Today, I asked the Festive Foodies to join me in an event for Bastille Day. Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14th each year and, in France, is simply called La Fête Nationale, literally “the national celebration” or “the national party.” It might also be referred to as Le quatorze juillet, meaning ‘the fourteenth of July.”
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille and, in a very abridged and simplified explanation, the beginning of the revolution that brought the end to French feudalism. When the kids were smaller, I explained that it was sort of like Independence Day in France. I know that’s not completely accurate, but they understood it. “Do they have fireworks, too?” one of the boys asked. Yes!
So, as most of our country is celebrating Independence Day
with a bevy of American foods such as hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and
coleslaw, we usually head on a virtual trip, via tabletop, to France to honor
their Bastille Day.
The Bastille Day Line-Up
- Camilla, Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Tarte Flambée
- Jolene, Jolene's Recipe Journal: Caramelized Baked Custards
- Karen, Karen's Kitchen Stories: Black Olive Fougasse
- Coleen, The Redhead Baker: Mini Butter Croissants
- Caroline, Caroline's Cooking: Lemon Madeleines
- Amy, Amy's Cooking Adventures: Ratatouille Bake
As part of my Alsace wine pairing dinner, I decided to serve my version of a Tarte Flambée with Pfister Gewurztraminer Tradition 2013. The Gewurztraminer was a little bit on the sweet side by itself, but with this dish, it was perfect! A note: I've heard people describe this as a pizza; mine is more of a pie crust. You can see I served this with escargot, another French dish!
Ingredients makes 1 large (9" x 13") tarte
Crust
- 2 C flour
- 3/4 C butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 T ice water
- 2 T gin (typically I use vodka in a crust, but I didn't have any)
- 2 T crème fraîche
- 2 T ricotta
Toppings
- crème fraîche
- 8 strips smoked bacon, finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced (I use a mandolin slicer)
Procedure
Place the butter cubes and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly, then add in the water and gin. Pulse until it begins to come together. Add in the crème fraîche and ricotta. Pulse just a few times and turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Knead just until it comes together into a ball.
Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30
minutes. During the last 15 minutes of the dough chilling, preheat oven to 500° F with the racks in the center position.
Roll the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Place the dough and parchment on a baking sheet or stone. Parbake for 5 minutes.
Assembly
Spread crème fraîche over the parcooked dough, leaving a 1⁄2" border around edge. Layer the top with thinly sliced onions and chopped bacon. Place in the oven and bake until crispy, approximately another 9–11 minutes.
Once cool enough to slice, cut into squares.
Gin in the pie crust! Love it. And that bacon..... Everything sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis looks absolutely amazing! I'm hoping to master pie crust in 2018.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - this sounds heavenly!
ReplyDeleteSounds great, and so intrigued to try gin in the crust!
ReplyDelete