Kristine and I take our awards shows very seriously. I’ve written before about the Superbowl of awards shows, the Golden Globes. The Oscars have all the prestige though, but they are just soooooo loooong, you have a lot of categories we don’t care about (Sound Mixing, Editing, Documentary Short Subject), and by this point in awards season, you usually know who’s going to win. But then Sandra Bullock shows up in a dress that looks like a figure skating costume, Sarah Jessica Parker wears some fugly Chanel, we get to trash George Clooney’s latest girlfriend, and all is well again. So what about the actual show? Loving Robert Downey Jr and Tina Fey, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams, and an epic win for Kathryn Bigelow. Suck it, Avatar! That’s three hours of my life I’ll never get back (Avatar, not the Oscars, that is! ha).

And the most important part of the night, the food! It helps to make everything in advance so I can just pop things into the oven to re-heat, toss the salad and not miss any of the show. I made this tart for our Oscar night last year, and it was so good I made it again this year. There’s definitely a lot going on here – cornmeal crust, goat cheese, caramelized onions, roasted cherry tomatoes – but it’s worth the work. You can even prep a lot of the components in advance – make the tart dough, caramelize the onions, roast the tomatoes – then stick everything in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble. I took a few before and after pictures of the onions because I’m always amazed by how much they shrink down:
Onions Before:
 
 
Onions After:
 
 
Uhh…and I forgot to take a picture of the finished tart, because the show was starting, but here it is before it went into the oven:
 
 
 
Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart
 
Source: Canadian Living Magazine
 
Ingredients:
 
Cornmeal Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp each sugar & salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
3 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp ice water (+ more as needed)
 
Caramelized Onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large or 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
 
Roasted Grape Tomatoes
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
 
Filling
3 oz goat cheese, room temperature
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup 10% cream (or whipping cream, or you can just use all milk)
pinch salt & pepper
 
Directions:
 
Cornmeal Crust
  1. Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter (or two knives) until crumbly. Whisk together sour cream and water, drizzle over flour mixture and toss until dough comes together, adding more water as necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap, chill for 1 hour (or up to a day if making in advance).
  2. Roll out dough to 1/4″ thickness, fit into 9″ pie plate, prick all over with fork, and chill for 30 minutes.
  3. Blind bake in bottom third of 400 degree oven, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights (you can use pie weights, dried beans or rice), bake for 10 more minutes and let cool on rack.

Caramelized Onions

  1. Heat oil over medium heat, and let onions cook slowly until golden brown, 30-45 minutes. Let cool.

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

  1. Toss all ingredients together, and roast on a parchment lined baking sheet in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.

Filling & Assesmbly

  1. Spread goat cheese over crust, top with caramelized onions, then tomatoes.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper and pour into tart.
  3. Bake in 375 degree oven until knife inserted in centre comes out clean – about 35-40 minutes. (I usually have to cover the tart with foil about half way through so it doesn’t get too brown).

If making ahead, let cool and chill up to 1 day. Reheat in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

I’ll do separate posts for the app we munched on while watching the eTalk red carpet (UGH) and the treat we had for dessert. And just for fun, here’s Kristine & I at the Kodak Theatre in LA in 2005 (very fuzzy because I had to scan it in):