Pissaladière

A Pissaladière is a kind of French-style pizza that makes a great hors d'oeuvre. No cheese or tomatoes are used. The recipe I tried asks for bread dough bought from a baker ( as is commonplace in Europe. Not finding that you can either use bought pizza dough or make your own)

Ingredients

14oz bread or pizza dough

2lbs onions

1 1/2 cups or 10 oz anchovies

15 black olives

2 tbs powdered sugar

herbes de provence

pepper

olive oil

Method

In a large pan, heat up 5 tbs of olive oil.

Slice the onions

When the oil is warm, put the onions in the pan, add the pepper and herbs and the powdered sugar.

DO NOT put in any salt.

The sugar is necessary to balance out the acidity of the onions.

Gently cook the onions and be very careful that they don't burn or the whole thing could be ruined. They just have to turn golden

The secret of the Pissaladière is here: Put in some of the anchovies with the onions. The heat will almost melt them and they will get combined with the onions. If necessary, add a tbs of the anchovy oil to the mixture.

Roll out the dough and press it into a pan (pre-sprayed with non stick or olive oil), pushing up the sides.

Spoon the onion mixture over.

Decorate with the anchovy fillets and the olives.

Cook at about 420F/220C until done.

The Pissaladière is also great cold.

Serve with a green salad.

Quiche Lorraine

With its few, simple ingredients and easy-as-pie preparation, quiche Lorraine livens up any meal, giving it a French twist without all the culinary expertise normally associated with la cuisine française.

I have come across several recipes that substitute some of the cream with milk...and tasted some of these results...yukkkkk.....tasted of scrambled eggs! A real quiche uses cream - or even better crème fraîche.

Never use a pre made crust - always make your own.

Also, (and I did not know this) shredded cheese is an absolute no no in the authentic Quiche Lorraine.

Oops, i always used cheese...so today I will be trying out an authentic recipe from Amelie.

Vive la France!!!

Shortcrust pastry:

To make the pastry:

Rub 1 1/2 cups of plain flour,

a pinch of salt and

31/2 oz of butter into 'breadcrumb' type consistency. (you can also use half vegetable shortening for a light pastry)

Add a very small amount of milk, and knead that in (The milk can be replaced by a beaten egg if preferred).

Add a tiny bit more milk if necessary but always a very small amount at a time. If you add too much it will suddenly go sticky and unworkable (if this happens add a little more flour).
Method
Leave the ball of pastry in the fridge for an hour, then get it out and leave it another half an hour to reach room temperature.
You can now roll out the pastry and put in your flan tin. Prick the base of the pastry all over.

easy no???!!!

Now for the filling:

Lardons are traditionally used but you can use cubed bacon, grilled and drained instead

Ingredients:

7 oz thick smoked bacon cut into cubes

4 eggs (separated)

10 oz cream, whipped

salt and pepper.

Method:

Beat the egg yolks and the cream.

Add the bacon cubes

season to taste

Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour the filling into the pasty. I prefer to blind bake the pastry for about 15 mins, to be sure it will be nice and crisp.

Bake at 430F for 20-30 mins until done.

You can always make your own variation, using cheese, scallions, herbs, onions etc. etc. I was actually amazed at how light and tasty the original was!

Vichyssoise

This cold soup has so few ingredients that you should only use the best. Try and use homemade broth and not a bouillon cube. With their mild, sweet, onion flavor, leeks make a wonderful addition to this cold soup. Because they're grown in sandy soil, leeks tend to trap grit between their multi layered leaves and must be washed thoroughly before cooking. Yukon Gold potatoes are the best here.

Ingredients

4 leeks

1 medium onion

2 tbs butter

2 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cups chicken broth(home made if possible)

2 cups cream

4 tbs chives

Method

Gently sweat the chopped leeks and the chopped onion in the butter until soft, about 8 minutes. Do NOT let them brown.

Add potatoes and stock to the saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes or until done, adding more broth if necessary.

Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth.

Cool.

Gently stir in the cream before serving and top with the chopped chives.

Onion Tart

What is better than a tart (or tarte) made with sweet French onions (well Maui anions will do too!)
Thanks to Charlotte for this great recipe that i have made over and over again as it is just as good cold!


Ingredients
To make the filling:
2 1/2 lbs of sweet onions (peeled and sliced),
six large cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced),
1 tbs of olive oil, salt, some sugar.

To make the pastry:
1 cup of plain flour,
a level teaspoonful of salt,
1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (cut in small pieces)
eight teaspoonfuls of water.

Method
Preheat your oven to 375F
Heat the olive oil on a pan, add the onions, garlic, water and a teaspoonful each of salt and sugar into a shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid.
Put the lid on and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes. Make sure the onions don't burn but that they gently caramelize.The texture should be soft and creamy.
Take off the lid, turn up the heat and stir the onions frequently for 15 minutes or so, until they are a dark caramel colour and the liquid has all but gone.

To make the pastry:
Place the sieved flour and salt into a bowl , add the butter and shortening. ( i use a food processor here)
Beat the mixture at a slow speed to mix all the ingredients, then increase the speed and continue to beat until the mixture has the texture of breadcrumbs.
Stop beating at that point, drizzle the water over the mixture and beat again on a low speed until the pastry forms a ball
Put the pastry in a ziplock bag and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Make the Tart
Roll out the pastry to fit a greased 10/11" pan, bringing the edges up the sides.
Prick the bottom then spread the onion mixture evenly over it.
Bake the tart for around 30 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and the onions are a dark golden colour.