Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin

Savory, sweet, late summer delicious. I have yet to find a Melissa Clark recipe that I didn’t love, so when I saw this in NYT Cooking, I had to make it. I still hold that anyone who tells you that you can caramelize onions in 15-20 minutes has a sadistic streak. I went with a few more olives, a few more tomatoes and a little more thyme in my version. Easy, delicious, weeknight way to wind down the summer.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 14-ounce package all-butter puff pastry
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup plus a pinch of sugar
• ½ teaspoon sherry vinegar
• ¼ cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 ½ pints (about 1 pound) cherry or grape tomatoes; a mix of colors is nice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
•  Kosher salt, to taste
•  Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Unfold puff pastry sheet and cut into a 10-inch round; chill, covered, until ready to use.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of sugar and cook, stirring, until onions are golden and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water and let cook off, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Transfer onions to a bowl.
3. In a clean, ovenproof 9-inch skillet, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan gently (do not stir) until sugar melts and turns amber, 5 to 10 minutes. Add vinegar and swirl gently.
4. Sprinkle olives over caramel. Scatter tomatoes over olives, then sprinkle onions on. Season with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Top with puff pastry round, tucking edges into pan. Cut several long vents in top of pastry.
5. Bake tart until crust is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then run a knife around pastry to loosen it from pan, and flip tart out onto a serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Fennel, Radish, Orange and Crab Salad

Crunchy, colorful, crustacean, citrus cravings? Check!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons (90ml) mild-tasting olive oil
• 8 ounces (230g) lump crabmeat
• 1 cup (10g) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 navel or blood oranges
• 6 cups (230g) torn or sliced radicchio or Belgian endive, or picked watercress sprigs (100g), I also threw in some arugula
• 10 radishes, thinly sliced
• Flaky sea salt, to finish

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together the vinegar, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil until well combined. Toss the crabmeat and parsley in the dressing, season with a few generous grinds of the peppermill, and set aside.
2. Trim the fronds off the fennel bulb and remove any tough outer layers. Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise and cut out the core. Slice the fennel as thinly as you possibly can, or shave it with a mandoline.
3. Cut the stem and opposite ends off the oranges. Place each orange, cut-side down, on a cutting board. With a sharp paring or serrated knife, cut away the peel, using downward motions that match the curvature of the fruit. Slice out suprêmes (sections) of the oranges, leaving the membranes behind.
4. Arrange the salad leaves on four large plates (or a large serving platter). Scatter the shaved fennel over the salad leaves and tuck the orange segments and radishes in between the fennel and the salad leaves.
5. Distribute the crabmeat and parsley over the salads, spoon the remaining dressing over the tops, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and serve.

From: “My Paris Kitchen” by David Lebovitz

Leeks with Anchovy and Soft-Boiled Eggs

Joshua McFadden‘s book Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is full of great seasoning and cooking insights and delicious recipes that highlight vegetables in the time of the year when they shine brightest. I highly recommend it, with the small warning that you may find yourself compulsively planting a garden once you’re done.

This recipe is so simple and combines great elements of flavor and texture. Works great as a delicious lunch or a light dinner. It’s also completely scalable — just add more leeks, eggs and toast.

INGREDIENTS

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Black Petter
• 3 large leeks, trimmed, halved length-wise, cleaned well, and cut crosswise into 4-inch lengths
• 6 anchovy filets
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• Soft-boiled eggs
• Sliced bread, lightly toasted

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 425°F
2. Drizzle rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange leeks cut-side-down on top of oil, scooting around to cover with oil and seasoning. Drizzle more oil on top and season with more salt and pepper.
3. Roast leeks until the undersides are browning and leeks are getting soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Move them around on baking sheet to prevent burning, keeping a nice cluster toward the center of the baking sheet. Roast until leeks are very soft and slightly melted with some browned crunch pieces on the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.
4. While leeks are roasting, soft-boil eggs. Bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and gently lower cold eggs in and boil for 7 minutes (the longer you boil them, the harder the yolks will be). Remove eggs to cold water and let cool. Carefully remove shells.
5. Mash the anchovies with 3 Tbsps lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir in 2-3 Tbsps olive oil. Pile the leeks into a bowl, drizzle dressing on top and toss gently. Adjust lemon, salt and pepper as needed.
6. Lightly toast thick slices of good bread. Arrange leeks on bread and gently break eggs over the leeks. Season with freshed cracked pepper or Aleppo pepper.

Adapted from Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden

Croque Monsieur and French Onion Soup

Croque Monsieur and French Onion Soup

Cold rainy days always make me want soup.  I love the way the house smells with a big pot of soup simmering on the stove and I love the delicious, piping hot result even more.  I was having visions of French onion soup from the moment the rain on the window woke me up.  French onion soup is one of my favorite things in the world.  I’m on a quest to find the best one;  I order it every time I see it on a menu.  One of my favorite memories ever was exploring Paris with Brian in the snow, going from cafe to cafe ordering soupe à l’oignon gratinée (they leave the “French” part off there because you can take that for granted) and croque monsieur.  We’d get a bottle of wine and sit for a couple hours and revel in the Parisian-ness of it all.  I can’t think about it too much without reaching for my passport. 

I have to say, I think one of the best versions of the croque monsieur comes from Tartine in the Mission.  The problem is that if you go early enough to avoid the ridiculous and infuriating line that usually stretches halfway down the block, you’re too early for croque monsieur.  I found a similar recipe on food.com and made some adjustments.  I ended up using Swiss cheese instead of gruyere because that’s what was in the fridge, the key is the béchamel sauce.  To round it out, I pickled some carrots to go on the side.  The soup started from a recipe I found at All Recipes.

French Onion Soup 

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 5 1/4 cups of rich beef stock
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
• 1/2 Parmesan cheese, grated
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• 4 slices of rustic bread, toasted

Directions

1. Melt butter with olive oil in an 8 quart stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until onions begin to brown (about 45 minutes).
2. Add beef broth, sherry, wine, garlic  and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven broiler.
4. Ladle soup into oven safe serving bowls and place one slice of toasted bread on top of each. Layer each slice of bread with a mixture of the grated cheeses. Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil in the preheated oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly.

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 12

Croque Monsieur

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp pastis (I used absinthe)
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated (divided use)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 thick slices country French bread
• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 6 ounces applewood-smoked ham, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400.

To Make Bechamel Soubise Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and sweat the garlic and onions over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the flour all at once, whisking with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Stir in the hot cream and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the salt. pepper, nutmeg, Pastis, 1/4 cup grated Swiss and the Parmesan; set aside.

To Assemble the Sandwiches

1. Brush Dijon mustard evenly on one side of half the toasted bread slices. Slather each piece with the béchamel sauce.  Divide ham evenly between the slices, top with sliced tomatoes and remaining cheese.
2. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese starts to brown.
3. Cut in half and serve hot.

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 6

If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge over night, then heat them in the oven at 400 for ten minutes and top with a poached or fried egg for breakfast and you have croque madame.