French Country Tart Variations Recipes

FLAN PâTISSIER (FRENCH CUSTARD TART)

Steps:

• Infuse milk: Place milk, vanilla seeds, used beans and 50g (1/4 cup) sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to just before boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat, place lid on and leave to steep for 10 minutes.
• Yolk mixture: Meanwhile, place egg yolks, egg and remaining sugar in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add cornflour and whisk until smooth.
• Temper eggs: While whisking the eggs, slowly pour in about half the milk in a thin stream. Whisk until combined.
• Thicken custard: Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan then whisk to combine. Place over medium low heat, stirring constantly so the base doesn't catch, until it starts to thicken (you will feel it). It should happen within 3 to 5 minutes. If it gets lumpy, remove off heat, whisk vigorously - will become smooth.
• Stir 20 seconds after bubbles appear: When the custard is thickened and hot and you see the first big lazy bubbles appear on the base, whisk constantly on the stove for a further 20 seconds then remove from stove. (To check for bubbles, pause stirring for a few seconds)
• Butter: Whisk butter in until fully incorporated.
• Strain & cool: Immediately strain into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Discard vanilla bean. Cover with cling wrap touching the surface. Cool on counter (3 hrs+) then refrigerate 12 - 24 hours. (Note 5)
• Work with pastry as frozen as possible - it's easier. (Note 4)
• Cut base and sides: Cut base out using the inside of the pan as a guide on one sheet of puff pastry. Cut three 25 x 5.5cm (2.15 x 10″) wide strips on the other sheet of puff pastry. Place base and sides back in freezer. RESERVE offcuts (for emergency patching).
• Line pan: Butter and line the sides of a 20cm/8" springform pan with a 5.5cm / 2.2" strip of baking paper. We are not using the pan base. (Note 6)
• Line sides: Place cake pan on a square sheet of baking paper on a plate. (Note 6) Remove cut puff pastry from freezer. Working quickly, when sides have JUST thawed enough to bend, line sides of cake pan with puff pastry, overlapping by 1cm / 0.4", using water to seal - just press down for now (will seal properly later).
• Base: Brush base of sides with water. Fit base into cake pan (see video at 2 min 50 sec for technique).
• Seal pastry: Use the back of a teaspoon to press base into the corner. Then smear the now-thawing puff pastry to full seal.
• Prick base: Prick base 30 times with fork. (I always forget!!)
• Freeze: Cover with cling wrap, freeze 4 - 24 hours. (Note 4)
• Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan) for 30 minutes.
• Line & fill with beads: Pick up crust using paper and place on tray (on the paper). Crumple 2 x 60cm / 2 feet long sheets of baking paper (Note 7) then fit into crust arranged in X. Fill with baking beads 1cm / 0.4" below rim (Note 8). Press to push paper into corners.
• Blind bake 25 min + 5 min: Bake 25 minutes, then use overhang paper to remove beads carefully (if sides look like they will cave in, return to oven with beads for 5 min). Bake 5 minutes then cool 10 minutes. (Seal any visible cracks with puff pastry scraps)
• Turn oven down to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
• Fill with custard: Remove Creme Patissiere from fridge. Whisk to loosen, scrape into crust - fill to 1cm/0.4" below rim. (Leftover custard Note 7) Smooth surface, brush custard surface with egg yolk (use it all).
• Bake 65 minutes, rotating tray 180° at 45 minutes. It will puff up in the last 15 ninutes like a souffle. Remove from oven - it will still be very wobbly, have faith! It will set when cool!Golden surface - If the top is not golden like pictured, switch on broiler to caramelise surface. Watch carefully - takes minutes!
• Cool on counter for 4 hours (in pan). Transfer to plate (still in pan), cover loosely with cling wrap, then refrigerate 12+ hours.
• Serve: Remove from fridge 1 hour prior to serving to bring to room temperature. Cut into slices like cake! The pastry is crispy & flaky. The custard will cut neatly (it will not ooze) but when you bite into it, the custard is beautifully soft and creamy. Traditionally eaten as a hand held bakery treat in France but you can use a plate if you're feeling civilised!
• Shelf life: Flan Pâtissier is at its best in the first 24 hours after it is put in the fridge after baking as this is when the pastry is still beautifully crisp. Beyond this the pastry starts to soften which no one has pointed out yet because everyone is besotted by the custard! But I notice. :)

