Alsace Onion Flan
"The recipe for this rich creamy flan comes from Alsace (hence the name!) in France. it can be served hot or cold with a green salad for a main course, or serve cut into small wedge for a first course. Preparation time does not include time for making the pastry. This recipe is taken from my trusty Readers Digest "The Cookery Year" (from 1973 no less) and was originally posted for Zaar World Tour 2005. I'm dusting it off for 2006, and as Canadian cuisine has such a close relationship with French, I think this could also be posted for Canada too."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
directions
- Melt the butter in a large lidded frying pan, add the onions and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper; cover the onions closely with a piece of buttered greaseproof paper then put the lid on the frying pan; cook the onions over a low heat for about 30 minutes until they are soft and golden (shake the pan occasionally to make sure they don’t stick).
- Roll the pastry to ¼ inch thick on a lightly floured surface and use it to line an 8-9 inch diameter flan dish.
- Beat the eggs lightly in a large bowl and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; stir the cream and milk into the beaten egg mixture.
- Drain the coked onions in a colander, remove the bay leaf and spread the onions over the pastry case; strain the egg mixture through a sieve over the onions.
- Bake the flan in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 400ºF / 200ºC / gas mark 6 for 35 – 40 minutes: when cooked the pastry should be golden and the filling set; the filling will sink slightly as the flan cools.
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Reviews
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A guest with a grandmother in Strasbourg said that this was as good as hers! I used olive oil instead of butter, less cream than milk, and added a 2-3 tablkespoons grated mozzarella. I used frozen butter-based puff-pastry for my base, so this was super easy. -
how easy for something so yum
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:D this was very good. since the mix of flavors isn't traditional in this country, you would never realize just how good it is unless you've tried it. definately a keeper. my onions were walla walla's. i made this for zaar world tour 05 -
Interesting to know whence this recipe came! How long ago is 1973: WOW!!! I used reduced fat cream and milk, and added 4 cloves of chopped garlic to the onions. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly: delicious warm, and I’m taking some to work for lunch tomorrow cold, or rather at room temperature. Thank you, Caroline, for a great recipe that I know that I’ll be making again! -
OK, another winner!!! This is SO good!
Tweaks
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A guest with a grandmother in Strasbourg said that this was as good as hers! I used olive oil instead of butter, less cream than milk, and added a 2-3 tablkespoons grated mozzarella. I used frozen butter-based puff-pastry for my base, so this was super easy.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Mrs B
Worcester Park, Surrey
I live with my husband and 2 cats in Worcester Park; a quiet typical 1930s suburb (which no one has ever heard of!) about 12 miles South West of London.
I'm a fair weather gardener and as my husband is a vegetarian I grow a few easy vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, mainly in containers. My husband loves growing flowers, the brighter the better, and we have a pretty garden as a result. Our cats, Araminta and Purrl, like it too!
I do a lot of cooking and try to keep our diet as healthy and varied as possible. Although I work full time, I use very little in the way of pre-prepared foods. This is partly because of the limited choice of vegetarian meals, which I think are overpriced anyway; but mainly because I like to know what goes in my food!
I love using the Internet for all the great ideas it gives me. Last year I participated in the Zaar World Tour (under my previous public name Caroline Blakey), which was great. Mr B and I tried lots of new foods and discovered new favourite meals. Researching recipes for the Tour was really interesting, however as I didn't have time to try them all, some were posted untested. I'm still working my way very slowly through them. To make matters worse I keep seeing other recipes I want to save and have also participated in Zaar world Tour II. So many recipes, so little time to make them!
<img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kzbhansen/Banners/Animation3.gif">
My 'rules' for posting recipes are a) if I wouldn't make a particular recipe, I won't post it and b) if my husband wouldn't eat it, I won't post it. This means that all my recipes are vegetarian friendly.
As you will see from the number of recipes saved in my cookbooks, I particularly enjoy making jams and chutneys; I'd say it was one of my favourite hobbies. We always have a good supply of home preserves; my friends and work colleagues are well supplied too.
If we won the lottery (say £5m, as a good number) we'd like to give up work, move to the country and buy a place with a bit of land. In my dreams this would be a manor house or old vicarage, with a walled garden, an orchard where I could keep hens, a vegetable garden, etc, etc, etc! In my more realistic moments (the £1m win perhaps) I would like to run a B&B, perhaps offering Vegetarian taster weekends. Luckily it costs nothing to dream.......I’d also love more time to read, do embroidery, learn a language, see more of the countryside; and of course play on Zaar.
