Tarte Tatin

That's [tar-TUH tah-TAHN], a rustic, French, upside-down apple tart -- apparently I'm on a quest for upside-down pastry. I somehow got it into my head to make this without really knowing what it was, but the good news is it's easy and delicious. I used a recipe from Sara Moulton / Food TV, which seems to have come by way of Gourmet magazine. It's short and simple, but her directions are so terse I'm going to elaborate on them a bit here. Start-to-finish time for me was just under 2 hours.

Pull out to thaw on the counter top

1. 1 sheet (1/2 lb.) puff pastry

Keep it covered with a bit of plastic wrap. Once it gets a bit pliable, you can prop it open as a triangle. If it gets fully thawed before you finish with the apples, just put it in the fridge.

Now start with

1. 3 lbs. apples, peeled, halved, and cored (about 5 grocery store large size)

Sara recommends Golden Delicious, and I used Braeburn because they were on sale, but I think Granny Smith would be the killer app here. If you don't have a corer, don't use a small cookie cutter like I tried to -- you do too much damage. Just cut a triangular wedge with your knife. To prevent browning, brush each apple as it is finished with

1. Juice of 1-2 lemons

In the bottom of a 10-inch skillet, layer

1. 1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, sliced thin
2. 1/2 c sugar

On top of that, place the apple halves in a circle, rounded side down, with two more pieces to fill in the middle. After searching Google Images, I think I have it right -- see the picture.

Cook the apple mixture over medium heat for 30-35 minutes, until the carmel bubbling up starts to become golden. Slide the whole thing into a preheated 400 F oven for 10-15 more minutes, until the apples are tender. Let cool 5 minutes.

While the apples are cooking and cooling, pinch together the seams on the puff pastry and then roll it out and trim to a 12" diameter circle. Two sheets of wax paper and a little sugar to soak up the condensed moisture helps here. I use the destination plate as a template to cut the circle. Oh, and Alton Brown would want you to use a sharp knife on the pastry. Return the circle to the fridge to firm up again.

After the apples have cooled 5 minutes, drape the pastry over top. As the heat softens it a bit, tuck the edges down between the side of the pan and the apples. Prick the dough with a fork and return it to the 400 F oven for 15-25 minutes, until the pastry is dark golden but not burned. Remove from oven and invert on serving plate to cool. Yummy hot or cool, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Dinners out: Spice Street and Four Eleven West

I had some fantastic meals this weekend. It started off with a quick dinner at Spice Street after working wine tasting at A Southern Season. I had seared scallops over saffron rice with peas, red beans, and other goodies in it. This is the first time I've recognized what saffron actually tastes like, and I loved the savory richness it brought to the whole dish. I've been really impressed with that restaurant the two times I've been there...

Saturday night Katy and I went to Four Eleven West for some Italian food. They've always been good, but the dishes we had that night were outstanding. The starter was an artichoke dip served cold with thin, crisp pita wedges. The pita was on the edge between bread and cracker, and it had the wonderful, slightly ashy crispness that comes from a really hot wood oven -- similar to pizza crust in Rome. The icecream scoop of dip looked like industrial chicken salad, but it tasted more like a Caesar dressing, with that little bite the really good ones have. We tried to figure out what was in it, and we know artichoke, mayonasise, dill, and Parmesean; and possibly sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and anchovy. I'm not sure what else, but I'll try to recreate it some time.

My entree was black pepper angle hair (pepper in the pasta dough), covered in a dill cream sauce with more black pepper, and topped with a mostly raw slab of smoked salmon (cold). Killer good. I'm too lazy to make pasta and don't have access to that kind of salmon, but I'd definitely go back for that dish!

Sunday brought a tarte Tatin and homemade vanilla ice cream, but that's another post...