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Photos in this blog entry by Christina Chan
As many of you already know from our previous
post, the girls of YouCook had the great honour of being invited into the kitchen of Susur Lee’s newest addition to the Toronto Restaurant Scene –
Madeline’s. Named after his mother, the restaurant certainly embodies Susur’s love of family, and certainly does not lack in character. The minute you step into the dining room, you are greeted with European-inspired decor – but with an exotic twist. And that sense of intrigue continues as you peruse the VERY extensive menu.
You can enjoy the restaurant’s unique ambiance and interesting flavour combinations in the specially tailored Winterlicious prix fixe menu. It is an excellent opportunity for any foodie to experience the breadth of flavours utilized in Susur’s kitchen.
You can find the Susur’s Winterlicious menu here. The girls at YouCook will be using this site to record what we like to eat during Winterlicious! So if you find it it useful, let us know!
Susur has also generously provided us with several recipes from his Winterlicious menu, including the Goat Cheese and Roasted Beet Tart, Roasted Crusted Salmon, and Slow Braised Spiced Beef with black pepper butter pappardelle. It just boggles the mind how quickly Susur works!! He managed to prepare all three dishes within the hour, right before our eyes!
So stay tuned for future posts on our visit with Susur. ..
Ingredients
- Puff pastry
At Madeline’s, the puff pastry is made in-house. For the home cook, you can purchase this in sheets from the frozen section of your local grocery store. You can adjust how much puff pastry you require depending on your guest count. The puff pastry needs to be cut to size, approximately 3”x5”.
- Red beets, approximately 1
You can purchase ready-roasted beets in vacuum-sealed bags in your local grocery store. You can also either roast them yourself or boil them. I like to roast my beets in aluminum foil packets at 375F for 30 min, or until tender.
- Swiss cheese, approximately half cup, grated
- Caraway seeds
With his experienced hand, Susur put a dash of Caraway seeds in the mix. I would probably estimate between 1 to 2 tsp of seeds. However, you should adjust the flavour as you like.
- Salt, to taste
- Honey
This will be heated up and brushed onto the tart near the end of the preparation.
- Ground Roasted Hazelnuts, for garnish
- 2 tbsp Soft Goat Cheese, for garnish
- Fresh Basil, for garnish
Instructions
1. If you are not using ready-roasted beets, you will need to cook them either by roasting or boiling.
2. Preheat your oven to 440F.
3. Take your thawed sheets of puff pastry and cut into a rectangle 3” wide by 5” long. Place the puff pastry onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Poke holes into the puff pastry so that it does not rise too much while baking.
4. Cut a beet in half so that there is a flat surface for grating. Using a cheese grater, grate the cooked beets and swiss cheese. The ratio of beets to cheese should be 60% beets and 40% swiss cheese.
5. In a small mixing bowl, combine the grated beets, grated cheese, and caraway seeds. Mix together with a dash of salt.
6. Spread the beet mixture evenly over the puff pastry.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden.
8. While your tart is baking, slice the remainder of the beets into thin slices for topping on the tart.
9. Once the tart is finished baking, let it cool a little bit, then prepare to finish the tart with garnishes.
10. Layer the thin slices of beets evenly on top of your tart.
11. Warm the honey for a few seconds in the microwave. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the layer of beets with honey.
12. Top with 2 small scoops of soft goat cheese, and a sprinkling of roasted nuts and rock salt. Susur mentions the combination of salty and sweet in this dish is what highlights the flavours.
13. Garnish with some fresh basil.
Quick Notes
Although Susur prefers using hazelnuts, he mentions that you can replace this with any type of roasted nut (i.e. pistachios).
I would also like to recommend a variation on this tart… You may want to try using golden beets. It has a slightly milder flavour and I`m curious to know how that would turn out. Post your comments if you have other suggestions.
Result
The result is a beautiful tart, not only in aroma, but the colour as well. The red of the beets will brighten up any dinner party. This tart is also a very generous serving, so you can always share this or serve it as a main course for brunch, alongside a light greens salad.
Photos in this blog post courtesy of Christina Chan.
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I recommend getting some plastic gloves that you use once and throw out for this endeavour. Also having someone else in the kitchen help you reach for whatever you need so that you don’t stain the kitchen.
