Pissaladiere (Onion Tart)

At least six or seven years ago my dad found this book, Paris in a Basket, at a used book sale. It's not really a cookbook - it's more great descriptions and pictures of a lot of the different markets in Paris with occasional recipes added in. I made this onion tart for the first time about when I got the book from my dad, way before I had any cooking skills. It's a really tasty and pretty tart with surprising flavors. 

The intro in the book says: 

"Although Annie Boulanger is writing a cookbook of her own, she was generous enough to share her recipe for pissaladiere with us. There are many different versions of this recipe: in Provence it is made without egg; in other regions a bit of custard is added; and often a lot custard is added and it resembles a quiche. We like Annie's version the most and if you love onions this is for you!"

I've had a cold so my Hines Ward mug has been very busy.

(I didn't use this recipe for the pastry since I had leftover dough in the fridge, but I remember it being good and flaky.)

For the pastry:

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
8 tbs ice water

For the filling:

2 lbs onions
3 tbs olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup liquid cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon

Crustless Apple-Sausage Quiche

A few weeks ago,  my brother and his girlfriend came to visit for the weekend, so we went apple-picking.  More accurately, I went to work, and everyone else went apple-picking:

Which of course meant that I came home to a delicious apple cobbler...mmmmmm....  Anyway, Steve didn't want to bring the apples home in the car, so the majority of the pickings were left in my kitchen, which I'm certainly NOT complaining about.  Since fall weather deserves delicious fall cooking, and since I'm unfortunately allergic to raw apples (yes, weird), I've been cooking up apples any way I can think of!  Basically I've been googling "apple-[insert random ingredient here] recipe" and seeing what comes up.  The favorite so far: Apple-Sausage Quiche.  I couldn't find one recipe that I really loved so this is kind of a mixture of a few different ideas I gathered from other recipes.

Note: I'm not a huge fan of pie crusts, so I usually skip the effort of making a crust (and the calories!) and just enjoy a crustless quiche.  I'm sure this would be just as tasty with a crust as well.

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sized apples (any variety, I tend to prefer the sweeter ones)
6 oz ground pork sausage
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
orange zest (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Brown sausage in a skillet; drain the fat.  Alternatively, you could use precooked sausage links cut into small pieces.

Slice apples and arrange on the bottom of a pie pan.  Try to cover the whole bottom of the pan...make sure you get that apple-y goodness in every bite!

Spread cooked sausage over the layer of apples.  Top with shredded cheese.

Mix eggs and milk in a small bowl.  Add salt/pepper and orange zest, if desired.  (Confession: Orange zest is my new addiction. I like to put it in EVERYTHING.  But it's probably not essential, since the apples contribute a lot of sweetness.)

Pour egg mixture over other ingredients in the pan.

Bake uncovered at 375 for 15-20 minutes. 

Finally....enjoy!