Friday, October 8, 2010

FFwD - Gerard's Mustard Tart


Don't you love it when you are pleasantly surprised by something you've eaten? When presented with something that you aren't keen on, the dread builds up, and you are tempted to give it a miss. But then you try it in the spirit of open-mindedness, and kaboom! You love it.


So it was with this week's
French Fridays with Dorie pick, Gerard's Mustard Tart. This was another of Dorie's picks. When confronted with this recipe, my first thoughts were, "Awww, gee, what on earth am I gonna do with that?" I wasn't looking forward to cutting carrot and leek matchsticks, and spending a significant amount of time doing battle with my nemesis, tart dough, for a product I was sure I didn't want.


But you know what? I really enjoyed this tart. It consists of a savoury tartshell filled with eggs and cream and mustard and rosemary, and topped with carrot and leek matchsticks. And although I doubted it, this tart is devine - I enjoyed the bite of the mustard against the subtle sweetness of the steamed vegetable matchsticks. Because the filling is not deep, it doesn't form an overwhelming eggy mass like quiche can, and both the tart shell and the filling are light and subtle. Suddenly, all that time cutting up vegetable matchsticks seemed worth it.



The tart dough and I did not see completely eye to eye - when I tried to transfer the rolled out dough from the baking paper I'd rolled it on into the tart pan, it stuck to the paper and tore in a number of places. I really wasn't in the mood to re-roll it, so I patched up the dough, then hoped for the best. And lo - I ended up with a beautiful tart shell that I am proud of:





This dough is buttery and crumbly and delicious - this is now my "go to" savoury dough (I didn't have one before!).

Here's a close-up of the finished tart:




I am proud of this tart - it actually resembles the one in the book (Around My French Table), and tastes great. The only departures that I made from the recipe were to use all Dijon mustard (as I was not investing in two jars of mustard when I rarely eat it), using black pepper instead of white (which explains why my tart is speckly), and using a sprinkling of dried rosemary in the filling rather than steaming the vegetables with a sprig of rosemary then baking the tart with another sprig on top. The latter was because my local supermarket thought they could get away with daylight robbery by charging $4 for a tube of fresh rosemary - if I'd had the time to go to the markets, I knew I could buy it for a dollar.


I ate this tart at room temperature the next day, and loved it. It disappeared quickly at work too, so there's the proof - eating this the next day is fine.



To see how everyone else went, visit the
FFwD website.

21 comments:

  1. Ciao Your tarte is really great looking and I agree I was pleasantly surprised too !

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  2. Wowo that tart llooks beautiful and so delicous. Wish i had a huge slice.

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  3. We loved this tart too. It's very good! Im glad you liked it too!!

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  4. It's beautiful! What a great post about it all, too. Can't wait to try it...soon!

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  5. Your tart looks amazing - just like the book! I'm glad you tried it - I really wanted to, but I have a houseful of guests who would not eat it, sadly.

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  6. I would be proud of it too!! It totally looks like the one in the book!! well done

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  7. Mmmm.. looks like a beautiful tart. The pastry can be very tricky, can't it? but it looks like you did a great job!

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  8. I'm so in awe of your commitment to cook things that don't appeal to you! I don't think I could do that (my partner misses out on a number of dishes that he requests because I'm not interested in cooking something that I don't like). This tart looks like buttery goodness - I love good pastry!

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  9. that is a fine looking tart and a sensible attitude towards ingredients - I avoid pastry too much but I admire your crust and wish I could produce such flawless crusts

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  10. Your tart looks beautiful! I think adding dried rosemary would taste really good. Good point about this not being like a quiche - I'm not a big fan of quiche, so I liked the thinner layer of filling in this tart.

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  11. Your tart is beautiful - shell and all! I also used only one kind of mustard and thought it was delicious.

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  12. What a triumph your tart is! I never would have guessed that tart dough is your nemesis because your tart shell is perfection.

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  13. Your tart turned out beautifully. I bought a pack of fresh rosemary, used 2 sprigs and froze the rest. They're probably not as fragrant as when they're fresh but I can still use them in cooking or baking.

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  14. Your tart really does look like the one in the book! Glad you liked it after all your worrying. :)
    I still haven't made anything for the FFwD group, but I'm looking forward to next week's recipe--I'll be able to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey. And I want to make the 2 recipes I missed, since they got such rave reviews.
    Hmmm, my word verification is 'gaterpo', whatever that is!

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  15. I'm with you. Thank goodness that the tart dough was forgiving. Nemesis indeed!

    Trevor Sis Boom.

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  16. it's not a proper tart dough without having to do a bit of patching up ;)

    Looks fantastic! You've done a perfect job with the placement of the veges, and I'm not surprised you enjoyed eating it so much.

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  17. This tart looks great. I didn't find the title appealing either, but now I want to try it!

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  18. I was also surprised that I liked it so much- I'm normally not a big mustard fan. Your tart is beautiful! I love the way the carrots and leeks look in this.

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  19. I have made many tarts, but was not too sure about this mustard one. We loved it. I couldn't get nice leeks, so substituted slivered green onion. Your tart looks perfect.

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  20. Your tart is absolutely beautiful!!!!!

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Thanks for dropping by!