FRENCH FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Crust: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter; pulse until pea-size lumps remain. Stir together yolks and 2 tablespoons ice-cold water; drizzle over flour mixture, pulsing just until dough holds together when pressed between your fingers. (If still too dry and crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.) Form into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day, or freeze up to 1 month.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an approximately 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch round fluted tart pan, gently pressing dough into edges. Run a rolling pin over top of pan to remove excess dough (patch any tears with dough scraps, if necessary). Line dough with parchment and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.
• Bake until crust is dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove weights and parchment; return to oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Brush bottom and sides evenly with chocolate; refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
• Custard: Meanwhile, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Add milk and egg yolks; whisk until smooth. Add butter; cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook, whisking, until mixture has the texture of thick pudding, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap. Let cool completely. Whisk in sour cream until combined; transfer to crust and refrigerate until custard is set, at least 1 hour or, loosely covered, up to 1 day.
• Topping: In a small saucepan or a microwave, warm apricot jam with 2 teaspoons water just until melted (if jam is chunky, strain through a sieve). Drizzle over berries; gently stir to evenly coat. Spoon mixture over custard; serve.

HOW TO MAKE QUICHE

Steps:

• Of all the savory pastries in the French canon, from flaky croissants to cheese-laden gougères, tarts are the ones that are made at home just as frequently as they are ordered in restaurants and picked up at takeout shops. You'll find tarts served as a starter for dinner, as the focal point of a light lunch or as a main course at weekend brunch. They come in many styles, with much regional variation. Of all the classics, the elegant quiche is the best known. In its most traditional form, a quiche is composed of a buttery short-crust pastry shell holding a silky egg custard and a savory filling. And although the quiche has gone international, charming its way into North American and British culture, the French are the ones who innovated and then perfected the recipe, particularly the rich, buttery dough called pâte brisée. Once you master this dough, you will find that quiche becomes dead simple to make. And you can do so with ingredients you may already have: eggs and cream. The French treat tarts and quiches as an economical way to use meat or vegetables that are lying around, combining odds and ends into a harmonious result. You will find countless variations in fillings - salmon quiches, eggplant tarts.But it is the modest onion that often stars in a French tart. Onions are mainstays in French cuisine, flavoring meats and sauces, and soups and stews. But they fare just as well, if not better, on their own, as the main attraction.Cooked slowly in butter until satiny and soft, onions add flavor and texture to the custard of a classic quiche. Sweet caramelized onions are mixed with anchovies to top the Provençal tart called pissaladière. And minced onions are combined with bacon and fromage blanc (a soft, yogurtlike cheese), then baked pizza-style at high heat, to make a tangy, crunchy tarte flambée, popular in Alsace and the surrounding area. Each tart highlights onions in a different way, and they're all worth taking the time to get to know.
• Savory open-faced tarts are derived from pies, which were known to have been baked in ancient Egypt and Rome, though the tradition most likely goes back much further. In those early pies, the crust was merely a vessel for containing the fillings while they slowly baked. The whole pie wasn't meant to be eaten - just its contents, which could be as simple as ground meat and potatoes, or as elaborate as scores of roasted quail, pheasants, peacocks and even whole, stuffed lambs. (Those 4 and 20 blackbirds of nursery rhymes were not that far-fetched.) Across Europe, there were gigantic, ceremonial pies for special occasions, and small, plainer pies meant to be eaten cold, with the pastry standing in for a napkin to catch the juices. Since pie pastry was not meant to be consumed, it tended to be coarse and unappetizing, though when it was soaked in meat juices after baking, it became palatable enough for the servants. There was even a trade in selling leftover pastry to the poor, who gathered outside castles and estates to wait for crusts to gnaw on. Open-faced tarts were a Medieval innovation, dating roughly to the 14th century. These new tarts could be made savory or sweet (or sometimes both, in the best Medieval tradition), and they were baked with a more delicate pastry that was meant to be delicious. In France, tarts made with the dough known as pâte brisée were cataloged in La Varenne's "Le Patissier François" (1653), the first cookbook to codify French pastry arts and much of grand cuisine. The egg and bacon tart we know today as quiche Lorraine originated in the area of the same name, in northeast France, a region whose culture and cuisine were highly influenced by neighboring Germany. (Quiche itself was most likely derived from German kuchen; that may also be the source of its name.) It dates to the early 19th century, though its myriad variations, including quiche aux oignons, did not become popular around France until the early 20th century. Then there is tarte flambée (also known as flammekueche), the yeasted tart made with onion, bacon and fromage blanc, which hails from neighboring Alsace. And the south of France is home to yet another famous onion tart: pissaladière, a thin, square, pizzalike dish topped with onions, anchovies, olives and herbs. Its name comes from pissala, an anchovy and sardine purée made from locally caught and salted fish - a briny regional flavor that shines alongside the sweetness of the onions. Above, "Still Life With a Pie" by Clara Peeters.
