Let’s see: how many favorite recipes can you name that start with chopping onions and garlic? Enough to make you cry. <br /> <br /> For your next dinner party, roll out a buttery-rich sheet of pastry, top it with carmelized onions (of all or any variety), add a splash of lemon and fresh herbs -- or a hint of brandy, if you dare. Fold, bake and voilà! One pretty, tempting appetizer or a simple rustic supper for two -- wrapped up in a tart, what the French call a “galette.” <br /> <br />Thanks to the incomparable Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, at last I’ve discovered the secret to handling pastry to retain that elusive balance of flour, liquid and lipids: chill and hand-build! Get in there, get your hands floured and buttered and work the lumps out of the dough, gently with your fingertips, but not too much. <br /> <br />Hint: to get that stretchy-smooth dough workable enough to yield an indescribably delicious melt-in-the-mouth crunch in the pastry, add a quarter cup of ricotta cheese to the flour and butter mixture.

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