An Onion and Fig Tart To Start Off Your Next Dinner Party, with Cocktails, Of Course

More from Cocktail Buzz’s Cookbook Challenge . . .

The seductive aroma and complex flavors of Ras el Hanout, a North African spice blend, are the secret to this tart’s success.

If architectural terms, puff pastry is the foundation that keeps your tart structurally sound. This cocktail party workhorse is just about the easiest thing in the world to create with. All you need to do is let it thaw and unfold. Your imagination then takes over as you decide on the sweet and savory toppings. Most anything in your crisper or on top of your kitchen counter will work well with the flaky, layered dough. The one thing puff pastry doesn’t like, however, is bland. That’s why caramelized onions are the perfect “main floor” of your tart. Little else, save salt and pepper, are needed. We found a basic caramelized onion tart recipe in a very helpful, instructional book called Knives Cooks Love, one of the books we chose this month as part of our ongoing Cookbook Challenge. In our version, we wanted to ramp up sweetness and spiciness with some fresh mission figs, cut into halves or quarters, and a sprinkling of the 30-plus-spice Moroccan blend known as ras el hanout.

Mission figs are starting to appear in markets right now and should be available through the end of September. Chose ones that are plump, dark, and give a little when you squeeze them. You don’t want them greenish, or they will taste slightly astringent. When fully ripe, they should taste more like newton filling. Adding ras el hanout works magically with figs. Figs were originally brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors, so choosing a spice blend from generally the same part of the world seemed to us like a good fit. Besides having the usual mixture of ground cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, and cumin, the ras el hangout we used had some rosebuds ground in the mix as well, offsetting the spiciness with a slight floral taste and aroma.

Caramelized Onion Tart with Figs 
(inspired by and adapted from Sur la Table’s Knives Cooks Love, by Sarah Joy)

Ingredients
4 yellow onions
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 10"×10", thawed
5 fresh black mission figs, quartered or halved¹
1 tablespoon ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend)²
orange zest (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the onions in half from pole to pole. Then take each half and cut from pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices. (To achieve this, you will have to cut obliquely into the onion, by angling the knife a little. Start slicing from the bottom, then move your way to to the top. Readjust, then slice the remaining onion.)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onions and salt, and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every so often. The onions can brown a little, but you do not want them to burn. If they seem to be sticking too much to the pan, add a little water to loosen them up. After they are done cooking, remove them from the pan to a plate to allow them to cool completely.

Next, unfold a sheet of puff pastry onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten a little with a rolling pin, to roughly 11"×11". Prick the dough all over with a fork, but avoiding close to the perimeter. Keep the dough refrigerated if you are not ready to assemble the tart.

Spread the caramelized onions evenly over the dough, leaving a little room at the edges. Arrange the sliced figs on top in a way that every slice will allow at least one bite of fig. Sprinkle the ras el hanout (and orange zest, if using) from about a foot above the tart, so that it disperses evenly over its entirety. Bake until the crust is golden on top and also underneath (you can check the bottom by lifting the tart with a spatula), about 25–30 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into bite-sized squares or rectangles if for a cocktail party; if for dinner, cut into nine even squares. Serve warm.

¹  You can substitute any fresh figs. If you only have dried figs, add them to a small pot, fill with water so that it covers the figs completely, bring to a boil, remove from heat, and cover. Let sit for at least 2 hours. Remove from water and use. Instead of dumping the remaining liquid, you can add some sugar to it (about 1/4 cup), bring to a simmer, and reduce for about 10 minutes, or until desired thickness. You can use this fig simple syrup as a sweetener substitute in one of the cocktails below. If thicker, you can pour over vanilla ice cream.

²  You can get prepared ras el hanout from spice purveyors such as Kalustyan’s in NYC. No two are exactly alike, and some can use over 30 different spices and herbs.

Pairing Suggestions

Accompany your onion tart
with a cocktail and a side salad.

Brandy Old-Fashioned
Champagne Cocktail
Sidecar
Jack Rose
Slivovitz Sour
Gin and Tonic
Tom Collins
French 75
Pimm’s Cup

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Two Cucumber Side Dishes for Spring, plus a Pimm’s Cup Recipe

Cocktail Buzz’s Cookbook Challenge Continues . . . 

Our Cookbook Challenge has yielded tasty results, including Stuffed Cucumbers with Green Mayonnaise, above.

Last month we challenged you to pour through your cookbooks, both dog-eared and pristine, every time you needed inspiration for ingredients you had lying around. Throughout the month of April, we continued to be inspired by Culinary Artistry and The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book when we had some cucumbers that were in desperate need of a makeover. We present you the following results.

