As a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn I always associated spring with the odd assortment of my parents' friends coming over and me preparing the Passover feast with my grandmother. She taught me how to separate eggs when we made matzoh balls in my kitchen in Canarsie. But as I got a bit older I was invited to my Sicilian friend's house for Easter dinner, as well. I have loved Easter ever since. Theirs was a very Italian Easter that went on for hours and hours and was very meat heavy. These days I have been enjoying beautiful Easter holidays with the Greg's family-the Ukrainians. Last year, many platters of good food were passed around, one being an offering of cold cuts. Everything was lovely and a good time was had by all. But I was prepared with my vegetarian back up system... a beautiful Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Tart! I want to share it with you now. I think it works for brunch or dinner. I have used it in many catering jobs and it is always a wild success and so easy!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and first make the caramalized onions. Take four yellow onions and cut each on in half, then slice them up. Take a large sautee pan and melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter with a drop of olive oil. Toss them in the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on them and cook them at a medium-low heat. Stir them periodically so they don't burn. You want them to cook very evenly and get golden brown and soft. (Like the color of mahogany.) It should take about a half hour. Then take them off and put them in a bowl. Whisk three large eggs with a cup of heavy cream and add a teaspoon of fresh thyme, as well as pinch of salt and pepper. Grate 1 cup of Gruyere cheese. Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe or use a frozen one. Take a tart pan (sprayed with Pam) and roll the pie crust into the pan making sure the sides are properly covered as the crust will shrink slightly in the cooking process. You will bake the crust slightly and you don't want it to bubble up in the middle so either use pie weights or prick the dough with a fork gently about four times to create tiny holes for steam to escape. Cook it for about ten minutes so the crust is dry but not browned. Remove the crust from oven and cover the bottom of the crust with the caramalized onions, then the grated Gruyere. Finally carefully pour the egg mixture onto the filling so that it fills it up about 3/4 of the way up the side- be sure not to overflow. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes until the filling is set and puffed slightly. The sweetness of the onion and the salty nutty flavor of the cheese are such an amazing contrast! Enjoy!
Okay okay....one more recipe! In case you choose to just make dessert or want to try both, I have a wonderful Lemon Buttermilk Cake recipe. This is a variation on a recipe I found in a southern cook book. (In fact I have one cooling on the counter right now!) Years ago I was having a "stoop sale" (Park Slope's version of a garage sale) with my roommate and we were selling our old clothes and junk. But I decided to sell some of my baking as well and, to my shock and awe, no one cared about my Girls Just Wanna Have Fun tee shirt circa 1986 going for $2 but they bought up my baking! In fact, I had to run into the house and quickly make some more cakes and in my haste, I accidentally squeezed some lemon juice into my batter instead of just using the lemon zest. Well it ended up making the cake so much better so now I always squeeze the juice in every time I make it. That is what you call a happy accident! Here it is...it's really simple!
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and butter and flour a large loaf pan. In a large bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix this gently until just combined. In another bowl, cream together 1 1/2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then add (one at a time) 3 large eggs and whisk until the mixture is light yellow in color and fluffy. Measure out 3/4 cups of buttermilk and place to the side. Add about a quarter of the flour mixture to the butter sugar mixture and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula. Next add about a quarter of the buttermilk and mix that in gently. Alternately mix each into the butter mixture until they are finished. Please mix gently so you don't overwork the flour and end up with a tough cake. Once everything is incorporated, take a lemon and grate it into the batter (make sure you remove the little price tag label thing on it as I learned the hard way!). Then take that lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice into the batter catching the seeds with either your other hand or through a tiny strainer. Gently mix the lemon juice and grated rind into the batter and place into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes until it is baked through. Test with a toothpick to make sure the inside is done (toothpick will come out clean). Allow to cool for about a half hour and then remove it from the pan carefully. Wait until you cut into this thing. It's a gorgeous yellow color and so simple but has so much beautiful lemon flavor! Enjoy!
These are the two things I am bringing to the Ukranian Easter this year and I am very excited to share them. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and if you try these recipes I hope they end up in your repertoire, as well!
Bon appetit!
Love,
Robina
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