the Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart # Spiked ! Recipe Challenge

Do you know about the Spiked ! Recipe Challenge ? 

It is a bimonthly recipe challenge wherein Julie from This Gal Cooks and Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama challenge you to feature an alcoholic beverage of their choice in a recipe of your own or adapted to be your own.... Well, this month they chose American Craft Beers as the featured ingredient... since husband had just filled his growler with Black Duck Porter from Greenport Harbour Brewing Company, NY that Friday (the week when the challenge was announced) and i had  the framework of a recipe i wanted to try featuring that beer, i decided to join in the fun !

The thing is i do not drink alcohol or cook with it much. Not unless a storm visits and i decide to deep fry Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakodas  to brighten our day or  i join a challenge and bake a Loaded Rib- cage or a Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart just for fun ! 

The recipe i had in mind was Dorie's Mustard Tart from Around the French Table. We love Asparagus in the Dorie's Mustard Tart  as much as we love our  Beer-Battered Asparagus Pakodas. So this time i decided to merge the two recipes and make the spiked tart. now i do not mean to sound pretentious, but it was indeed a good plan. the tart with the added bitter-sweetness of the beer glazed onions and asparagus was rather delicious ! We finished most of it for dinner on day one and Mr MN took the left-over for lunch the next day....

the Spiked Asparagus Mustard Tart Adapted from GÉRARD’S MUSTARD TART (From “Around My French Table”)

ingredients 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves  of garlic, finely grated 1/2 lb Asparagus olive oil, for frying 1/2 cup Black Duck Porter Beer 6 tablespoons heavy cream 3 eggs 2 tbsps Dijon Mustard 2 tbsps French grainy Mustard sea salt and pepper, to taste 1/2 tsp red chilly powder 1 10 inch Tart shell, partially baked and cooled (recipe follows)* thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes, for garnish * the original recipe was for a 9 inch tart shell which i stretched to fit my 10 inch fluted tart pan. though i'll mention just in case you prefer a thicker crust ! -   what i did to begin with, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. next, I heated enough oil in the skillet and sauteed the onions and one garlic in it.   once the onions became slightly tender, i added 1/4 cup of Porter to it, simmered until most of the liquid had evaporated, then repeated the process one more time. once the onions were caramelized in the beer, i chopped half of the asparagus into 1/4 inch pieces, added it to the onions, seasoned the veggies and let them cook until the asparagus was tender yet crunchy.  then spooning the cooked veggies into the partially cooked tart shell, i added a till more oil in the skillet, added the remaining asparagus and garlic to it it, seasoned the asparagus and cooked it till it was tender yet crunchy. then switching off the heat i proceeded to make the mustard batter for the tart. for the batter, i whipped together the heavy cream and eggs along with the Dijon and grainy mustard and the chilly powder, seasoned it with salt and pepper and poured the batter over the beer glazed veggies.  i then arranged the remaining asparagus over the mustard batter, garnished it with thin slices of sun-dried tomatoes and baked the tart in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.** ** i set the timer and did not check on the tart in between. but from the colour of the cooked tart i am guessing that it might have been over baked by a couple of minutes.

so that was it... a simple and delicious tart spiked with Black Duck Porter Beer from the Greenport Harbour Brewing Company. i am not sure if that bit of information about the brewers is absolutely necessary. my husband insisted that i mention it.. and i obliged !

Dorie's Recipe of Partially Baked Tart Shell Recipe Source: Diner's Journal, NY Times

ingredients 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 6 tbsps unsalted butter, very cold, cut into bits  1 large egg 1 tsp ice cold water -   what i did 6 hours prior to baking, i sifted the flour and salt into a big bowl, added the sugar to it and mixed it well.  i then added the bits of cold butter to the flour mixture and mixed with my finger tips till the flour mixture became crumbly. i then beat the egg and water lightly,  drizzled the mixture over the flour and using my hand kneaded the flour until the dough came together. then gathering it into a ball, i  flattened it with the heel of my palm to form a disc, wrapped it with a plastic cling wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill for the next 3 hours. after 3 hours, i placed the chilled dough between two plastic sheets and using a rolling pin rolled it into thin sheet ( about 1/4-1/6 inches thick). i then placed the rolled out dough sheet inside a 10 inch fluted tart pan, pressed it along the floor and sides of the tart pan, pricked the dough sheet with the tints of a fork at several points and then put the tart pan in the refrigerator in order to chill the crust for an hour before baking it. 15 minutes before baking the crust, i positioned a rack in the center of the oven and preheated it to 400 degrees F.  i then baked the chilled crust in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, removed it and cooled it completely before filling it up with the glazed onions, asparagus and the mustard batter....

I'll be sharing this tart recipe with a few weekly food events........... will add the links along the way !