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ArcaMax Publishing > Home & Garden > Recipes > Recipes by Zola

French-Country Onion Tart

Recession-Proof Your Dinner Parties

Food prices are getting ridiculous! They creep up more every week. People are eating out less or eating more "fast food". My plan? Have people over for dinner and keep on laughing; even when times are tough.

Keeping in touch with your friends during tough times is a great stress reducer. We can all stick together.

I recently did dinner for six for $36.44. No coupons; nothing was a special of the day. It's a fancy-enough meal. I've never been embarrassed to serve chicken at a dinner party. Everyone had plenty to eat. At $6.07per person you can't beat it.* (Well, I'm sure some of you can and do! I even heard of a woman the other day who bought $142 worth of groceries and paid just 21 cents in cash for the whole load. She runs a website called supercouponing.com. Check it out! This is a group of women determined to share how they get their deals and save money. You can even attend their seminars! )

Fancy Dinner for Six: $36.44.

What I am going to do here is lay out my menu, talk about why I chose the different items and give you even more hints on how to recession-proof your dinner parties.

What's for dinner?

Grilled chicken palliards with a warm lemon butter sauce
French country onion tart with bacon
Ripe tomato salad with a dressing drizzle

Hint: Write or print a menu and give your dinner items "fancy" names: Grilled chicken palliards are just pounded, skinless, breast pieces. Pound them with your meat mallet until they are 1/2 " thick. Oil, sprinkle on salt, pepper and any other flavoring you'd like (Italian seasoning, curry powder or garlic powder are three ideas). Then grill. Take the juice from two lemons and combine with 6 Tbl of melted butter. Stir. When you serve the chicken, drizzle on the "sauce". Simple!

Hint: Turn the simple into the sublime: Onions are a pretty pedestrian ingredient. Bacon too. But combine them into the French country tart and you've elevated them big timel! Top shelf! You'll love this recipe (see box).

Bonus: when you make this tart you'll have left over bacon and eggs from your ingredient list. Have them for breakfast!

Simple Salads: Chefs will always say the ingredient makes the dish. In this case, truly ripe tomatoes are a wonderful thing. I dust juicy slices with a bit of salt and pepper and then drizzle on reduced balsamic vinegar at the last minute. Do that or find whatever dressing you have in the fridge and just drizzle it on. No extra cost. Vinaigrette, French or blue cheese are all good ideas.

Entree served.

Hint: Co-op the meal! When I do dinner parties I usually serve an appetizer and a dessert. During the recession, split the cost by asking one couple to bring an appetizer and one to bring a dessert. To keep things cohesive, give them direction. In this case you'd tell them that your menu is a French Country theme. That way they can bring an appetizer and a dessert to match!

Hint: Simplify and Budget for Drinks: You can always follow my idea of a "drink of the day". Simple vodka with lemonade in a pitcher and you have your drink handled. Have a few beers around for those that prefer beer and have wine. My idea for wine is to check out South American wines. Several are very good and most are cheaper. Way cheaper. Look for wines rated a 96 or better or ask your wine merchant for advice. They know the deals they have in stock. Don't be afraid. Tell them you want wine for $7 or less if you want to. And don't flinch. You're just being recession-smart! And you'll learn some new wines.

Enjoy your dinner, your friends and smile. Things will get better.

French-Country Onion Tart

1 pre-made pie crust (Pillsbury is one brand)
5 slices of bacon
3 Tbl of butter
2 large sweet onions (Vidalia work great). Slice very thinly. Use a mandolin on level 1 if you have one.
4 eggs
3/4 cup of whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp of grated nutmeg
A pinch or two of cayenne (optional)

Unroll your pastry crust and place it gently into a 10" fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Squish the edges of the crust gently up the sides. Prick bottom with a fork in several spots. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake for 9 minutes. It will be a light beige and dry.

While the pastry is baking, fry your bacon. When it's light brown and crisping remove the bacon and dice. If you get some "teeny bits" don't toss them. You can use those too.

Pour out the bacon grease but don't wash the pan. Add butter and onions. Saute onions until loose and just beginning to brown. Stir often.

In a bowl, whip the eggs and cream. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Just make sure the eggs are well broken up and fully mixed. Let stand until ready to fill your tart.

Remove the tart from the oven. Set the tart pan on top of a cookie sheet so it's sitting inside the pan. Spread the bacon bits on the bottom of the tart. Add the onions and spread them around so they cover the bottom of the tart. Now, slowly pour in your cream mixture. Careful not to overflow the tart. Depending on how large your onions are you might have a bit of cream/egg mixture left over. Just toss it or save for scrambled eggs. Carefully transfer the tart to a 350 degree oven. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes until the tart begins to brown on top and the when you shift the tart slightly it doesn't jiggle in the middle.

Remove tart from oven. If the rest of dinner is ready you can serve it now. You can also let it sit on the counter and reheat it a bit later. Although leftovers taste great, after it's been in the refrigerator, the crust will lose some crispness so I don't recommend baking it very much ahead. Try to bake it while you are having cocktails before dinner.

Cheers!
Enjoy!
Zola

Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.



This news arrived on: 08/25/2008

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