caramelized mushroom tart

i wanted to try this recipe out after reading it in chef tom colicchio's book, "think like a chef." as some of you may know, colicchio is the head judge on my favorite show, top chef, which is starting up again this wednesday!!! woo hoo! 

the tart turned out delicious! it was a lot easier to make than i had expected. it just involved a few different steps and then everything came together in the end beautifully. 

first, i made the onion confit which was pretty basic. i sliced about six onions very thinly and cooked them on medium-low heat w/ olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. after they became soft, i added white wine vinegar and vegetable broth and let it cook until all the liquid evaporated. at the end, i added fresh thyme and mixed it all up and put it aside. 

while i made the mushroom part, i roasted a large shallot in foil. to make the mushrooms, i just cooked them in batches w/ some minced garlic, minced shallot and some more fresh thyme. i set that aside. i took the shallot out of the oven and waited for it to cool off so i could peel off the outer layers.

i had brought out a puff pastry sheet from the freezer to thaw and at this point i laid it out on a cutting board and used the rim of a glass to cut out circles of puff pastry. 

this part is essential since it brought all the sweet goodness of the caramelized onions and mushrooms together. i put three tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of water in a small saucepan and let the sugar dissolve while swirling it around frequently. i waited for it to become a nut brown color and added a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar. i swirled it around a little and took it off the heat. then i used a greased cupcake tin instead of the ramekins colicchio instructs the reader to use. (this worked out great because of the size!) 

first, i poured in a little of the caramel. then i took a piece of the roasted shallot that i had chopped into chunks and placed it in each of the holes. then i topped that with the mushroom mixture. on top of that i put some of the onion confit. i capped it all w/ the puff pastry circles and popped them into the oven to bake for fifteen minutes.

when i took them out of the oven, i let them cool off for a few minutes and then flipped them onto a tray. they came out perfect and were even more delicious than i had imagined! 

thank you, tom colicchio...i will be seeing more of your bald handsomeness soon.