FFwD – Gerard’s Mustard Tart

My sister tasted a slice of the Gerard’s Mustard Tart the day after I’d made it, and she paused, mid-chew, and said it was the best thing she had ever eaten.

I’m inclined to agree.

The word “sublime” may have been used in our conversation.

I decided to make both the carrot-leek version and the tomato version because I couldn’t choose between the two.  We’ve also still got some tomatoes turning red in the gardens (or we did last weekend when I made the tarts), and I wanted to make something new and different with them. 

I thought little tartlets would be cute with sliced cherry tomatoes and the long tart pan would work nicely with the thin strips of carrot and leek.

I have to say, before I write further about the tarts, that I’ve been SO excited about the recipes we’re doing.  It’s hard not to try to cook the whole book at once.  But I am managing to restrain myself.

My husband’s cousin and his wife and their daughters came for dinner last Saturday.  It was a feast of baby back ribs, beer-can chicken, baked beans, cole slaw and corn bread.  Hearty and American. 

The appetizers and dessert, however, were from Dorie’s France.

I put the tart dough together Friday night.  I thought it came together very easily and was really nice to work with. 

I rolled out one portion for my rectangular tart pan and another portion to make 16 mini tarts.

  

I gave Julia the scraps and she made little strawberry jam sandwiches with them, which we had for breakfast the next morning.

I refrigerated the tart dough overnight and baked it off the next day.

Time to make the filling.

I started by picking some carrots from the garden and slicing them into little sticks, and then slicing up my leeks.  I counted out enough cherry tomatoes to put either one large or three tiny half cherries on each mini tart.

Then I picked some rosemary and steamed the carrots and leeks.

  

The filling was so easy to make – just the eggs, the mustards and – my one change to the recipe – I used plain, greek-style yogurt instead of crème fraîche or heavy cream. 

I had the yogurt, I didn’t have either of the others.

  

And it worked just fine, as far as I can tell – the final texture was smooth and lush.

For mustards, I used what I had – Grey Poupon’s Dijon and their Harvest Coarse Ground.

Speaking of mustard, I have to tell you this story.  Many years ago my sister and my best friend and her two little nephews were at a local sandwich/ice cream place having burgers for lunch.  My friend was sitting on one side of the booth between her nephews, who were probably six and five or something like that.  I don’t remember what started this, but one of the boys was upset about something and he was holding onto the mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles on the table.  Maybe he was upset that it was time to leave.  Anyway, my friend was doing her best to persuade the little boy, seated directly across from me, to let go of the bottles.  Somehow she pried the ketchup bottle out of his little hand, but he had a tighter grip on the mustard.  Things grew more and more tense…she begged, hissed, threatened, all the while doing her best to hold tightly to the bottle without holding too tightly. 

There was only one way for this story to end.

A long, yellow string of mustard shot straight up into the air about three feet and came down on the other little nephew’s head.

My friend marched both boys into the restroom, where we could hear her as she read the older one the riot act and washed yellow mustard out of the younger one’s hair.

My sister and I sat at the table, not daring to look at each other – or at any of the other diners nearby.  Eventually, though, we began to shake, and then to snort, and then to laugh uncontrollably, tears rolling down our faces. 

We paid the bill and were ready to leave by the time our pungent luncheon companions returned.

That’s my mustard story.

Anyway, back to the tarts.

I filled the tart shells with the custard mixture and placed the sticks of leek and carrot crosswise on the rectangular tart. 

And I dotted the mini tarts with the little cherry tomato halves.  If I remember correctly, Dorie’s recipe said to place the tomato halves cut side down, but I rebelled and placed them cut side up.  Then I sprinkled some chopped rosemary on top. 

And then I popped them all in the oven and began to suffer terribly as the aroma filled the kitchen…the dining room…the living room…the second floor.

They looked – and smelled – gorgeous out of the oven, and I had to remove myself from the room to avoid accidentally eating one before they were ready to come out of the pans.

Fortunately I had a bit of cleaning to do. 

It was hard to wait , though.

Fast forward to later in the day when family arrived and we could eat.  I’d sliced the rectangle tart into wedges and arranged them and the mini tarts on a big, round cutting board.

Final verdict?  The rectangular tart was – as I mentioned earlier – sublime.  The perfect ratio of filling to crust. 

The mini tarts were good – oh, and the little bites of tomato with rosemary on them were like…like a savory version of that gum years ago with a liquid center – a burst of flavor in your mouth.  (I’m tired, I’m not e’splainin myself too well at the moment.)  But the ratio of filling to tart was off – too much tart.  A bit too dry.  If I’d used smaller tart pans, and therefore less dough, maybe the ratio would have been better.

They were still yummy, though.

Those who tried the tarts were, I think, surprised.  We don’t use mustard as an ingredient as often as we could, I think, and this tart (or these tarts) will probably change that, at least for me.

