Pâté chaud a l’oignon et Gruyère

When we talk about memories, family, dear ones and traditions is inevitable…you can always find a stupid smile on my face! What can I do?

This happends every time I think of my mom in the kitchen. Of me, a chubby little girl who, less than a meter high, was trying to give her a hand from below, no, from under the table…ahahaha! A father who, with his desire to hand down the traditions of Vietnamese culture, never missed an opportunity to give me lessons in history and tell me a thousand and one stories of war…while I, very naively and brazenly, asked after very little to go to get an ice cream to the bar or to play in the garden.

After all, at he age of 4-5 years my interests were very different…but despite my apparent indifference, I listened to dad and his teachings and his stories. I remember all of them, and how if I remember them!

I learned it! Vietnam was a French colony for several time and it’s thanks to them that in the Vietnamese cuisine was introduced the use of the puff pastry and the cult of the baguette.

I knew it! The Vietnamese banh pâté so derived from the French Pâté-chaud , but even if they are similar (soft and warm puff pastry tart filled with meat) are not exactly equal…

And I would like, now, to tell you that this is a recipe handed down from generation to generation, but I will be honest and sincere, alas…only the idea and the casing have remained of the traditional recipe of my mom.

But you know, come on, when it comes to search and try new combinations, I’m invariably always in the front row. And probably these are genes of the family, or rather genes of curiousity that my mom hand down for the kitchen. Therefore, instead of the classic filling of meat of banh pâté so, today, I’ll propose to you mini vegetarian Pâté-chaud (great to serve as an appetizer or finger food), to pay tribute to a special guest who came to see me in the pantry, Monsieur Le Gruyère DOP.

In its immense versatility of combinations, in my personal taste and opinion, I find that this King of the mountain pastures goes well with the sweetness of the onion, with the acidulous notes of Ancienne mustard and, with very delicacy, also soften the tough Guinness.

But…be careful not to confuse it with Herr Emmentaler! Because although they are part of the same family of Swiss excellence and they may look alike in some ways, they are actually two very different cheeses, as regards:

Are you curious to taste these delicious Pâté-chaud et a l’oignon Gruyère? Then follow step by step the recipe and try to make them at home too.

In a pan, pour a little oil and add a knob of butter. When the last one has melted, add the onions, stir and let dry over medium/low heat for about 5 minutes. Then, add 2 teaspoons of sugar, fresh thyme to taste, salt and stir. Pour the beer, stir again and continue cooking over low heat for another 20 minutes or until the onions will not appear semi-transparent and will have taken a beautiful candied colour. From time to time, remember to stir the onions to prevent it from sticking to the pan and if necessary, add a few tablespoons of hot water. Once the onions are ready, remove the pan from the heat and let them cool. Then, mix it with 2 tablespoons abundant of Gruyère.

With a pastry rings cut from rolls of puff pastry 44 discs. Take half (22 discs), brush them a little with milk and with the back of a teaspoon, dirty them with mustard. Put in the center of each disk a teaspoon of caramelized onions and add over a small handful of grated cheese.

Close the pâté-chaud with the remaining disks of pastry. Make adhere the edges of the two discs by pressing them lightly with your fingers, then, with the tines of a fork, mash and drilled the top. Brush a little the surface with milk and bake at 180° (fan oven) for about 15 minutes or until they become golden.

With this recipe I attend the 3rd contest of Swiss Cheese.

#noiCHEESEamo

organized in collaboration with the blog Peperoni e Patate.