Sunday night dinner

I really have got to remember to put my camera on the kitchen island when making a big dinner. I totally forgot to take any pictures last night.

Last night I made a dinner that was very yummy but not particularly well-balanced in terms of flavors. I made

• Stuffed Pork Tenderloin from Amuse Bouche’s recipe (mine kind of looked like that, so just imagine that’s mine)
• Alsatian Onion Tart: puffed pastry, onion, and bacon, from Baking With Julia
• Squash: most embarrassing, I can’t remember which type of squash it was, other than “not very tasty”
• Strawberry Shortcake, from the recipe in How To Be A Domestic Goddess

The whole dinner went over well. The stuffed pork tenderloin came out very juicy and flavorful; the kids ate some, which was more than they’ve eaten of most entrees. The onion tart was flaky and sweet—this would make an excellent appetizer, preferably with a dish that wasn’t already heavy with onions and bacon! And the strawberry shortcake: Who cares that this is totally the wrong season for strawberries! (Have markets always been full of strawberries at Valentine’s Day?) Add some sugar, some whipped cream, and voila! Life is really good.

Alsatian Onion Tart
About 1/2 pound puff pastry scraps, chilled
4 very large onions, peeled and diced
1 cup chicken broth (homemade or canned low-sodium)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 pound slab bacon

Preparing the Pastry

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface until it is very thin, 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Using the lid of a pot as a guide, cut the pastry with a very sharp knife into a circle 10 to 12 inches across. Transfer the rolled-out pastry to an ungreased baking sheet and price the dough all over, using either a docker or the tines of a fork. Go overboard with this—try arming yourself with a fork in each hand and playing out a lively tattoo on the dough—the docking, or pricking, will keep the pastry from puffing, just what you want for this tart. Cover the pastry with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. You can prepare the pastry up to 1 day ahead.

Making the Topping

Put the diced onions and the chicken broth in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, discarding any liquid, and let the onions cool. When the onions have cooled, stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. (Keep tasting—you may want to go easy on the salt because of the bacon.)

Remove the rind from the bacon and cut the bacon into 1/4-inch cubes. Drop the cubes into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 1 minute, just to blanch them. Drain and rinse under cold water, then pat dry with paper towels.

Heat a medium skillet over moderately high heat, toss in the bacon pieces, and cook, stirring, for just a minute or two—you don’t want to overcook these, or they’ll turn tough; season with pepper. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain well on paper towels. At this point, the topping can be covered and refrigerated for 1 day.

Assembling and Baking

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

Remove the pastry round from the refrigerator and top with the cooled onions, spreading the onions all the way to the edge of the pastry. Scatter the bacon pieces over the onions, pushing them down into the onions just a little (this will not only protect the bacon from burning, it will flavor the onions). Bake the tart for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Storing

Both the pastry and the topping can be made ahead, but the tart is at its best just baked.

Contributing Baker Michel Richard

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Strawberry Shortcake

For the shortcakes:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup light cream
1 large egg white, slightly beaten
1 baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment or wax paper
2 1/2 inch round cutter

For the filling:
approximately 11 oz. strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar
few drops balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 cup heavy cream, whipped or creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl. Grate the butter into these dry ingredients and use your fingertips to finish crumbling the butter into the flour. Whisk the egg into the cream, and pour into the flour mixture a little at a time, using a fork to mix. You may not need all of the eggy cream to make the dough come together, so go cautiously.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll gently to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Dip the cutter in flour and cut out as many rounds as you can. Work the scraps back into a dough, re-roll and finish cutting out—you should get 8 in all. Place the shortcakes about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg white, and sprinkle them with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. If it helps with the rest of your cooking, or life in general, you can cover and refrigerate them now for up to 2 hours.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown, and let them cool for a short while on a wire rack. Meanwhile, crush half the strawberries with the spoonful of sugar and the few drops of balsamic vinegar if using, and halve or quarter the remaining strawberries, depending on their size. Whip the heavy cream, if you’re using.

The shortcakes should be eaten while still warm, so split each one across the middle and cover with a spoonful fo the crushed strawberry mixture, a few halved or quartered strawberries, then dollop some whipped cream or creme fraiche on top, and set the top back on.

Makes 8.