Onion Tart

Please. Bear with me. I know this blog is for ordinary people. People with jobs. People with families. People without much time on their hands.

People who think they don't have time to make tarts with dough from scratch.

But here's the thing. People who do just a bit of advance planning can serve up gourmet dishes for their ordinary families on an ordinary weeknight.

You can make the dough in advance. One recipe makes enough dough for two tarts. You can make both tarts at once (each one feeds about three people as a main dish), or you can put half in the fridge and use it later in the week. (I think it'll keep for 3-4 days although I haven't tried it for longer than two.)

You can cook up the onions ahead of time, too. You can drop some on the floor in your haste to get them done. Or not.

All that's left is to roll out the dough, assemble the tart and bake it.

Which can be done a couple of hours before dinner if you like. The tart is great at room temperature.

Promise me you'll try it. I'll feel better knowing that you will.

Onion Tart, adapted from The Art of Simple Food (If you don't own this cookbook, buy it NOW)
This recipe makes two tarts, each of which feeds about three people. If you prefer, you can make just half the amount of onions and reserve half the dough for another use. I plan to try some with fruit soon and will let you know how that goes. Oh, and if you're wondering if you can make this with margarine, please don't. The pure buttery taste is part of its magic.


The Dough
2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 1/2 sticks cold butter

The Topping
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 large Vidalia onions, sliced thin
5 sprigs of thyme, leaves pulled off
30or so leaves of basil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

First, make the dough. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the cold butter into small (1/4 inch or so) cubes. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips. When it's worked in and coarsely crumbly, slowly add about 3/4 of the ice water. Mix it in with a fork and then switch to mixing with your fingers. You'll want the dough to hold together. Add more water if you need to but you should not need more than 1/2 cup. Divide the dough in half, bring each dough together in a ball, and wrap each ball in an individual piece of saran wrap. Once wrapped, flatten each ball to make a disk. Refrigerate for at least an hour or as long as a few days.

Meanwhile, make the topping. In a heavy pot, preferably cast iron, combine the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Heat over a medium-low flame. Add the onions and thyme, and saute for about thirty minutes till cooked through and just beginning to caramelize. (Do not, under any circumstances, let it burn!) If the onions seem liquidy, pour of the liquid. Set aside to come to room temperature, or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Chop the basil as fine as you can (or pulse it in mini food processor.) Mix it with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and parmesan and set the mixture aside at room temperature for up to an hour or in the fridge for up to 2 days.

When you're ready to assemble the tart, preheat the oven to 375*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Don't forget this step. It's important.)

Flour a work surface and roll out the first dough disk into a 14-inch round. To move it from your work surface to your baking sheet, fold the round in half and then in quarters. This is a wonderful technique I learned from Alice Waters which has taken all the frustration out of rolling out pies.

Once the dough is on your baking sheet, spread it with half the basil/oil/parm mix, leaving a 1-inch border or so all around. Then spread half the onion mix over it. Finally, fold the border up over the onions.

Bake for about 45 minutes, till the crust is golden.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

This post was featured on Culinary Kosher!\

Linking this up to Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Yummy Mummy,  Let's Do Brunch and This Chick Cooks. 

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Corned Beef and Rice Stir Fry

One of the basic tenets of motherhood is this: Serve Baby Corn. When all else fails and your kids refuse to look a vegetable in the eye, let them eat baby corn.  

So when I don't feel like fighting with them to eat their dinner, I serve baby corn. (Usually with some protein. I'm not a complete failure as a mother.) 

This dish is nice because it puts leftover cold cuts to good use. Of course you can buy them fresh too, but it sure feels good to use leftovers! 

Corned Beef and Rice Stir Fry

20 minutes prep, assuming you have the rice cooked ahead of time

Serves 6

Cook the rice well ahead of time. You want it very comfortably settled at room temperature for this dish. If it's warm, it'll clump. (Leftover rice from last night's dinner is fine too. Just let it come to room temperature for an hour or so, if you have the time.) 

4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

4 scallions

1 red bell pepper, julienned

3 stalks celery, sliced about 1/2 inch thick

1 can of baby corn

about 1/2 pound of deli sliced corned beef, cut in strips

3 cups cooked brown rice, at room temperature (this is important!)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine (use sake if you have it)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and saute for a minute or two, till fragrant. 

