Award-winning chef Christine Piccin credits her dad with inspiring her to try just about anything, once, and her mom with teaching her how to make the perfect pie crust. The first thing she remembers learning how to cook was crêpes, which still show up regularly on the table at her house.
Christine cooked in white tabletop establishments for ten years (Hotel la Rose, Madrona Manor, Mixx). As a chef, Christine has paired food and wine for wineries, and has written for various food and travel magazines. A confessed fanatique of la cuisine française, Christine’s past articles for FRANCE magazine have allowed her to taste her way through Cognac, help make Comté cheese in the French countryside, and practice the finer points of playing pétanque.
She is a past president of the Sonoma County Culinary Guild, and a Harvest Fair Sweepstakes Award winner, a competition she now helps judge. Currently training student-chefs in the Culinary Arts program at SRJC, Christine also teaches French cooking class, in French, and “Why We Love Paris,” a food and travel class.
Smoked Salmon Crostata (Free-form Tart) with Crème Fraîche 
makes 4 servings
1 recipe Savory Tart Pastry
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
1 egg yolk beaten with a teaspoon of water
4 ounces sliced smoked salmon, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 tablespoon minced chives
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and adjust rack to lowest setting. Roll out tart pastry to a 13-inch circle and slide onto a sheet pan.
Toss red onion slices and capers with olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spread onion mixture on the pastry, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Fold the border over the onion mixture and brush lightly with egg. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool slightly.
Spread the smoked salmon over the onions. Stir the crème fraîche with a fork to thin it, then drizzle it over the salmon and onions. Sprinkle with chives and serve.
Savory Tart Pastry
makes 1 10-11” tart shell
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons cool water
By hand: stir together flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl until blended. Grate in butter and add water, mixing with a pastry scraper or wooden spoon until well blended.
In a food processor: pulse together flour, sugar and salt to blend. Dice butter, add to processor and process for 8-10 one-second pulses until bits of butter are no bigger than small peas. Add water, pulsing JUST until dough starts to come together.
To finish
On a board, bring mixture together with your hands and knead gently until smooth. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate pastry 30 minutes before rolling (or up to 2 days, or freeze, then thaw in refrigerator before rolling) When ready to roll out, pastry will be cool but not hard.
Pair with Russian Hill Russian River Valley Viognier.
