Long-suffering students who surivive my Ph.D.
course are invited to
a traditional end-of-semester party. Here are the recipes for a
few of the favorite dishes I have prepared in recent years. Enjoy!
RECIPES
Carmelized Onion Tart
If you have a low discount rate, this is an easy dish to prepare.
Hereis what you need:
- 4 lbs. of yellow onions
- Kleenex (for wipring the tears from your eyes after cutting the
onions)
- 1/4 lb. of bacon (Nueskes bacon preferred)
- One package of puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm is a brand easy to
find in the frozne food case)
- Salt & white pepper
Cut the bacon up into tiny strips and saute slowly in a large saute pan
over medium heat. You want to extract fat without making the
bacon crispy. Thinly slice the onions into rings (the thinner the
better--it helps if you have a mandolin slicer). Add the onions
to the pan with the bacon. After the onions have softened, add
salt (maybe 2 teaspoons). Also add copius quantititues of ground
white pepper at this stage. Cook the onions over medium heat for
a long time. The idea is not to slowly cook the onions until they
finally turn bronw, carmelize and become sweet. You will have to
stir them frequently and it will probably take an hour or so to get
carmelize them. Be patient--it will happen. If the onions
are sticking too much to the pany, you can add a few tablespoons of
butter. Near the end of the process, take out a sheet
of puff pastry. Roll out with a rolling pin so that it is the
correct size for a 14 inch (+/-) shallow pie or tart pan (tart pans
have removable bottoms and are best at serving time. Add more
salt or white pepper if desired to onion mixture and then fill the tart
shell with the onion mixture. Bake the tart in a 325-degree onion
until the crust is cooked and browned (15-20 minutes). Serve and
enjoy!
You can make this without the bacon, replacing it with a quarter pound
of butter. Olive oil mixed with at least a bit of butter will
also work.