Add the pepper, celery and baby corn, and cook for a few minutes till heated through. Add the corned beef and cook for another few minutes, stirring, till heated. 

Remove the vegetables and meat from the pan and set aside. 

Heat the remaining oil. When the oil is nice and hot, add the rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring often. Let it start browning and warm through thoroughly, but take care not to burn it. 

When the rice is nice and hot and beginning to brown, add the soy sauce and wine, along with the vegetables. Cook for another few minutes till heated through. 

Serve immediately. 

Linking this up to Frugal Follies and Let's Do Brunch.

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Homemade Pizza

You know you've been reading way too many fancy French cookbooks when you start splitting your garlic cloves in half to remove the germ. I mean, who does that in real life?

Apparently Dorie Greenspan does. Almost every recipe in Around my French Table, one of my favorite new cookbooks, states that you should.

So I have been, recently, and I am not quite sure how to confirm that it's worthwhile. Does my food taste good? Well, yeah, but I thought it was just fine before I started picking apart garlic cloves and obsessing over the bits of green in the center.

Anyway, this pizza was a winner. So maybe picking out the garlic germ is a good thing. I'll never know for sure if it's worth the effort, but please feel free not to do it yourself when you try this recipe. You have my permission. (Thanks, Annie's Eats for the great pizza recipe. I made some changes but based it on your original. Thanks!)

Thin Crust Cheese Pizza (adapted from Annie's Eats)

Makes 2 pies; 1 hour prep plus lots of waiting 

CRUST

2 cups white flour 

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/3 cups ice water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1½ teaspoon salt

SAUCE
1 (28 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes, thoroughly drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, split in half, germ removed, and then minced
1 teaspoon salt
some fresh basil
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

TOPPING 

Olive oil, for brushing
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella
canned mushrooms, sauteed onions, olives, or any other favorite pizza veggies 

First, make the dough. Combine the flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to combine and then, with the machine running, add the water. Process just till combined and then add the oil and salt. Process until it forms a smooth ball, about a minute. Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.

Now, make the sauce. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a food processor (no need to even wash it from the dough prep! Yay.). Blend until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook on medium-low heat for about 1/2 hour, to reduce and thicken. Refrigerate until ready to use.

One hour before baking the pizza, remove the pizza dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature on the counter.

About 15 minutes before baking time, adjust an oven rack to the second highest position and place a baking stone on the rack to preheat. Preheat the oven to 500*. 

Assemble the pizza. Divide the dough in half. Transfer one of the balls of dough to a VERY well floured work surface. Flatten into an 8-inch disk, leaving a slightly thicker edge around the rim. Gently stretch the dough to a 12-inch circle. Lightly brush the thicker edge of the disk with olive oil. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the crust and then spread ½ cup of the pizza sauce over it. Sprinkle evenly with the shredded mozzarella and any desired toppings. 

Carefully transfer the pizza to the preheated baking stone. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned, 12-14 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Linking this up to My Meatless Mondays. 

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Potato Cheese Gratin

A friend of mine has this cooking rule that never made much sense to me: don't spend more time preparing a dish than you do eating it. Uh. If I followed that rule, we'd pretty much never have any food.

I'm pretty fast in the kitchen. I can peel and slice a potato - almost as well as a mandoline can - in a minute or three. When I get home from work late and have four whining hungry kids begging for food, I can get dinner on the table pretty quickly.

But it still takes me longer to prepare the food than it does to eat it. So I'm thinking. Maybe the problem is that I eat too fast. Maybe I need to chew more. Relax and enjoy the flavors and tastes of the fruits of my labor. Put my feet up while I savor the taste of my home cooked food.

I'll have to try that sometime. Maybe when my kids are married off. In the meantime, though, I'm resigned to spending more time cooking than I do eating. The good news is that I enjoy my time in the kitchen. I like peeling, chopping, and sauteing.

Now, my disclaimer. This recipe isn't super speedy. You've got to peel a few potatoes and then slice them super thin. But it's brainless work. Good for when you just need a relaxed 20 minutes in the kitchen. And it makes a super rich, elegant, classy dish that will be a hit with adults and kids alike. Oh, and a bonus - it's Kosher for Passover! (I plan to make this for one of our dairy lunch meals.)