• Quiche or tart pan It's best to use a 9-inch metal pan with a removable bottom. While you can use a glass or ceramic quiche pan, you won't be able to remove the quiche from the pan before serving. It's also smart to place the pan on a baking sheet before it goes into the oven. This helps distribute the heat, which cooks the quiche evenly, and it eliminates the chance the pan will leak in your oven.Food processor Dough comes together quickly in a food processor, but take care not to overprocess it. A pastry cutter is inexpensive and works well, too; some people prefer it because using one makes it much harder to overwork the dough. If you don't have either, use your fingers to work the butter into the dough. Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best food processors.Rolling pin French rolling pins tend to be made of one solid, smooth piece of wood, and often have tapered ends. But you can use any kind of rolling pin you've got - or even a wine bottle in a pinch.Pie weights Empty tart crusts are often prebaked (a process known as blind baking) before they are filled and returned to the oven to finish. This gives you a browned crust that won't get soggy. Weights keep the dough from shrinking as it bakes. If you don't have them, use rice, dried beans or pennies (rinse in soapy water and dry them first).
• Sweet bits of onion suffuse this tart, which gets its brawny, salty tang from browned chunks of cured pork (lardons, pancetta or bacon). Both delicate and rich, it makes a lovely lunch or brunch dish, one best served warm or at room temperature on the day you baked it.
• The secrets to a successful onion quiche: a flaky butter crust and perfectly pale, tender onions in the custard filling. • High-fat European-style butter produces the flakiest crust. If you can find it, it's worth the extra cost. • Always make sure that the butter is cold when you start, and that the dough stays cold as you work with it. If it starts to soften at any time, put it in the refrigerator to firm up. • When you cut the butter into the flour, either by hand or by using the food processor, you want lima-bean-size pieces of butter. These big pieces of butter will make the dough flaky; as they melt in the oven, they release steam, which creates air pockets. These air pockets are the flakes that make a light and crisp crust. (This is also why you want to keep the butter cold as you work with the dough. It ensures that the butter won't melt into the flour as you blend it, but will stay in distinct pieces.) • As you roll the dough, keep it moving around on your countertop, flipping it over and adding more flour if it starts to stick. By flipping and moving it around as you roll, you avoid rolling it into your countertop and having to add too much flour. (Too much flour can make the dough dry and tough.) • Chill the dough after you roll it out and fit it into the pan. This firms it up before baking, which helps prevent the dough from shrinking too much in the oven's heat.• Choose large white or Spanish onions with high water content and some bite. Avoid sweet onions such as Vidalias, which could make the tart cloying. • The onions are cooked slowly and gently, so they don't take on too much color. Make sure to use enough butter and oil to cover the bottom of the pan before you add the onions. You need to smother your onions in the fat so they remain pale and turn very soft. An hour may sound like a long time, but low and slow is the best way to go here.• If the onions start to brown, turn down the heat a little, from medium to medium-low. Stir them around often, and scrape up any lightly browned bits on the bottom or sides of the pan so the browning doesn't spread. It is fine if there is a little browning, but you don't want too much. If browning is an issue, keep the heat low and increase the cooking time. Low and slow will keep browning at bay.• Adding a tablespoon or two of flour to the onions helps thicken the quiche filling, and it also reduces sogginess after baking. Sprinkle flour over the onions at least 5 minutes before they are done cooking, so the raw flavor in the flour will be cooked out.• In an ideal world, you would serve your quiche within an hour of baking, while it's still warm from the oven. But you can assemble and bake within six hours of serving. • Always let the quiche cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack (which lets air circulate around the pan) before trying to remove from the pan. This is both to avoid burning yourself, and to allow the pastry to set, so it's more stable and less likely to break. • The dough and onions can be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled. You can even prebake the crust the day before; keep it at room temperature, covered. • Don't refrigerate your quiche if you can avoid it. It leads to soggy pastry. • If you want to reheat a room-temperature quiche before serving, place it, uncovered, in a 300-degree oven and let it warm up for 10 to 20 minutes. (If it has been in the refrigerator, add another 10 minutes or so.)
