French Fridays with Dorie: Gérard’s mustard tart

I approached this week’s French Fridays with Dorie with trepidation…  Gérard’s Mustard Tart (pp 154-156).  Requiring pastry.

Pastry and I are not friends.  But I was determined to give it a go, with Dorie cheering me on over Twitter!

The pastry seemed a little dry. Maybe my butter was too cold?  I was careful to not overwork it but on reflection, I should have perhaps spent a little more time kneading and softening the butter into the flour. In any case, one of the most exciting revelations for me this week was rolling the dough in between sheets of waxed paper.  (I know, where have I been all this time?)

My pâte was most definitely looking brisée..

But Dorie encouraged me to patch it together with water and the broken pieces…

Whilst I blind baked the pastry, I prepared the innards…

And filled the tart with the vegetables and eggy, mustardy, creamy goodness… (no, mine is not as pretty as Dorie’s is in the book…)

Well it certainly *looked* right coming out of the oven…

And – ahem – someone was very interested in the tart containing dairy and eggs…

(notice how Dorie’s spirit – the book – is near the tart in a lot of these pictures?  I am trying to channel my inner Dorie…)

Verdict?  Well is certainly was not as beautiful as Dorie’s and I found the filling a little skimpy – I would have preferred it to be fuller, however I have a feeling my tart pan is slightly bigger than the 9 inch shell this recipe calls for.  But the taste???

It was like a little piece of France.  The buttery crust, the rich custard with a hint of mustard, the vegetables…  It’s the sort of dish you might find on a menu of a French café at lunchtime.  Served with a salade verte and a hunk of crusty bread, this is the perfect Sunday evening dinner. I will definitely be trying this again and perhaps next time I will use Dorie’s “bonne idée” with tomatoes as the featured vegetable.  So even though my pastry was not perfect, it didn’t totally suck. Which was encouraging. Thanks Dorie!!!

Want to join in the fun? Join French Fridays with Dorie here and follow along on Twitter.

36 thoughts on “French Fridays with Dorie: Gérard’s mustard tart”

  1. “Felicitations!” I think it looks great — I like the way you arranged the vegetables. And the best part is that you loved it. Hooray and brava!

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  2. My cat looks just like you cat! I’m very impressed that you made your own dough. I was lazy & bought mine at the store 😉

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  3. Ha! “It didn’t totally suck” you say. Looks delicious, all puffy brown on top and savory. And if you can conquer macarons, I’m sure pastry will crumble at your feet as well. (little joke there).

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  4. I saw your link on thefood.ca and thought I’d come for a visit–it’s been a while! Your tart looks delicious–that’s one smart cat you’ve got. I joined FFwD too, but I just moved and haven’t managed to make anything yet. 2 weeks in and I’m 2 recipes behind already. Sigh. Next week for sure.
    🙂

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  5. Your tart looks lovely. I like the look of your Red rice pilaf with candied hazelnuts as well … I think I might give that a go.

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  6. Miss Cleo! Yay! I had not quite been feeling right lately and couldn’t put my finger on why… now I know I had been missing her furry face.

    Ahh, you now know the ways of the double waxed paper. There is no stopping you now!!

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  7. Looks right to me? Pastry and me aren’t best friends but they tastes so good! And how cool that Dorie commented on your blog 🙂

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  8. Well… I can empathize with the pastry concerns; some do it with grace and most of us have a difficult time. Great kudos for just doing it and I think yours turned out just fine.
    As a whole, I think this a FUN and tasty dish. I too would fill a bit more next time, but so what! You have easily proven the point that I Can Be Done – ’cause you did it. The fillings are awsome. Leek and carrot slivers were made for each other.
    Question: Did you pre-cook the veggies at all? I often give them a short steam/blanche/something, because the egg-focused bake is a bit gentle for some ingredients.
    You done did really good, friend. And remember, Dorie’s pix were thoroughly staged, not typical product. Yours look just fine and cause a Pavlovian response, here. And your procedure monitor (kitty) is a cutie. Thanks for posting on Photograzing.

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  9. Yeah, Mardi! It still turned out looking pretty freakin’ awesome to me!!! When am I coming over for brunch? Hahaha. Just kidding!

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  10. Spot on with this write-up, I actually suppose this website wants much more consideration. I’ll in all probability be once more to learn far more, thanks for that info.

    Reply

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