Onion and bacon tart: a recipe

Onion and bacon tart

You know it's getting to be holiday time when I allow myself to cook with bacon fat. A lot of bacon fat.

Regular readers will know that we start out the year with a little something we call Detox January, to get off on the right foot. So healthy! But somehow a downward spiral begins after that, gaining a little more momentum each month without my realizing it, until December rolls around and I have no qualms making a dish that swims in bacon fat.

But it's a lovely bacony dish, fat and all.

You wouldn't think that a dish with so few ingredients (besides bacon fat) could be so amazing. Really, it's just bacon, onions and a flour-egg-milk batter.

But it is.

Try not to eat the bacon before the onions are finished cooking

True to the description of it in the November issue of Saveur, the batter that you pour over the onions and bacon puffs up like a popover, encasing the bacon and onion in bready yumminess.

Before baking (wow, this picture looked better in iPhoto, I swear)

Bacony puffy goodness

It was heavenly, especially served with a spinach salad with tangy ginger dressing to complement the carmelized sweetness of the onions.

So, please, if you're planning to join us for Detox January in a mere few weeks (gulp!), make this puffy bacony tart now so you don't have to wait for the end of the 2012 fat spiral.

Onion and Bacon Tart (from Saveur)

Ingredients:
6 ounces bacon, sliced crosswise to form 1/4"-wide slices/pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/4 cups milk (I used skim)
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat bacon in a large pan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until bacon is crisp (about 12 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour the bacon fat into an 8" x 11" baking dish.

Return pan to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the onions and salt and pepper to taste; cook, stirring, about 10 minutes, until lightly carmelized.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, mustard and some black pepper. Add the milk and eggs and stir until combined. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes, during which time you should place the baking dish with the bacon fat in the oven to heat (10 minutes). Remove the baking dish from the oven, pour in the batter and top with the onions and bacon. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.