Potato Cheese Gratin
Serves 4-6; about 1 hour 15 minutes prep
Vary the cheese to your liking. This would be amazing and more adult with Swiss cheese. I used half mozzarella and half cheddar and it was perfect. 


1 tablespoon butter
3 lb. Idaho potatoes, peeled
1 cup heavy cream (the real, dairy stuff, please)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese, like cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, parmesan or a combination
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 375*. Put the butter into a large glass baking dish and let it melt - but not brown - in the oven.

Meanwhile, heat the cream and milk on the stove or in the microwave. Get it nice and hot but try not to let it come to a boil.

Slice the potatoes as thin as you can. Sure, you can use a mandoline if you have one. (Hey, no need to rub it in!)

When the butter is melted, remove the pan from the oven and spread the butter all around the bottom. Create a nice cozy layer of potatoes along the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and with about half the cheese. Add another layer of potatoes, season, and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Add a third layer of potatoes. Now, pour the hot cream over the potatoes.

Bake the gratin, uncovered for about 50 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and cooked and everything is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately or allow to come to room temperature before refrigerating and putting away for later. (If you put it away, you should rewarm it before serving.)

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Garlicky Vegetarian Stew

This is embarrassing. In telling you how this stew came to be, I'm going to have to admit that I ran out of onions. What self respecting housewife runs out of onions? At the beginning of the week?

Well, I did. I could pretend that I intentionally came up with an onion-less stew recipe. That I thought it would be an interesting challenge to prepare a stew without onions. But the truth is that I simply ran out of this very basic staple. And since onions forms the basis of almost every cooked item I prepare, I had to think outside of the mesh bag box. So I thought garlic. Lots and lots of garlic.

Since I buy garlic in bulk at Costco, there's (almost) never a shortage of it in my home. I peeled and peeled and then chopped and chopped. And guess what? It worked! Fifteen cloves later, this stew was amazingly rich and flavored. I recommend it even if you have a bag full of onions at hand (as every housewife should).

Indian Inspired Vegetable Stew
This was perfect served with plain Greek yogurt and tortilla chips. But then I'm always looking for any excuse to eat yogurt and tortilla chips at meals. It feels sinful. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
10-15 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon black or aleppo pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
an entire head of celery, chopped coarsely
6 carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks (I like them nice and large)
1/2 cup barley
2 cans chickpeas, or 1/2 bag dried chickpeas soaked overnight

Heat the oil in a large pot (I used my Le Creuset stock pot) over medium-low heat. Add the chopped garlic and mustard and cumin seeds. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly until your kitchen is smelling lovely and the seeds are beginning to pop.

Add the remaining spices and the salt and cook for another minute, stirring, to incorporate all those lovely seasonings.

Add the vegetables, barley, chickpeas and enough water to cover. If you're using canned beans, cook for about 2 hours. Dried beans may need longer to really soften up (I cooked mine gently for close to four hours).

Serve as a main dish with some plain yogurt and tortilla chips.  Oh, did I mention that it freezes really well? Freeze anything you have left for another time. It's great a as a side dish next to meat or fish.

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Mission Chulent: Week 9

We're on the ninth week of our chulent (a.k.a. cholent) experiment (I'm trying a new recipe every week, as long as my friends keep providing!). This week's chulent was a concession to my son, Yaakov Yosef, who will eat as much marrow as I will allow him to. He spreads it on challah, sprinkles it lightly with salt, and savors every bite. (For the uninitiated, marrow has the texture and fattiness of butter, with a rich meaty flavor. Click here to read more about cooking with and eating bone marrow.) 

This chulent is a variation on my mother's meat chulent, but it's heavier and even more richly flavored than the original. Not for the faint of heart (or stomach), this chulent is just the thing for hungry kids and husbands who want a really rich Shabbos lunch experience. (Click here for the original, lighter version.) 

Here are links to all of the other recipes we've tried so far. 

