Monday, April 8, 2013

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Tart

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Tart

Do you remember the Bangles song "Manic Monday" where they sing about Sunday being "fun day" and "I don't have to run" day? That's pretty much how I feel about it. Saturdays tend to be busy and filled with errands but Sundays are for sleeping late and being lazy. Sometimes we meet friends for brunch and we frequently head out to the park with the dog but always in our own time. We also tend to be casual about food on Sundays. There are usually leftovers from Saturday so I'll just add a quick salad to whatever we have and we can tuck into bed for a light dinner and some Sunday night TV.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Tart
OXO Egg Beater
This particular Sunday, however, I didn't have any leftovers and not much in the way of ideas. So I went browsing through my many pinned recipe ideas and saw how many were for quiches and savory tarts. I had briefly considered just throwing together omelets for dinner but an eggy tart sounded so much more appealing. I had also been fortunate enough, last week, to receive a package from OXO with some egg centered new products including this really cool beater. I remember my mother having something similar years ago that took so much effort to move that it was hardly worth it. But this one was a snap to use and produced so much force. One tart coming up!

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Tart
Interestingly, none of the tarts I had pinned were for bacon, egg and cheese but that's what I was in the mood for and it seemed simple enough. I also decided to add a bit of cheese to my tart dough and it added a lot of flavor. Sure the filling is great but the dough is always my favorite part anyway. And since I had a little bit of dough left over, I decided to get cute with some fun little cut out shapes along the edge of the tart. Feel free to skip that part if you're not so inclined. I threw together a broccoli salad to go with it and we had a delicious Sunday evening meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Crust:
1 Cup flour
1 Stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 Cup ice water

Filling:
2 Eggs
3/4 Cup milk
1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 Tablespoons chives, chopped
6 Slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Teaspoon pepper

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Tart
To make the crust, add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Do not over mix. Add the cheddar cheese and pulse once or twice just to combine. With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube until a dough ball forms. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. After the dough has chilled, roll it out on a well-floured surface into about a 10" circle. Drape over a 9" tart pan (preferably one with a removable bottom) and move your rolling pin across the fluted top to cut off the excess dough.

Make the filling by beating together the eggs and milk. Add the cheese, chives, salt and pepper. Crumble in the bacon and pour into the prepared tart dish. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for approximately 50 minutes or until the custard is set and the dough is a light golden brown. Makes approximately 8 servings.

Note:  OXO provided me with the egg beater but I was not otherwise compensated and under no obligation to use it or review it.  The recipe and my opinions are my own.

21 comments:

  1. Ugh, Monday's need to take a back seat. It's going to be 80 degrees here today, and I'm stuck in a building with no windows. I could use a piece of this here delicious tart. Mmm!

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  2. what a beautiful and perfect looking tart,YUM :)

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  3. My mom had a similar egg beater to the one you talk about. I'm sad I missed the boat on requesting this one from OXO! Guess I have to whisk my eggs the old fashion way to make this tart.

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  4. Sigh..if only today weren't another Manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday, fun day. And I wish I had this delicious tart too! I love that you put cheese in the crust - brilliant move, Anita!

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  5. Agree with Jennie!! Do you ship??? Looks delicious!!

    Mr. & Mrs. P
    www.cristyandmichael.blogspot.com

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  6. That marriage proposal is still open, Anita. Of course, so is my one to Kim at Cravings, the one to Jen at Cocina, the one to Liz at Skinny girl can bake... maybe we need to start our own religion and make this legal.

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  7. This is a gorgeous tart! A thumbs up to all the ingredients! :-)

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  8. So beautiful! You are inspiring! I normally sit on my butt and order out on Sundays!

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  9. This looks so comforting and scrumptious - what a cool beater. I love that it doesn't use electricity too! I'm going to look for one. When I find it, I'm going to make this tart - okay, I'll probably make the tart sooner than that!

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  10. I have one of the old-fashioned beaters hanging on my kitchen wall in Houston. Just a decoration because it's such a pain to use. But too cute to discard or give away. That OXO guy looks like he would be all business!

    I am such a fan of quiche or egg tart or whatever you want to call it. Still beautiful. You crack me up with the little extra pieces of crust on top. The crust is also my younger daughter's favorite part so I might try this when we are together this summer. If she hasn't eaten the dough scraps raw already. :)

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  11. This looks sensational!! I love tarts and I love them even more when they have savory things in them.

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  12. This would be delicious for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In fact, I wish I had a slice right now. Thank you for sharing! I'm glad to be back home after a week of traveling...and finally catching up on my favorite blogs. I hope you have a blessed week!

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  13. Mmmmmm....I think even Bill would think this was an acceptable dinner (as long as I don't call it a quiche :/). Love your extra crust garnish..makes such a pretty presentation.

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  14. I love this tart and your Sunday routine!

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  15. I'd take this tart over a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit any day. And that's something coming from a Southern gal. I like biscuits but tart/pie/pastry crust gets me every time.

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  16. Your crust is gorgeous..and it has cheese in it which makes it perfect :) Looks wonderful!

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  17. That tart looks and sounds so good!

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  18. Anita, where do I start? You are a genius adding cheese to your crust. And I love how you placed extra crust around the top, a work of art. I'll be doing that on my next tart. I'm with you on Sundays, it's our lazy day, we've actually gone the whole day without getting dressed, just stayed in our jammies and relaxed.

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  19. Wow that looks absolutely lovely....

    Simon

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