Stuffed Cucumbers with Green Mayonnaise

(adapted from The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book)

Serves 2–4

Cucumbers are low in calories, have a goodly amount of antioxidants, and are very high in vitamin K, which has been found to increase bone strength. They are also quite tasty in this side dish that celebrates the greenness of spring, incorporating peas, string beans, and a host of fresh greens and herbs. It takes a little time to make, but is well worth the effort, especially if you want to double up the recipe for a spring dinner party or brunch.

Ingredients
2 long cucumbers
4–6 ounces frozen or fresh peas
4–6 ounces (handful) string beans, stems removed
chives, minutely cut
large handful cress (any kind), stems removed
large handful spinach (not baby), stems removed
large handful fresh chervil, stems removed
large handful fresh tarragon, stems removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6–8 ounces mayonnaise
juice 1/2 lemon

Method
Cut unpeeled cucumbers in half lengthwise. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place cucumbers in an ice bath until cooled. Dry thoroughly and chill. With water still boiling, add string beans and cook until desired tenderness. Remove from heat and place beans in an ice bath until cooled. Dry and chill. In the same water, boil peas until desired tenderness. Remove from heat and place peas in an ice bath until cooled. Dry and chill. Boil cress, spinach, tarragon, and chervil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place herbs in an ice bath until cooled. Drain using a colander, pressing as much liquid out as you can. Then wrap herbs in cheese cloth and squeeze out the remaining liquid. Chop finely and mix in mayonnaise with the juice of half a lemon. Set aside.

Remove vegetables from refrigerator. Take cucumbers and hollow out by removing seeds with a 1/2 teaspoon or other rounded spoon, within 1/4 inch of the skin. Set aside on a tray. Dice beans. Fill cucumbers with beans and peas. Dollop with green mayonnaise. Sprinkle with chives.

Notes
Sometimes fresh chervil, a lightly green-flavored and delicate herb, can be difficult to find (it’s notoriously difficult to grow, as well). You can use some curly parsley instead, or eliminate altogether.

Quick Pickled Cucumber Slices
(inspired by Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page)

Paul looked up “Cucumbers” in Culinary Artistry for some flavor-pairing inspiration for a quick pickle. The results will keep you stealing them from the jar. They are perfect as a sweet and tart side dish, or as a topper for sandwiches.

Ingredients
1 long cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly into circles (a mandoline at 1.5 or 2.0 makes this easy)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried spearmint
1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon dried urfa pepper flakes, or some other smoky slightly hot dried pepper, such as aleppo
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large shallot, thinly sliced

Method
Place cucumbers in a bowl. Meanwhile, dissolve sugar in both vinegars in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients. Remove from heat. Allow to cool uncovered.  Pour over cucumber slices. Transfer to a sterile jar and refrigerate.

Pimm’s Cup
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz from the traditional recipe)

Nothing says “It’s warm enough to have a drink outdoors” like a Pimm’s Cup, a bittersweet elixir that originated in England as a gin-based, herbal-infused digestive aid, and is now a traditional seasonal drink for many American tipplers who enjoy yachting, horseshoes, and an excuse to have a cocktail before Happy Hour. We also use Pimm’s in our Zul Mule, another tasty concoction that lets the one-of-a-kind flavor of Pimm’s shine.

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
3 ounces lemon-lime soda (you can substitute ginger ale)
cucumber and lemon slices, as garnish
ice

Method
Fill a highball or collins glass with ice. Add Pimm’s and top with soda. Stir until slightly chilled. Garnish with slices of cucumber and lemon.

Notes

Borage flowers

If you have some borage growing in your garden, do add a bloom to the glass as you would a mint spring. Borage was originally used, along with the leaves, as a Pimm’s Cup garnish. The blooms are edible and taste a little like cucumbers.

Our next Cookbook Challenge

Follow us as we channel creative vibes from our next three cookbooks, picked totally at random: Knives Cook Love from Sur la Table, Feast by Nigella Lawson, and Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (yes, two Nigella books!).

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Put Your Cookbooks to Good Use with This Fun Challenge

Time to dust off your old cookbooks and find inspiration from their time-weathered pages. You may even surprise yourself.