• Feel free to play with fillings and flavors, swapping in ingredients as you like. Just be sure to keep the custard ratios the same: 1 egg to 1/3 cup heavy cream. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs to the onion quiche recipe above to give it freshness and verve. Basil, thyme, cilantro, chervil and chives work nicely. You could also add 1/4 cup chopped pitted black or green olives, either in place of the herbs or in addition to them. Substitute other cheese for the Gruyère, including Cheddar, blue cheese, feta, manchego, gouda or firm goat cheese. Or you could eliminate the cheese entirely if you prefer. Skip the bacon or pancetta and add 1 to 2 ounces smoked fish to the quiche instead. You don't need to brown the fish first; just dice it and add scatter over the prebaked crust in place of the lardons. Smoked salmon, white fish and trout are all great options. Substitute 1 1/2 to 2 cups of other cooked vegetables for the onions. Good candidates include sautéed spinach or chard; roasted or sautéed mushrooms, eggplant or zucchini; or roasted tomatoes or butternut squash.
• Here is another onion tart from the French tradition, a baker's treat that used the yeasted dough left over from making bread. It was topped with onions, bacon and fromage blanc, and baked until the dough puffed and the onions singed at the edges. This version uses a biscuitlike crust instead, adapted from the chef Gabriel Kreuther. Serve this as an appetizer or a light main course, or for brunch.
• Caramelized onions, briny anchovies and olives make the up the topping for this Provençal tart. Our version calls for a yeasted dough, which makes the tart somewhat like a pizza. But puff pastry, which Julia Child preferred, is also traditional, and quite a bit richer. Pissaladière makes great picnic fare, in addition to being a terrific appetizer or lunch dish.
• Photography Food styling: Alison Attenborough. Prop styling: Beverley Hyde. Additional photography: Karsten Moran for The New York Times. Additional styling: Jade Zimmerman. Video Food styling: Chris Barsch and Jade Zimmerman. Art direction: Alex Brannian. Prop styling: Catherine Pearson. Director of photography: James Herron. Camera operators: Tim Wu and Zack Sainz. Editing: Will Lloyd and Adam Saewitz. Additional editing: Meg Felling.
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CLASSIC FRENCH FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Make the Crust: Complete the pâte sucrée through baking and cooling.
• Make the Pastry Cream: In a medium pot, heat the milk until just boiling. Remove the pot from heat. While the milk is warming, in a heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, egg yolks, and cornstarch. Whisk until the mixture is very smooth and has lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add about a quarter of the hot milk into the egg mixture. (This is called tempering. Tempering the eggs helps raise their temperature without cooking them, and helps emulsify them into the milk.) Pour the milk-tempered egg mixture into the pot of the remaining milk. Whisk to combine. Return the pot to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent "scrambled eggs," especially on the sides and bottom, until the magic happens and the pastry cream thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in the butter and vanilla and cook one minute more, whisking constantly. The pastry cream should make thick, lazy bubbles. (See note below if you see any coagulated bits of egg in your custard.) Pour the thickened pastry cream into a clean, shallow bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and push it down in the bowl so it sits directly on the surface of the pastry cream. This prevents a skin from forming on top. Chill until cold, a few hours (or up to 2 days before serving).
• Assemble the Tart: Remove the tart ring and transfer the tart shell to a serving platter. Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth, then spread it evenly into the tart shell using an offset spatula. Arrange a generous amount of fruit over the pastry cream in your desired design. In a small saucepan, heat the apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of water over medium heat, whisking, until thin. (Alternatively, heat it in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds.) If the jam is especially chunky, strain it through a sieve. Use a pastry brush to gently dab the fruit with a thin layer of apricot glaze. Chill until ready to serve.
• Note: Avoid melon and other fruit with high moisture content, like sliced citrus. These will wilt quickly and seep moisture into the pastry cream. Also avoid oxidizing fruit like apples and bananas; these fruits will turn brown. Berries should be fully dried after rinsing (raspberries should not be washed) and strawberries should be sliced.
• Note: If you see any coagulated egg bits in your finished custard, strain the hot pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer.
• Make-Ahead Instructions: The pastry cream can be made up to 2 days before serving. The tart can be assembled and refrigerated up to one day before serving.

