Running out of Thyme

I made a "tart" this weekend. It's in quotes because I'm not sure what it ended up being (other than tasty!). I started out following this recipe. I made it to the putting the dough in the refrigerator step and then wandered off on my own idea. The onions smelled heavenly while caramelizing (the key is to put them over a very low heat so that they don't burn, which was a bit challenging on my gas stove). I used some thyme and rosemary from the window for flavoring. Unfortunately, my thyme plant is being used up faster than it is growing, so I won't be using any more for a few weeks to give it a chance to recover. I threw in some pancetta about halfway through the caramelization.

When first added to the pan. The onions barely fit, and I could barely see them through my tears. Anyone have tips on how to avoid waterworks during cutting them?

About halfway through, when I added the pancetta and the herbs. Starting to cook down and look delicious.

About 35 minutes later. The onions were soft and sweet, and my entire apartment smelled like heaven.

I was disappointed to see that the cream/egg in the recipe was just for the crust, so I found this recipe and used it as inspiration for a spread. In my mind, the tart would be something akin to a tarte flambee - a delicious Alsatian dish that I fell in love with when I lived in Strasbourg years ago. I ended up using about 4 oz of goat cheese, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, and just enough heavy cream to make it soft enough to spread easily. Yum, healthy!

I rolled out the dough (it was a bit crumbly, so it did not roll evenly), and then curled up the sides to make a sort of "crust." The goat cheese mixture spread easily and was about 1/4" thick over the dough.

I let the onions and pancetta cool some, then placed it into the crust. Overall, after baking, the tartness of the goat cheese mixed well with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the crust was light and flaky, although it was a bit too crumbly. Changes for next time include: making more of the spread and making it more liquid so that it can mix with the onions while it cooks in the crust. Overall, though the mix of flavors worked very well, and it is now in containers for lunches this week.

Ready to pop in the oven!

Getting it out of the oven 20 minutes later was a bit challenging. The parchment paper broke and part of the tart ended up on the open oven door. I ate it anyway.

On the garden front, we had rain or overcast skies the entire past week in Boston, so unfortunately the outside plants haven't had much sun. Despite this, however, the strawberry plants continue to grow and my heirloom tomato plant has started to outgrow its pot. I may have to invest in a larger one.

The Heirloom plant. The pot seemed oversized when I first purchased it!

I thought I had lost two of the three pea plants I transplanted, but when I checked them Sunday afternoon, they may have a chance at recovery yet. The tops of them had wilted, but they each have other leaves that may allow them to grow. I'm staying optimistic!

Sorry for the blur. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for these guys to pull through. I had no idea pea plants were so sensitive to replanting.

Haven't killed them yet! Every time I look I see more berries on these plants, but the pink one hasn't ripened any further yet. I hate waiting.

Bonus shot of the mini blueberry muffins on Sunday. I also made some delicious soft molasses cookies with icing. Sundays have become baking marathons the past few weekends, and it's been great! Although perhaps not for my (or my labmates') diets.