Potato-Crusted Goat Cheese Tart with Heirloom Tomato Salad

Ingredients

• 1.5 teaspoons all purpose flour 
• 4 servings butter melted
• 2  bay leaves fresh (preferably )
• 4 servings thyme leaves fresh chopped
• 4 ounces coarsely semiaged goat cheese divided crumbled (such as Midnight Moon from Cypress Grove or Onetik Chabrin;)
• 0.5 cup goat's milk 
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 pound baking potatoes peeled sliced into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
• 1.5 pounds onions sweet halved thinly sliced (such as Vidalia or Maui)
• 1 large thyme sprig fresh
• 4 servings vegetable oil for deep-frying

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• baking sheet
• sauce pan
• oven
• whisk
• kitchen thermometer
• slotted spoon

Directions

1. Melt butter insmall saucepan over medium heat.
2. Whisk inflour. Cook 30 seconds, whisking constantly.
3. Whisk in milk and nutmeg. Simmer untilsauce thickens and comes to boil, 1 to2 minutes. Season to taste with salt.DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Pressplastic wrap onto surface and chill.
4. Preheat ovento 350°F.
5. Heat chicken fat in large ovenproofskillet over medium-high heat.
6. Add onions;sprinkle with salt. Sauté until onions arelight golden, about 14 minutes. Stir in bayleaves and thyme sprig; dot with butter.
7. Place skillet in oven; bake until onionsare dark golden, stirring often, about 30minutes.
8. Transfer onions to bowl; discardbay leaves and thyme sprig. DO AHEAD: Canbe made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.
9. Preheat oven to 375°F.Line large baking sheet with parchmentpaper. Soak potato slices in large bowl ofcold water 15 minutes.
10. Drain well; pat dry.
11. Add enough oil to heavy medium skilletto reach depth of 3/4 inch.
12. Place over mediumheat; attach deep-fry thermometer and heatoil to 325°F. Working in batches, add potatoslices to oil and cook just until softenedbut not brown, about 2 minutes per batch.Using slotted spoon, transfer potato slicesto prepared baking sheet in single layerand sprinkle with salt and pepper.
13. Brush inside of four 4-inch-diameter tartpans with melted butter. Line each pan withoverlapping potato slices. Cover bottom ofeach potato crust with 1/4 of onions; sprinklewith chopped thyme.
14. Spread 1 generoustablespoon béchamel over.
15. Sprinkle eachwith 1 tablespoon goat cheese.
16. Place tarts on small baking sheet.
17. Bakeuntil filling is heated through and potatocrust browns, 18 to 20 minutes.
18. Sprinkleeach with remaining goat cheese.
19. Push up pan bottoms, releasing tarts.Arrange tarts on plates. Spoon Heirloom
20. Tomato Salad alongside and serve.
21. Fresh bay leaves areavailable with other fresh herbs in theproduce section of most supermarkets.Goat's milk is sold at many supermarketsand at natural foods stores.