• Rivki's Turkey Chulent, a light recipe featuring wheat berries and sweet potatoes
• Esther Shemtob's Hamin, a traditional Sephardic lamb dish with fantastic flavors
• Ayala Cohen's Meat Chulent, featuring frozen french fries and barbecue sauce
• Sarah Stampler's Meat Chulent, with cilantro and red wine
• My Mommy's Meat Chulent, a good basic recipe with cumin and chili powder for interest
• Argentinian Meat Chulent, with dried corn
• Vegetarian Chulent, with butternut squash
• Indian Style Chicken Chulent, with brown rice and lentils
• Indian Inspired Turkey Chulent, with chickpeas and wheat berries

Richest Meat Chulent
1/2 bag mixed chulent beans
1 cup pearl barley
3 Idaho potatoes, cubed
1-2 pounds of flanken
4-6 marrow bones
1 onion, chopped
15 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon hot paprika
2 teaspoons salt

Soak the beans overnight. Drain and combine with the remaining ingredients. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low. Leave the chulent simmering on low until Shabbos morning, or until you're ready to eat, at least 24 hours if possible. Serve hot.

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Mission Chulent: Week 8

We're on the eighth week of our chulent (a.k.a. cholent) experiment (I'm trying a new recipe every week, as long as my friends keep providing!), and we've found a few favorites.  This week's recipe was my own concoction  based on the Indian Style Chulent I wrote about last week, and my Turkey Chulent. I thought it was terrific (the aromas certainly were), although my husband Avi wasn't a big fan of the cinnamon and allspice. Leave them out or reduce the quantity if you prefer. 

The recipe is below. I'm also including links here to all of the other recipes we've tried so far in case you want to try any others. 

• Rivki's Turkey Chulent, featuring chickpeas, wheat berries and sweet potatoes
• Esther Shemtob's Hamin, a traditional Sephardic lamb dish
• Ayala Cohen's Meat Chulent, featuring frozen french fries and barbecue sauce
• Sarah Stampler's Meat Chulent, with cilantro and red wine
• My Mommy's Meat Chulent, with cumin and chili powder
• Argentinian Meat Chulent, with dried corn
• Vegetarian Chulent, with butternut squash
• Indian Style Chicken Chulent, with brown rice and lentils

Indian Inspired Turkey Chulent

3 celery stalks, cut into a few pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarse
2 russet or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
1 cup wheat berries
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
2 turkey drumsticks, skin removed

Put everything into a nice large pot or crock pot, in the order listed. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low. Leave the chulent simmering on low until Shabbos morning, or until you're ready to eat, at least 24 hours if possible. Serve hot.

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Slightly Special Baked Ziti

Raise your hand if you're a mom. Now, keep your hand raised if you have found a dinner that your ENTIRE family will eat (yes, including you!). Is it an easy dinner? Can it be made ahead of time? Is it reasonably healthy and not likely to raise your cholesterol / BMI / waist size more than 5%? Bet there aren't too many of you with your hands still raised!

Today I came up with a recipe that comes pretty close to meeting all these criteria. It's easy. It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for a couple of days. It's not too high on the calorie/fat scale. And almost everyone in the family enjoyed it.

I was hoping you wouldn't comment on the 'almost.' (I even shrunk down the font size in the hopes you wouldn't notice it.) I have to admit (please don't think less of me): I am not a real pasta fan. I have nothing against it. It's satisfying, tasty, and usually easy to prepare. But I think of pasta as an indulgence, and if I'm indulging, I'd rather have homemade bread. Or some dark chocolate. Or a piece of chocolate cake. Or maybe a good medium-rare steak. Pasta just isn't worth it to me.

That being said, five out of six is pretty good. Who cares about Mommy anyway? She can always just eat some yogurt or toast. (Seriously.)

This dish is nice because it's just a cut above the standard Baked Ziti. Maybe it's because it requires the use of a blender, or maybe it's the creaminess of the sauce, but I think this recipe is just a bit more elegant. The kids loved it and so did my husband Avi. So in my book, this was a real winner.

Slightly Special Baked Ziti
Use milk for a lighter recipe; cream if you aren't counting calories. To make it ahead of time, prepare the pasta but hold off on baking it. Refrigerate it for up to two days. Just let it come to room temperature for a couple of hours before baking, or increase the baking time by about 20 minutes. 


