really do it up

A few weeks ago, I was talking to Andy about friend groups - about how we keep looking for these and even if we find them, they usually fall apart in some manner. When the two of us were in our third year of college, we had such a friend group - there were fallings-out and breaking-ups, though, and those of us that remained friends through fourth-year and graduation are now spread all over the country.

When I moved to DC, I was lucky enough to fall in with another group of people. And lucky enough that fallings-out are not what separates us, just graduate programs slowly plucking people away. (Still, if I think too long about another little group falling apart, I get sad. Anyway.)



Daniel had a large part to do with that. It was his birthday this weekend, and since it has been somewhat lackluster in years past, we decided to really do it up this year. We surprised him with laser tag (which, let me tell you, is more fun than I thought it would be), and followed up with a small potluck.

Daniel's request for this was that it be something delicious and new. This is what I had to go on: Jo said she was making some sort of cabbage dish, and Andy was making mac and cheese. So what did I do? I broke out my Flavor Bible. Seriously, this book is amazing. It lists all sorts of ingredients and what their "flavor affinities" are - so I looked up "cabbage" and went from there. This led to searching through all my cookbooks - and all the food blogs I read - for onion recipes.



It took a while to find the right one - and I knew it was the right one because my mind had fixated on it, so even when I kept searching, I couldn't stop thinking about this one. Even though it was a little ambitious, it wound up being just right.

Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

I would not have been able to do this without my brilliant sous-chef, C.T. Well, I suppose I could have, but it would have been much more stressful. There's a lot to do here, but trust me, the end result is worth it.

PASTRY
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
5 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/6 c. Cheddar cheese

FILLING
2 onions
3/4 c. young goat cheese
2 eggs
1 tbsp light cream
1/3 c. Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp nutmeg
salt & pepper

Makes 8 tarts.

First make the dough by adding the butter to the flour in a medium bowl. Mix with your hands until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add the cheese and enough cold water to make a dough.

Chop and carmelize the onions. This should take about 20-25 minutes, and they should be a light brown.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add in: cream, Cheddar, nutmeg, and goat cheese, beating well after each addition. Season with salt and pepper. When the onions are carmelized, add them to the mix.

Roll out the dough (if too sticky, add flour) and cut into rounds. I was using 4-inch tart pans and a 4-inch cutter that I macguyvered into working. Line the tart pans with the dough and bake for about 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture in and bake for another 20 minutes. Enjoy!