Challenges transform. They zap life into stagnant energy, shake up the status quo, and make us look at the world a little bit differently. Take Sunday morning. The rousing aroma of coffee and early light streaming through the turquoise curtains woke us up. We were ready to embrace the day. As Paul sipped, he stared quietly at the cookbook-lined shelves and thought, “Geez, when was the last time I looked at that one.” So he turned to Steve and said, “Hey, we should implement some kind of challenge whereby, every time we need to turn to a recipe this month, we have to peruse one or more of these books to come up with something.” “Sounds great,” was Steve’s reply. So Paul geekily scribbled down the names of each book on a piece of notecard, spread them out and offered them up to Steve to choose one. Then another. Then a third. The three books that would inspire us for the rest of the month were as follows:

Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (Wiley 1996). The precursor to The Flavor Bible, their wildly popular compendium of flavor pairings, Culinary Artistry is also chockablock full of great advice on how to pair flavors. You look up an ingredient, say artichokes, and discover, in varying degrees of compatibility, what other foods and flavors go well with these springtime veggies (the best ones are anchovies, garlic, hollandaise sauce, lemon, and vinaigrette). It also offers favorite recipes culled by top chefs from that era.

Cooking for Company by the Food Editors of Farm Journal (Doubleday 1968). These are simple recipes you’d expect from that era. Lots of margarine, shortening, and other processed foods ramp up the nostalgia. It’s for the housewife who wants little fuss so she can still get all her morning and afternoon chores done before the kids get home from school and daddy parks his tractor. On one page you’ll be tempted to make Lima Beans with Cheese (“Try Gruyère instead of the Cheddar or Swiss for a flavor change”). On another, Party Pork Rolls, made with both fresh and smoked ham.

The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book (1954). Recipes told as stories; stories told with recipes. What exactly is this book by Gertrude Stein’s lover, best known for her hash brownie (“Haschich Fudge”) recipe? Whatever you decide, its entertaining, filled with little tips to help you produce the most gastronomically appealing dish possible, whether you’re whipping up a sauce mousseline for some seasonal asparagus, or baking your recent catch of shad, with mushrooms and parsley, in a winy, butter cream sauce. But getting back to the Haschich Fudge, who doesn’t love a recipe that includes the following headnote:

Euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extensions of one’s personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected.

Tuna salad can be so boring, but not with the addition of the Best-Ever Salad Dressing.

Steve took to the challenge immediately, combining inspiration from the TUNA entry in Culinary Artistry with Cooking for Company’s recipe for Best-Ever Salad Dressing. The mashup goes something like this:

Best-Ever Salad Dressing
(adapted from Cooking for Company by the Food Editors of Farm Journal (Doubleday 1968))

Ingredients
2 cups mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste, or mashed anchovies

8 ounces honey french dressing (recipe below from Cooking for Company)

Method
Combine a little mayonnaise with anchovy paste to blend thoroughly. Stir in remaining mayonnaise and other ingredients.

Makes 2 3/4 cups.

Honey French Dressing
(adapted from Cooking for Company by the Food Editors of Farm Journal (Doubleday 1968))

Ingredients
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup canola oil

Method
In a small bowl, mix salt, pepper and dry mustard; stir in vinegar and honey. Slowly add the salad oil while beating with a mixer. I used an immersion blender. makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Best-Ever Tuna Salad
(created by Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 can tuna, drained
1/2 pound dry pasta, cooked and drained
3 carrots, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup peas (cook, if fresh or thaw, if frozen)
3/4–1 cup of Best-Bever Salad Dressing (recipe above from Cooking for Company)

Method
Combine ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve over a bed of lettuces.

❤ ❤ ❤

With a lone sweet potato waiting patiently to be transformed, Paul opted for a recipe for Sweet Potato Biscuits in Cooking for Company to go with the leftover Spiced Pork Loin that had been the inspiration for the last few evenings’ dinners. They came out the color of sunflowers, and were a little fluffy, a little crumbly, and, when drizzled with a little honey and lightly swiped with creamy butter, more than perked up the spiced pork.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
(adapted from Cooking for Company by the Food Editors of Farm Journal (Doubleday 1968))

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached flour
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (1 regular-sized potato should do the trick)
up to 3 tablespoons whole milk

Method
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Blend in sweet potatoes. Add enough milk to make a soft dough (this will depend on moisture in potatoes, so add one tablespoon at a time). Knead lightly, folding it several times to create layers (do not overwork dough). Roll 3/4" thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with floured 2" cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake in hot oven for 20 minutes, or until the biscuits have browned.

Makes about 15–20 biscuits, depending on diameter of cutter.

❤ ❤ ❤

We’re still reading the Toklas book and are finding fun recipes on every page. Now it’s your turn. Dust off those cookbooks and find inspiration now.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz