Upside-Down Onion Tarts

I've seen these delectable little tarts everwhere lately.  I actually made these a couple of months ago after seeing them on social media.  They've been a fave with YouTubers and vloggers/bloggers of all sorts (hellooo Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella).  So here's my version, which is a mish-mash from Karissa Eats, Barry Lewis and EmmyMade (I think).  Oh yes, and from a magazine too - possibly the Coles or Woolworths one.  Very simple and delicious, however you make it.  

Are these not just a mini tarte tatin you're asking?  Yep of course they are!  But you know those social media hacks; they just take off like wildfire and die down just as quickly.  Anyway, we really enjoyed these, whatever their genesis.  And speaking of genesis, has anyone seen that woman on YouTube who believes that dinosaurs never existed, otherwise we'd all be digging them up in our backyards!  Hehehe!!  You gotta laugh, or you'd cry.  

so crunchy and flavoursome

Serves 2 hungry people, or 4 not so hungry:

ingredients:

1 medium-large potato, thinly sliced and boiled/steamed till just tender, and left to cool down

3/4 large red onion, very finely sliced

a biiig pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp garlic granules

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

a splodge of honey for each wee tart

fresh thyme leaves for sprinkling over the filling

2-3 Tbs of vintage cheddar cheese, grated   see Notes

EV olive oil, over the bottom of your baking tray

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but only just! and cut into 4 equal squares

1 egg, beaten, for the egg wash - or use milk as I do

Method:

So firstly, line your baking tray with baking paper, and oil the bottom of the paper in 4 places (for each tart)

Set your oven to 200C/400F

Place a quarter of the onion slices, and a few slices of the potato in 4 rounds - well, chuck 'em on the tray in 4 spots is what I mean

On go the chilli, garlic, salt and pepper over each little pile

And then the honey and the thyme leaves, and the cheese

Now place a square of pastry over each tasty pile, and press down around all the sides with your fork

Then paint with the egg wash or milk, and shove into the oven for about 15 minutes or till golden

Take them out of the oven, let them sit for a few minutes, then flip them over so you see their pretty faces and

Serve with salad or veg. of your choice

Notes:

Use the cheese of your dreams - I've seen brie, or cream cheese or Boursin (a creamy, soft cheese with garlic and herbs)

You can top these with some prosciutto when serving, if you fancy!

ingredients gathered

potatoes and red onion

on goes the cheese

and the pastry bottoms - or is that tops?

golden and crispy and crunchy

very delicious

c. Sherry M.

And a final word - Mr P. took himself off to Murgon, a small town about 3 hours west of here, for the opening of a local museum he designed a couple of years ago.  It's called 55 Million Years Ago, and yes it has dinosaurs!! :=)

here he is nonchalantly leaning against the exterior wall decorated with indigenous art

How To Puff Your Seeds And Toast Your Nuts

the guilty suspects

Quinoa is quite the trendy little seed these days, isn't she?  Known by the Peruvians for a few thousand years, we are just catching up to her versatility and good-for-you-ness.  (That other trendy item- kale - remains no friend of mine - tee hee.)  So I made quinoa/cacao nib bars the other day.  The recipe called for puffed quinoa, which wasn't easy to find.  I didn't fancy an extra trip to the local Health store to get it, so I decided to make my own.  And the saga began...

I checked up some recipes on the Net; some said to wash and dry it before popping it; some said to dry it for half an hour, or an hour, or overnight.  Some said don't bother to wash it at all.  I went with not washing it.  I grabbed a small pan, threw in a bit of oil, let it get hot then tipped in the Peruvian quinoa I had bought at the Bulk Store (along with other items of interest.)

popping my quinoa in a hot pan

Nothing seemed to happen; it got oilier, and darker, and started to burn.  But yes it made popping sounds and jumped about.  Still the same tiny grains, just browner, and crunchier.  I was about to throw it out when I read up that puffed quinoa DIDN'T puff up like popcorn or get any bigger.  What?!  So I kept it and used it in the bars.  Seemed okay, if a bit crunchy.

rinse the quinoa 

drying out the quinoa on a lined tray before going in the oven  

after drying in the oven, throw the quinoa into a hot pan with a tiny bit of oil

Next day, I thought okay, I'll do the whole washing and drying thing.  So I rinsed it under the tap, laid it out on a lined baking tray, and left it for half an hour to dry.  A new bit of paper, more drying time then into the lowest oven I could get = 120C for 15 minutes.  Now into the hot pan with 1/4 tsp of veggie oil.  Same thing: a tiny bit of popping, no puffing, going dark and brown.  And burns easily so watch out.  Verdict?:  either buy it or use something else!

