan. Heat over medium-high heat to pre-cook the bottom of the crust. As dough heats and bubbles appear, deflate them with the tines of a fork so crust ends up thin and crisp (not chewy). When bottom is nicely browned and just about to start getting charred, 5 to 7 minutes, remove from heat. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Spread a generous amount of cheese mixture over the crust. Top evenly with some onions and then the bacon. Broil 5 or 6 minutes until edges are browned and starting to lift. Repeat for remaining tartes.

ALSATIAN TART

Steps:

• Pastry dough can be purchased in either your supermarket in the freezer section, or in a bakery which makes their own.
• Defrost pastry dough; roll out on lightly floured board to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut out 4 circles (using a 7" diameter salad or cake plate as a template).
• Prick dough with fork and refrigerate while preparing the filling.
• Cook bacon; drain and crumble; set aside.
• In one tablespoon of canola oil, saute sliced onion until golden.
• In a mixing bowl, combine cheese, creme fraiche, flour, salt and pepper and mix by hand until combined thoroughly.
• Remove pastry rounds from refrigerator, spread each round with cheese mixture.
• Sprinkle top with sauteed onions and arrange crumbled bacon.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Bake 15 minutes until done.
• Very rich and filling served with a salad and a glass of white wine.

ALSACE ONION TART

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 4 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 equal portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together with pastry scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang over pastry and press against side to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom with a fork and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Line chilled shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and pale golden along rim, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until golden all over, 10 to 15 minutes more. Transfer shell to a rack. (Leave oven on.)
• Prepare filling while shell bakes:
• Cook bacon in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spatula to paper towels to drain and pour off bacon fat. Add butter to skillet and cook onions with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper over moderate heat, stirring, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Cover surface of onions with a round of parchment or wax paper (or cover skillet with a tight-fitting lid) and continue to cook, lifting parchment to stir frequently, until onions are very soft and pale golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in bacon, then remove from heat and cool 10 minutes.
• Whisk together crème fraîche, eggs, nutmeg, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl, then stir in onions.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Pour filling into tart shell, spreading onions evenly, and bake until filling is set and top is golden, 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ALSATIAN APPLE AND CREAM TART

Steps:

• Prick the bottom of the shell and bake it on the lower third of a preheated 375°F oven for 15 minutes, and let it cool in the pan on a rack.
• In a bowl stir together the apples, lemon juice, and 2 table spoons of sugar and toss the mixture until the apples are coated well.
• In a large bowl whisk together the yolks, the cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons of remaining sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla and stir in raisins.
• Arrange the apples decoratively in the shell, pour the cream mixture over them, and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 table spoons of sugar with the cinnamon over it.
• Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 375°F oven for 1 hour, or until the apples are tender when pierced with a cake tester, let it cool in the pan on the rack.
• Serve.

ALSATIAN-STYLE APPLE AND CREAM TART

Steps:

• To make the tart:
• Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Prick the shell with a fork and chill it for at least 30 minutes or, covered, overnight. Line the shell with foil, fill the foil with the rice, and bake the shell in the lower third of a preheated 425°F. oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and the rice carefully, bake the shell 10 minutes more, or until it is pale golden, and let it cool in the pan on a rack.
• In a bowl stir together the apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths, the lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and toss the mixture until the apples are coated well. In a large bowl whisk together the yolks, the cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining sugar, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla and stir in the raisins. Arrange the apples decoratively in the shell, pour the cream mixture over them, and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon over it. Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the apples are tender when pierced with a cake tester, let it cool in the pan on a rack, and remove the rim.
• To make the pâte brisée:
• In a large bowl blend the flour, the butter, the vegetable shortening, and the salt until the mixture resembles meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, adding more ice water if necessary to form a dough, and form the dough into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in wax paper, for 1 hour.

ALSATIAN PORK AND SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Place the bacon in a large, deep pot, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring to turn pieces occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel-lined plate. With a paper towel, wipe the bacon grease out of the pot but keep as much of the brown bits as possible. Stir in the onion, sauerkraut, brown sugar, and chicken broth, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the potatoes and apple slices.
• Place the juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves, parsley, and bay leaf into a small cheesecloth square, and tie the ends together to make a spice bag (or place the spices into a stainless steel tea ball). Place the spice bag into the pot, and add the pork chops and kielbasa sausage pieces. Add more chicken broth, if needed, to just cover the ingredients. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 1 hour.
• To serve, use a slotted spoon to remove the sauerkraut, potatoes, and apple slices to the center of a serving platter. Arrange bacon, pork chops, and kielbasa pieces around the outside of the platter.