For all the talk of a new Irish cuisine, it's hard to pin down a definition of it. The reason is that Irish food today is as varied as the cooks whose adventures in cooking have drawn attention to its quality.
Maura Foley, chef-owner of Packie's, a restaurant in Ireland's Kenmare, County Kerry, is one of these individuals. Like many of her peers, she bases her cooking on traditional Irish fare seasoned with new influences. Her own successful combination is based on local ingredients, often organic, blended with a dash of Mediterranean.
Her recipe for Red Onion Tart With Cashel Irish Blue Cheese would make a savory start to a meal. The recipe gets its name from the tasty red Mediterranean-style onions Foley prefers to use, and the smooth cheese topping made with a well-known Irish farmhouse specialty cheese.
Red Onion Tart With Cashel Irish Blue Cheese
Onion filling:
2 pounds red onions (if available) or other onions, peeled, sliced
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Sprigs of chervil and a little reduced balsamic vinegar, for garnish
Pastry:
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oatmeal, preferably Irish pinhead-style
2 1/2 ounces softened butter
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons cold water
Blue cheese topping:
4 ounces soft blue cheese (preferably Cashel Irish Blue)
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
To prepare onion filling: Place onions and vinegar in heavy saucepan. Cover with wax paper and lid. Cook gently for 30 minutes. Remove lid and paper, add honey and cook until liquid has almost evaporated. Season to taste. Keep warm.
To make pastry: Blend flours, oatmeal, butter, cheese and salt in blender until consistency of fine crumbs. Add cold water and form a ball. Let pastry rest for 30 minutes, then roll out. Line six 4-inch round fluted tins with pastry, prick with a fork, then allow pastry to rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake tarts until pale golden brown.
To prepare cheese: Mash blue cheese with a fork and blend with the yogurt.
To serve: Remove warm baked pastry tarts from tins; place on large warm plates. Fill each with enough red-onion mixture to cover base and place 1 spoonful of blue cheese mixture on top. Garnish with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and chervil sprigs.
Makes six appetizer servings.
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