My experience with store bought tuna salad, chicken salad, potato salad, egg salad and all the various salads that are mayonnaise based, is abysmal. When I see them sitting so nicely in their one serving containers on offer in the take-out section or in the glass case in the deli, I am always to tempted to buy them, to have something at hand that I do not need to prepare myself.
I so want these salads to be good. It would be a such a help if they were good, but invariably they are either too runny or too dry or too sour or too salty or too boring or too something. I don't know if it is the dressings they use or I'm the odd one out and my tastes are not in synch with the other customers.
When I was a kid my mother would lament the fact that we relied on commercial mayonnaise - and heaven help us, Miracle Whip or sandwich spread - because she had lost the recipe to my Baba's (grandmother's) boiled dressing. I thought our lunches, especially those taken on yearly car trips, were pretty ok. And I don't remember anyone complaining.
And then one day, I had a new sister in-law and she was from France. I learned that mayonnaise was "a thing" and that not all mayonnaises were created equal. They were different types with different ingredients and for different purposes. And the most important thing, mayonnaise always tasted much better if you make it from scratch.
I will admit, that while I subscribe to this view, I don't always make mayonnaise from scratch. In fact, rarely. One of the few salad dressings I cut corners on. But If the mayonnaise is going to be the star of the dish, then it is worth the effort.
I first had this tart in the summer of 1979. I had never tasted anything like it and I immediately fell in love with caviar and heart of palm. Over the years I have made it for small dinner parties and very special occasions. I have modified the recipe slightly to suit our tastes but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Here's to Gisèle Barnabé and all the wonderful meals she has served us and the techniques she had taught me over the years!
Cold Crab And Avocado Tart With Heart of Palm
Ingredients:
For the pastry shell:
1 1/2 cups (150 grams) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound 1(20 grams) cold vegetable shortening or unsalted butter
2 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
1 and 1/2 cups (345 g) mayonnaise - homemade recommended
1/3 cup (80 ml) cooking cream
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons capers in brine
1 tablespoon brine
4 ripe Hass avocados
1 cup (150 grams) cooked crab meat
14 ounce (750 grams) tin heart of palm
1 ounces (30 grams) caviar, tobiko or any sort of fish roe
Directions:
Add shortening and salt to flour
Work the fat with a fork into the flour until it resembles in shape and size, small pebbles
Add water and shape into a disk
Wrap and place in refrigerator for 1 hour
Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.)
Remove from refrigerator
Turn pastry onto floured surface and roll it out
Place pastry in bottom of tart dish
Line pastry with baking paper
Add weights
Bake for 15 minutes
Remove from oven
Remove weights and baking paper and return pastry to oven for 15 minutes more or until the surface is golden brown
When pastry is baked, cool and reserve in refrigerator
Combine mayonnaise, cooking cream, tomato paste, sugar, capers and brine
Add crab meat and mix well
Cut 3 avocados into large chunks and add to crab - stir
Drain heart of palm and slice into large rings
Add to filling and stir
Pour crab mixture into tart shell and refrigerate for 30 minutes
Right before serving, slice last avocado in slivers and place on top of tart
Sprinkle caviar on top
Serve with salad for a very satisfying meal
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
Variations:
Substitute chicken for crab and blanched green asparagus for heart of palm and tarragon for capers
Substitute cooked baby shrimp for crab and blanched green peas for heart of palm
Substitute tuna for crab, green beans for heart of palm and hard boiled eggs for caviar
#tart #savory #crab #mayonnaise #hearofpalm #avocado #caviar #tobiko #colddinner #french #elegeant #capers
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