Thank you, Dorie.  I love this tart. 

Both versions.

If you want to find out what everyone else thought of the tarts, head over to the French Fridays with Dorie site and check out all the links.

Comments

[chocolatechic]

I love your rectangle tart pan.

Beautiful tarts.

[Elaine]

What a great idea to do the mini-tarts! They all look so delicious and your photos are wonderful!

[Nicky]

These are beautiful! I love the look of the little bite-sized tarts -- and the rectangular one, too! I think I have tart pan envy...

[Monica]

Love what you did. I'm ready to make the tomato version over the weekend and I think I'm going to go with your idea of mini-tarts!

Great pictures and write up (love the mustard story too!).

[Di]

I was thinking of using my rectangular pan, and now I'm definitely going to--your tart looks gorgeous. I like the minis, too. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to make this recipe yet. It's on the list for this weekend. So maybe I'll get it posted by next Friday... =)

[Jacque]

Seriously lovely tarts you've got there!

[Cristine]

I MUST have a rectangular tart pan... LOVE IT! Your tarts look beautiful!

[Karen]

Gorgeous tarts!! Love the story about the nephews and the mustard. That is one for the memory books! :)

[luciacara]

Beautiful tarts & photos! And such a cute little girl making them :)

[luciacara]

Beautiful tarts & photos! And such a cute little girl making those tarts!

That is a funny mustard story - we have one in our family, too...when we were kids, at a picnic, my brother was worrying a mustard packet and it finally burst right into my sister's face. Part of family lore now.

[beth]

Funny Funny story!!! Your post was great. I love that you did it the two dif ways. Yummy lil bites and I will have to by that cute retangular tart pan.

[M]

nice post, nice pictures!

[KY]

I love your rectangular tart too! Great job yourself! :)

[K]

These came out beautifully! Love the mini tarts idea with (mini) tomatoes.

[Jessica of My Baking Heart]

So beautiful! I love all of your photos! :)

[marcella]

Great photos! I was tempted to try it in my rectangular tart pan but chickened out. You tart looks fabulous that way. Next time a rectangle!

[RoseAnn]

Those tarts made my mouth water!

A "mustard story" must be somewhat universal...in my family, the legendary mustard story (MS) is the time that I refilled the mustard squirt bottle and didn't get the lid all the way back on. When I shook it at the table, the lid flew off and I ruined my only New Kids on the Block T-shirt. Looking back, maybe that was fate stepping in to save me further embarassment. LOL

[Onewetfoot.wordpress.com]

I love what you did with the recipe - the rectangular tart is especially pretty.

[Trevor Sis Boom]

Very fun with the rectangle! I think I used the word "sublime" in my post too. Great minds and great tarts think alike. Yours is so beautiful! (I can see you are an overachiever so I keep coming back!)

Trevor Sis Boom

[Ariel]

I love how creative you got with your tart! Kudos!

[Tianne Chai]

what lovely appetizers! looks delicious, great job! Tia @ Buttercreambarbie

[spike]

they look so beautiful. I agree, it is difficult not to bake every recipe in this book right away!

[Mary]

Your pictures are lovely and I agree..it is hard not to make everything in the book this week!

[krissy @ thefoodaddicts.com]

these tarts look adorable! i will have to think of this next time i need to use up my cherry tomatoes in my garden. thanks!!

[Clivia Gardens]

Gorgeous tart and tartlets! A wonderful write-up. I'll stop by every week.

[Thymeandspace.wordpress.com]

Darn you!!! Because of YOU, I just *had* to get a rectangular tart pan. Your's just looked so great, I had to have one, too. I skipped this recipe, but I'll probably make it when my new pan arrives. :-)

[Heather B]

The little tarts are so cute! And I love the rectangular tart pan! Now I really, really want one.

[mike]

Now I'm a little leary of yellow mustard! What a great story - and how beautiful everything looks! All of it is sublime... especially your perfectly sliced veggies... how do you get them so perfect? Lovely!

[Jenny]

This is somewhat out of topic but I love, love, love the photo on your blog header. It screams Fall's here! And your tarts. How beautiful. The rectangle one looks like those gourmet tarts you get at a high-end food store, a French one of course and the mini tarts - oh, I think I can just pop several of those yummy-looking minis in no time. Wonderful photos. Great story. Superb!!

[josefa]

thanks for stopping by! i know what you mean about making everything in the cookbook...i already made the apple cake...but sshhh don't tell anyone. i even got my husband addicted to the cookbook.

[LaJuana]

Your tarts are gorgeous! Love the rectangular tart pan. I think that's got to be on my Christmas list! Looking at the other responses here, this might be the time to buy stock in whatever company makes them because I have an idea there will be a sudden increase in their sales this week!

The mini tarts were gorgeous, a shame the dough was a bit much for them.

Love your assistant chef too...I bet her creations were terrific!