How To Make Vermouth-Leek Sabayon Tart Just Like Bien Cuit

StarChefs.com, an award-winning online magazine for culinary insiders, feted chefs, bakers and restaurateurs from around the city Thursday at its 2013 New York Rising Stars Awards. Among those honored at the gala were local talents from Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Gowanus:

Joseph Ogrodnek and Walker Stern of Battersby, Angelo Romano of The Pines, Zachary Golper of Bien Cuit and Noah Bernamoff of Mile End Delicatessen.

To celebrate the Rising Stars winners, we are featuring one recipe from each establishment. They are definitely geared for the professional. But ambitious home cooks and foodies may also want to try them at home! (If you do, please share your results/photos.)

Today's recipe is from Smith Street's very own Bien Cuit bakery.

Vermouth-Leek Sabayon Tart with Reading Cheese and Apricot

INGREDIENTS:

For the Apricot-Vermouth Jam:

500 grams apricots, pitted and cubed

220 grams sugar

4 grams apple pectin

200 grams dry vermouth

4 dried apricots, finely diced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 grams salt

For the Savory Tart Shell:

100 grams all-purpose flour

4 grams sugar

2 grams salt, thinly sliced

65 grams butter

½ grams egg yolk

20 grams whole milk

For the Vermouth-Leek Sabayon:

40 grams leeks

200 grams heavy cream

300 grams egg yolks

150 grams dry vermouth

40 grams sugar

1 coarse salt

To Assemble and Serve:

2 cups Spring Brook Farm Reading cheese

METHOD:

For the Apricot-Vermouth Jam: In a bowl, combine apricots with 200 grams sugar and macerate at room temperature overnight. Transfer macerated apricots and their juices to a small saucepot and cook over very low heat until liquid reduces by half. In a bowl, add pectin into 20 grams sugar and whisk mixture into 100 grams vermouth. Stir mixture into apricots and continue to cook over low heat. Heat the remaining 100 grams vermouth and pour over dried apricots; rehydrate for 20 minutes. Add rehydrated apricots, lemon juice, and salt to the jam. Continue cooking until desired thickness is achieved.

For the Savory Tart Dough: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter until texture resembles a coarse meal. Add yolk and mix to incorporate; stir in milk. Form dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, and chill 6 hours. Roll dough into a rectangle, execute a book fold, then repeat. Rest dough in refrigerator 1 hour. Preheat oven to 385°F. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thick and line a 9-inch tart pan or ring. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

For the Vermouth-Leek Sabayon: In a small saucepot, combine leeks with heavy cream. Heat to a scald, turn off heat, and steep 20 minutes. Pass through a chinois and chill. Whip cream to soft peaks and reserve in the refrigerator. In a medium, metal bowl whisk together yolks, vermouth, sugar, and salt and heat over a double boiler. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is foamy and almost reaches the ribbon stage. Remove from heat and chill over an ice bath, whisking occasionally. Once foam cools, fold in the leek-infused whipped cream. Pour finished sabayon into small dome molds and freeze until set.

To Assemble and Serve: Fill the Savory Tart Shell with Apricot-Vermouth Jam. Arrange cheese in a fluffy layer on top of the jam. Arrange Leek-Vermouth Sabayon domes on top and thaw completely before serving.

For yesterday's recipe from Mile End Deli, click here.