1 box of ziti or penne

1/2 of a 26-oz. jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I use Frescorti) 

1 cup ricotta cheese (I use part skim)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 cup milk or cream (or less)

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Cook the pasta till it's done but still firm. Make sure not to overcook it.

While the pasta cooks, combine the marinara sauce and all three cheeses in a blender. Add up to a cup of milk or cream, as needed, just enough to get the blender working through the thick mixture. Blend for a minute or two until well mixed and smooth.

Put the pasta into a 9x13 glass or disposable aluminum pan. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well.

 Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Cooked (naked) pasta

Doesn't this look
pretty? 

The blended sauce

Mixing the sauce in with the pasta

Pasta before baking

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Chickpea and Barley Stew

I discovered in the recent blizzard that I keep enough food in my home to stock a family of six for at least two months, probably more. I don't know if it's some kind of primal survival instinct, or just poor planning and budgeting, but I am not exaggerating when I say that we could go for MONTHS without a grocery trip. Right now, just to give you an idea, the top shelf of my pantry holds 11 boxes of pasta, 13 cans of tuna and 2 cans of salmon, 7 bags plus 14 cans of beans, 1 bag of split peas, 2 bags of lentils, 2 bags of barley, 2 bags of wheat berries, 4 cans of mushrooms plus a HUMONGOUS container of dried mushrooms, and 2 five-pound bags of flour. And that's just ONE shelf. (We have another four upstairs and three downstairs.)

It's rather scary.

Last week, I decided to do without any groceries, with the exception of milk, bread, and a few very basic fresh vegetables. We're cleaning out our pantry and it FEELS GOOD. This recipe is easy, healthy, and very economical.

Chickpea and Barley Stew
I have a plethora of dried beans at home, so I used those. You could easily use canned beans instead. Just add them along with the sweet potatoes instead of with the barley. I served some plain yogurt next to this dish (read more about my simple yogurt formula on my other blog) and called it a meal. 


1 tablespoon canola oil
1 yellow onion, minced
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
1 carrot, peeled and chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 whole cardamom seeds (or use 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup barley

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained

1/8 cup soy sauce

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
6-8 large mushrooms, washed and sliced

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute on medium for about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and saute, stirring, for about 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the spices and salt and continue to cook for another minute or two, stirring. Add the barley and cook for another minute or two, still stirring.

Add the chickpeas plus enough water to cover. Cook for about two hours, till the barley and chickpeas are tender but not mushy.

Add the soy sauce and sweet potatoes. Cook for another 1/2 hour.

Add the mushrooms and cook for a 1/2 hour longer. Serve warm.

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Sweet and Sour Salmon

I enjoy fish prepared simply, drizzled with a little olive oil and seasonings and then grilled, baked or pan fried.  But the hardest thing about most fish dishes, at least for a working mom, is that the fish really needs to be bought AND prepared AND eaten on the same day.  If by some miracle I had time to make it across town to the fish store on a weeknight, I'd be left with no time (or energy) to actually prepare the fish! :) Trips to the fish store are reserved for weekends and vacation days.

That's why sweet and sour salmon is one of my very favorite ways to prepare fish. It keeps in the fridge for a few days (I've gone up to five without poisoning my family) and in the freezer for a few weeks. Oh, and did I mention that the kids love it? They eat it without a word of complaint and even ask for doubles. That certainly makes a mommy feel good!

Sweet and Sour Salmon
This is my mother's recipe and one I have enjoyed for years. We never tire of it! Make sure not to overcook the fish; uncover it immediately to stop the cooking. 

1/3 cup brown sugar
1 onion, chopped

4 salmon fillets, skin scraped clean

4 bay leaves
1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup lemon juice

Heat a large shallow pot over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and onion, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and the sugar is caramelizing. 

Add the salmon to the pan, skin side down. Add the bay leaves, raisins, and lemon juice. Then add enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the fillets. 

Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook for exactly 17 minutes. Do not overcook. 

Uncover the pot and let the fish cool completely before transferring it to a glass or other non-reactive container. Refrigerate for at least five hours, or up to a few days. (Or, freeze for up to a few weeks.)

Linking this to Ultimate Recipe Swap. 

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