COUNTRY FRENCH OMELET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 3 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is browned but not crisp. Take the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.
• Place the potatoes in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue to cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until very tender and browned, tossing occasionally to brown evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon to the same plate with the bacon.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together with a fork. After the potatoes are removed, pour the fat out of the pan and discard. Add the butter, lower the heat to low, and pour the eggs into the hot pan. Sprinkle the bacon, potatoes, and chives evenly over the top and place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes, just until the eggs are set. Slide onto a plate, divide in half, and serve hot.

FRENCH APPLE TART

Steps:

• For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl until crumbly. Mix in the egg until it forms a dough, then form into a puck shape. Cover and chill for at least 30 mins. Will keep chilled for two days.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to roughly the thickness of a £1 coin, and use to line a 23cm fluted tart tin, leaving some overhanging. Line with a disc of baking parchment big enough to cover the edges, and fill with some baking beans to weigh it down (use dried rice or lentils if you don't have baking beans). Bake for 15 mins, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for 10-15 mins more until the pastry is biscuity. Trim away any overhanging pastry with a serrated knife. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, set aside four of the apples, then peel, core and roughly chop the rest. Put them in a shallow saucepan with 2 tbsp water, all but 1 tbsp of the sugar and the alcohol, if using. Cover and cook over a low heat for 25-30 mins, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed, until the apples have collapsed into a purée. Taste the mixture and sweeten with more sugar, if needed.
• Turn the oven up to 210C/190C fan/gas 8. Peel, core and halve the reserved apples, then cut into even-sized slices. Spread the apple purée over the base of the tart case, then arrange the apple slices in neat, concentric circles, starting from the outside. Brush the apples with butter, then scatter over the reserved sugar and bake for another 20-25 mins until golden.
• Mix the jam with 1 tbsp hot water from a freshly boiled kettle. When the tart has finished baking, glaze generously with the jam, then leave to cool a little. Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar, if you like.

FRENCH COUNTRY TART (TWO VARIATIONS) W/ PATE BRISEE CRUST

Steps:

• Special Equipment: 9 by 2 1/2-inch deep foil pan.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Whisk the eggs and cream together in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and whisk to blend.
• For the Lorraine tart: put the onion into a small skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the onion is translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Brush the bottom of the prepared tart shell with the Dijon and spread the cooked onion, bacon and Gruyere on top. Pour the custard over the filling and place the pan into the bottom half of the preheated oven. Bake the tart until the filling is slightly puffed and golden, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
• For the olives, roasted red pepper and goat cheese tart: Put the olives, roasted red pepper and goat cheese into the prepared tart shell and pour the custard over the filling. Bake as above.
• Pate Brisee:
• Pan release spray
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into bits
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• Prepare the tart pan by spraying it with pan release spray and coating it with the cornmeal. Knock out any excess cornmeal and set the pan aside.
• Blend the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer the mix to a large mixing bowl and add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly with a fork. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead just until it forms a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Carefully lift it into the prepared pan, pressing into the bottom and up the sides. Leave at least a 1-inch overhang, which will be used to crimp the edges. Prick the bottom of the pan all over and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.