Mustard Tart

I admit that the thought of a “mustard tart” did not make me drool. I like mustard but in very small doses. It seems to be a big flavor bully and makes everything you put it in taste like mustard. But I am participating in “French Fridays with Dorie, ” in which we follow a pre-determined schedule for making the recipes in this book, and this was on the agenda so I took a leap of faith. And I’m glad I did.

The mustard is incredibly and unbelievably subtle and everything in this tart works together beautifully. You probably can’t tell from my picture but I cut my carrots not so much in thin batons, as required, but more like thick table legs, and it still worked. A very good testament to how good this tart is: my 13-year-old daughter not only loved it but she ate the leftovers, one piece for breakfast the next day and she took one to school. She’s not exactly a picky eater but I’ve never seen her eat anything leftover unless it was pizza.

Unfortunately, Dorie has asked us not to post her recipes on our blogs. But I’ll try to give you a good sense of what this tart is all about.

The crust is a standard tart dough (flour, butter, an egg, a tiny bit of sugar, ice water). It’s a little crumbly so you might have trouble getting it to form a ball or rolling it out. Add a tiny bit more water if it won’t pinch together but be restrained. The filling is just eggs and cream and two kinds of mustard. I did not get fancy but used the store brand dijon and a whole-grain mustard I happened to have on hand. The carrots and leeks are steamed first and then added after the filling.

I served this with a very simple salad and a large serving of self-discipline so as not to eat the rest of the tart after my family went to bed.