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CAVIAR TART

Hard-boiled
eggs, sour cream, and onion are traditional accompaniments for caviar.
In this longtime staple of community cookbooks, they are turned into a
shallow cake and spread with caviar. We used supermarket lumpfish
caviar, but if you’re feeling flush, use the good stuff, or even
Japanese tobiko (flying-fish roe).

3/4 cup sour cream
8 hard-boiled large eggs, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
7 oz black lumpfish caviar (see cooks’ note below)

Special equipment: a 9-inch nonstick springform pan; a small offset spatula
Accompaniments: lemon wedges; 16 thin slices whole-wheat toast, buttered, then halved or quartered diagonally

Put
1/2 cup sour cream in a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a bowl, then
let drain, covered with plastic wrap and chilled, 3 hours.

Stir
together remaining 1/4 cup sour cream, eggs, onion, butter, dill, zest,
salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon chives until combined well.

Invert
bottom of springform pan (so that turned-up edge is underneath for easy
removal of tart) and close side of pan around bottom. Spread egg
mixture evenly in pan with offset spatula, smoothing top. Cover surface
with plastic wrap, pressing gently, and chill until firm, at least 3
hours.

Spread drained sour cream evenly over egg mixture with offset spatula.

Gently
spread half of caviar on several sheets of paper towels to absorb
excess cuttlefish ink. Carefully lift caviar from paper towels and
spread on top of egg mixture (be careful not to smash caviar). Repeat
method with remaining caviar. Serve cut into wedges and sprinkled with
remaining chives, if desired.

Cooks’ note:
Draining
the black lumpfish caviar removes excess fish ink, which stains the
cream. This is not necessary for higher-quality caviar or tobiko. For a caviar alternative, try Cavi-art from caviart.us.

Makes serves 8 to 10.

Gourmet
Features
January 2006; originally published 1988

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

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