The Lower East Side brunch tart is Cook-the-Book-Friday community project to pay tribute to a fellow member Chez Nana/Ro who passed away in June. Ro was born in New York City. Whether or not you’re Jewish, New Yorkers have an unequivocal affinity to the melting-pot meal of bagels and lox—my own family included.
More often than not, you’d find bagels and lox for breakfast/brunch on the weekends, especially when my daughter was home from college in upstate New York. She misses her bagels. Even harder to fathom is how her college friends, originally from other states in the country, have become die heart New York bagel converts.
The tart is Dorie’s attempt to capture the essence and flavor of bagels and lox. So she fills it with smoked salmon, cream cheese, raw red onion, capers, dill and tomato. Rather than stacking these goodies between a bagel sliced in two halves, a creamy custard brings all these fillings together in a pâte brisée tart shell. I commend Dorie for her imagination and recipe design. As it turns out, the Lower East Side brunch tart has similarly earned a place in our hearts. No wonder it features prominently on the cover of Everyday Dorie.
I didn’t connect the dots until now, but Chez Nana/Ro did, and for quite a while. She had repeatedly nominated this recipe. We dedicate the Lower East Side brunch tart — with all its New York scent and sensibility — in her honor. Ro’s keen sense of adventure, foresight and deftly touch in the kitchen will be missed. For years, she’d tirelessly and regularly shared with us food stories on her travel and recipes. I’m saddened by her silence, absence of the links (the broken ones too), her missing comments…. That void is too large to fill. May she rest in everlasting peace!
Basic French Tart Dough/ Pâte Brisée (for savory tarts and quiche)
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄4 cups (170 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick, 3 ounces, 85g) very cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon ice water
Instructions
FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD: Put the flour, sugar, and salt in the processor and pulse to blend. Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely mixed into the flour. At first you'll have a mixture that looks like coarse meal and then, as you pulse more, you'll get small flaked-sized piece with some larger pea-sized pieces. Beat the egg with the ice water and pour it into the bowl in 3 small additions, whirring after each one. (Don't overdo it - the dough shouldn't form a ball or ride on the blade.) You'll have a moist, malleable dough that will hold together when pinched.
TO SHAPE THE DOUGH: into a disk, pat it down to flatten it and put it between sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a circle that's about 11 inches in diameter. If you're making a pie now, have a buttered 9-inch pan and a baking sheet at hand. If the dough is still cool, you can fit it into the tart pan now. If it's not, slide it, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 2 hours, or up to 3 days, or freeze it for 1 hour, or (well wrapped) for up to 2 months.
If the dough has been chilled, let it rest on the counter until it's just pliable enough to bend without breaking. Remove the paper, fit the dough into the buttered tart pan and trim the excess dough even with the edge of the pan. (If you like, you can fold the excess dough over and make a thicker wall around the sides of the tart.) Prick the crust all over with the tines of a fork and freeze for at least 30 minutes - an hour or two is better - or up to 2 months before baking.
TO PARTIALLY BAKE THE CRUST: Preheat the oven at 400°F. Fill the tart crust with baking weights under a piece of foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then carefully remove the foil (with the weights). Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and allow the crust to cool before you fill it.
TO FULLY BAKE THE CRUST: Bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until it is firm and golden brown.
Notes
Adapted from Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan
10 Comments
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)
July 10, 2020 at 1:49 pmBeautiful. I miss Nana too 🙁
Mary Hirsch
July 10, 2020 at 3:54 pmLovely, Shirley. So beautifully written. You’re right, her void is too big to fill.
Tricia S
July 10, 2020 at 7:37 pmOh my goodness, what a lovely, lovely post. I knew these would be beautiful, though likely difficult to read – and I was right. Your kindness is incredibly appreciated, and your words so sweet. THANK YOU !
Shirley@EverOpenSauce
July 10, 2020 at 9:19 pmTricia, my dad passed early this year. So the language and emotions of loss are only skin deep. I’m so sorry for the loss of your mom, with whom you share so much common interests. My condolence to you and your family.
steph (whisk/spoon)
July 12, 2020 at 9:52 amgorgeous– just like the cover! nana was such an active member and such a nice lady. even though never meet her in person, i’m glad to have know her in some way.
Diane Zwang
July 12, 2020 at 11:19 pmNice post and a fitting tribute. We loved this one too.
Kim
July 14, 2020 at 5:34 pmSuch a nice post…I am sure all of these had to make Tricia feel very loved and supported.
betsy
July 28, 2020 at 8:30 pmWe loved this one too. It will forever remind me of our friend Nana. I really miss her participation in our group.
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