Golden Beet Tatin with Goat Cheese

By blum099

started off the recipe with the easy part, roasting the golden beets. Next up was trying to figure out what the pinot noir gastrique was from their description in the menu. It turns out that a gastrique is made by caramelizing sugar, adding a vinegar and then reducing to the desired consistency. Along my search I came across a gastrique that caramelized honey instead of sugar and I liked the sound of that. So in the end I had a gastrique made with caramelized honey, red wine vinegar and pinot noir and it sounded really good.

Now that I had a recipe for the contents of the tatin I just needed to cook it. Normally a tatin (a pie with the crust on top) is made in a full pie plate but I decided to make it in ramekins so that they would be in individual serving sizes. The individually sized golden beet tatins in a pinot noir gastrique garnished with goat cheese turned out great! The roasted golden beets were perfectly soft, nice and sweet and they went so well with the savoury gastrique. Of course you really can't go wrong with the light, flaky, all butter pastry and the tangy goat cheese finished everything off perfectly. I served the beet tatin along with some salad greens and the remaining gastrique made for the perfect dressing.
Gastrique is a thick sauce produced by a reduction of vinegar or wine, sugar, and usually fruit. It is often served over meat or seafood to add a fruit flavor to the dish. It is made in its simplest form by caramelizing sugar and then adding vinegar. Equal parts sugar and water are added to a sauce pan and set over high heat until it caramelizes. A fruit is then added and allowed to become coated in the sugar mixture. Vinegar is then added to thin out the caramelized sugar and start to give the mixture the texture of a sauce. Let the mixture reduce while stirring to incorporate the vinegar. Once the mixture is reduced add a liquid (usually wine or a fruit juice). Allow that mixture to reduce. Season with salt and pepper. The sauce can be strained for a refined look or it can be kept the way it is for a more rustic look.
Note that despite the sugar base, a gastrique need not be particularly sweet. As sugar caramelizes, its sweetness declines. In fact (and depending on the proportions of the acid component), a gastrique that begins with a caramel cooked to a nut brown can be considered a savory, rather than sweet, sauce.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 4 small golden beets (washed and trimmed)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• pastry to cover 4 ramekins
• 1/4 cup goat cheese (crumbled)
• 2 cups salad greens
• PASTRY:
• Butter Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)
• (makes 1 9 inch pie crust)
• Printable Recipe
• Ingredients:
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter (cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 4-5 tablespoons water (cold)
• Directions:
• 1 . Pulse the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor to mix.
• 2 . Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, about 6-8 times.
• 3 . Add a tablespoon of water at a time pulsing in between until it starts to clump together.
• 4 . Place the dough on a clean surface and shape it into a disc.
• 5 . Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• 6 . Roll the dough into a 12 inch circle about 1/8 of an inch thick on a lightly floured surface.
• 7 . Place the dough into the pie plate and form it.
• If you need to pre-bake the pie crust, this is how:
• 8 . Place a piece of parchment paper in the pie and fill it with rice or beans to hold it down.
• 9 . Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes.
• 10 . Remove the parchment paper and weight and poke the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times.
• 11 . Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Directions:
1. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil.
2. Bake the beets in a preheated 350F oven until soft, about 1 to 1.5 hours.
3. Let the beets cool, peel and slice them.
4. Caramelize the honey on a pan.
5. Add the red wine vinegar and red wine and simmer to reduce to a sauce like consistency.
6. Pour 1 tablespoon of the gastrique into each of the 4 ramekins followed by the beet slices and the pastry.
7. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the pastry is golden brown.
8. Flip the ramekins over onto the plates and let the tatin slide out pastry down.
9. Garnish with the goat cheese, salad greens and remaining gastrique.