Now for toasting your nuts.  This can depend on your oven, but basically I toasted brazil nuts @ 170C for 10 minutes.  Put them in a single layer on an unlined baking tray, and into the oven.  They will start to look golden and smell toasted.

golden nuts

The pepitas went in @160C for 10-15 minutes (mine took 14mins.)  On an unlined tray, and into the oven.  They start to get golden edges, and look crisp.  And taste delicious.

crunchy pepitas

And my last tip for the day: chop up those prunes with scissors and a rubber glove if you don't want to get covered in gooey, sticky stuff.

very sticky so use scissors and a glove  

quinoa farmer and his crop on Lake Titicaca 

                   (image: Wikimedia: author Michael Hermann; crops of the future.org)

Smoky Quinoa And Cacao Nib Bars

Quinoa (keenwah) - hard to say but not to eat.  I have used it in salads before, but this was new to me.  I mean the puffed bit, and using it in a sweet treat.  I have to be honest here -  this first turned out to be quinoa and cacao rubble rather than bars.  Mr P. said he would add clusters of it to his morning cereal.  I then made some adjustments to the recipe, which was already delicious but just didn't set as hard as it should have.  So I did a bit of recipe renovating.

This recipe is from Simon Bajada's book Nordic Light, which I have enjoyed reading.  I also enjoyed his Scandi photos, now that he lives in Sweden with his Swedish wife.  This has become more of a chocolate sweet treat rather than Simon's healthy bar, but it is still full of the nutty, seedy good stuff.  I have checked similar recipes to this one on the Net, and they all suggest using just coconut oil or a similar substance.  Just not sure how it would set.  Don't worry, with this amount of melted chocolate, you will succeed. 

ingredients gathered

ingredients:


220g. pitted soft prunes, diced

2 tbs butter or coconut oil

150g. nut butter - I used a mix of hazelnut, cashew and almond

50 mLs plain vegetable oil like peanut or rapeseed

1 tbs honey

(big) pinch of cayenne pepper

150g. pepitas, lightly toasted

20g. cacao nibs or chocolate bits

25g. puffed quinoa - or quinoa flakes or puffed amaranth or even rice bubbles!

90g. brazil nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

200g. dark chocolate, melted

a large pinch of smoked sea salt

for the topping:

100g. dark, milk or white chocolate, melted

1/2-1 tbs smoked sea salt flakes


Method:


Mash the prunes forcefully with a fork in a bowl till well-squished (or cheat and throw the prunes into a small food processor)

Add the prunes and the butter (or coconut oil) to a large saucepan over a medium-low heat

Stir in the nut butter, the veg. oil, the honey and the cayenne pepper

Grasp your wooden spoon and mash it all together

Keep stirring over a low heat for 2-3 minutes till beautifully squishy

Remove from the heat and add the pepitas, cacao nibs, the puffed quinoa, the brazil nuts, the melted dark chocolate and the pinch of smoked sea salt

Mix with gusto!

Take your lined loaf tin or baking tray and press the mixture very firmly into the tin with a big spoon or your hands

Melt the 100g. of chocolate and drizzle over the mixture

Sprinkle on the salt flakes and whack into the fridge for a few hours

Take it out of the tin and cut into nice sized bars



Notes:


I chopped the prunes up with kitchen scissors - so much easier

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts

I started off with a loaf tin, and ended up putting it into a tray (30cm x 20cm) the next morning when I realised that it hadn't set.  I then melted the 200g. of chocolate and stirred it in to the crumbly mix

Back it went into the fridge with a piece of baking paper and a couple of heavy tins on top - you don't have to do this!  Basically just follow the recipe and you won't have to worry about all the other stuff that I did to fix it up:=) 

mash the prunes with a fork

mash up the prunes and butter in a large saucepan

yep looking murky at this stage   

seeds and nuts in

mixing in the melted chocolate

press down very firmly with a spoon or hands 

You caught me out - yep I licked the spoon.  And somehow I seem to have chocolate all over my fingers too.  How did that happen?:=)

chocolate and smoked salt ready to go on top 

looking tasty and kinda pretty

slice it up as big or small as you like 

deliciously salty, chocolatey and nutty 

If you are feeling brave, try making it without the 200g. chocolate to bind it together.  I'd love to know how you go!

my seedy doodle