Jenny's Onion Tart and the end of the fall semester!

     I caught up with her just outside the barn; she heard my step behind her and turned, startled. She glanced about quickly, but saw we were alone. Realizing that there was no way of putting off a confrontation, she squared her shoulders under the woolen cloak and lifted her head, meeting my eyes straight on. 
     “I thought I’d best tell Young Ian to unsaddle the horse,” she said. “Then I’m going to the root cellar to fetch up some onions for a tart. Will ye come with me?” 
     “I will.” Pulling my cloak tight around me against the winter wind, I followed her into the barn.
-- Diana Gabaldon, Voyager

What do you make for a dinner and game night with friends after King Soopers gives you a 5lb bag of onions instead of 5 small onions you asked for?  Jenny's Onion Tart, of course!  I'm thrilled I grabbed the tart pan when clearing out my parent's house after their deaths. Mom had hundreds of implements of baking destruction, and I scored on all fronts.  The bechamel sauce was easy to make, which made the work of julienning the onions the tedious task.  The sauce looked to be too much for the size of the tart, so I ended up not adding it all.  That was wrong - don't worry about the quantity.  It'll be fine.

If you try the recipe, don't be alarmed when the tart comes out of the oven, and the top looks too big. It will fall and look more tart(ish).  The addition of nutmeg to the bechamel sauce was surprising.  French-Canadian cooking uses a ton of nutmeg with its dishes with the standard cinnamon, clove, and sage, but I didn't expect it in this dish. Perfection.  Unfortunately, I can't enjoy it today with my morning eggs - my tart pan came home empty.  I'd make another, but I have too much other holiday baking to do right now.




I'm now officially on Winter Break!  I phoned in my last assignment for the Spirituality class.  I contracted a sinus infection after we came home from vacation and didn't have enough energy to care about doing a good job.  It showed, and she told me I should have done better.  Duly noted - thank you for your words.  I was willing to accept less than an A in the class just to get the credit and be on break.  The other class had a group project involved for the final, and I was not looking forward to being on Team Bare Minimum again.  I hated those projects as an undergrad and was convinced it was TBM all over again.  How glad was I to be slotted for Team Overachiever!

Time to start baking - Happy Holidays, everyone!