I have a new toy

My little mini food processor has served me so well for the past 4 years. I've rejoiced when it's turned out the perfect salsa, or the savory dip; I've also cursed its size when I've wanted to make pate or duxelles and have had to do 6 batches of the same thing. Of late my little guy had started to show its wear and the blade started to separate from the housing. I knew it was time to start shopping for a replacement.

Enter the replacement. It's a wee bit bigger than the previous model (okay, so it doesn't exactly "fit under the cabinet"), and has many more features. I'll always have a special place in my heart for the mini chopper, but now that I have the big guy, it'll be hard to go back.

Below is the premiere recipe for the new food processor. I used the slicing attachment to work through 8 cups of thinly sliced onions in about 3 minutes. I also pulsed the tart dough in this baby. The recipes not in this post that I also created the same day were: homemade bread and an artichoke & bean puree.

The following recipe comes from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. The recipe is intended for a 10-inch pie plate. Believe it or not, I don't actually own a pie plate, so I used a 10-inch tart pan. I used a little less of the egg mixture, since the pan is a little more shallow than a pie plate.

I served this up with a green salad and roasted asparagus.

Caramelized Onion Tart

Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 c. unbleached AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chilled butter

3-4 Tbsp. ice water

Filling Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil or canola oil... whatever's your fancy

8 c. thinly sliced onions

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme (I used herbes de Provence, due to lack of dried thyme)

6 large eggs

1/4 c. unbleached AP flour

1 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

1 c. grated Gruyere cheese ( let's be honest, I probably used way more than this)

Method:

*OK, you don't HAVE to use a food processor (FP), but it really makes life easier. I'm putting instructions for both.

Crust FP method:

Dump the flour, salt, and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse about 10 times, or until the mixture looks like peas, or a coarse meal. Turn the FP on and slowly pour in the ice water. You want the mixture to form a ball. If it is still dry, add more water 1 T at a time. If it looks wet, then add 1 T. of flour.

Crust by hand method:

Combine flour, salt and butter into a large bowl. Either with a pastry cutter, a couple of knives, or your fingers (the easiest) cut the butter into the flour until your mixture looks like peas, or a coarse meal. While stirring, add in the ice water. You want the mixture to form a ball. If it is still dry, add more water 1 T at a time. If it looks wet, then add 1 T. of flour.

Once the crust has been made you can either (1) chill it down and roll it out and place it over your pie/tart pan or (2) directly press it into the pan and chill the whole pan down for 30 minutes.

Filling method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. (Make sure you do this when your dough is in the fridge, otherwise the butter solids will start to melt before you want them to.)

2. Warm the oil in a deep, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onions and salt.

3. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

4. Add in the thyme and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. You're looking for a deep, golden brown color.

5. Remove from heat and set aside.

6. Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, salt, and mustard, until smooth.

7. Spread the onions into the bottom of the pie shell.

8. Cover with the grated cheese.

9. Pour the custard mixture over the top.

10. Top with more grated cheese.

11. Bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown (50-60 minutes)*

*NOTE: I put my tart pan on a parchment-lined cookie sheet just in case of overflows.

Serve immediately or at room temp.