Tarte Normande

8 Servings

Ingredients:

For the tart dough:
6 TBS unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt

For the filling:
4 medium apples, about 1 1/2 lbs
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 TBS granulated or raw can sugar, for finishing there tart
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 TBS calvados

Directions:
Make the tart dough by mixing the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low-to-medium speed, until combined, about 1 minute (but do not whip). Add the egg yolk and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Mix in the flow and salt on low speed, until the dough comes together. If necessary, add a sprinkle of water if the dough feels too dry. Don't over mix it (you can stop the mixer before the dough is done and mix it by hand, to avoid overtaxing).

Shape the dough into a disk and place in the center of a 9-inch removable bottom tart pan. Use the heel of your hand, and fingers, to press the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan, getting it as even as possible. Refrigerate or freeze the dough until ready to use.

To bake the tart, preheat the oven to 350º. Peel and core the apples, and cut them in eighths. Place the slices in concentric circles in the unbaked tart shell.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1/2 cup sugar, along with the vanilla extract and salt. Whisk in the heavy cream and calvados, until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the filling over the apples in the tart dough. Sprinkle the top with 2 TBS of sugar and bake the tart until deep golden brown on top, about 45 to 50 minutes (I usually cook over an hour). Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Serving:
Serve the tart warm or at room temperature. Normally tarts like this are served on their own. It is best enjoyed the day it's made. It can be kept up to 3 days but does not improve.

Notes:
You can substitute the Calvados with another apple brandy. You can use brandy, Cognac, or dark rum. If avoiding alcohol, omit the brandy and double the vanilla extract, although the tart gets its name, and flavor, from the brandy, so the tart will be different.

Source: David Lebovitz

Creme Anglais

Ingredients:
2 cups cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean

Directions:
Separate egg yolks and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

Prepare an ice-water bath and set aside. Bring cream to a boil (with vanilla bean scrapings) in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.

Meanwhile whisk yolks and sugar until well combined and slightly thickened. Slowly whisk in 1/3 of the hot milk mixture (removing from heat) until egg mixture is slightly heated, then continue whisking remaining milk mixture into egg mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat; cook, stirring, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches between 170º-180º.

Remove from heat and pour into a bowl and place in ice bath, adding vanilla (if you didn't use a bean). Let cool about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days before using.

Source: adapted from Martha Stewart

Quiche

Ingredients:
1 uncooked pie dough
1 TBS unsalted butter
2 cups diced yellow onion
6 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
salami
ham
1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out dough to a 12-inch round. Place in a 9-inch pie plate, or tarte tin. Place parchment paper with weights or dry beans (or just fork it). Bake until edge is dry and light golden, about 20 minutes.



Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add diced onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until light golden, 8-10 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Add onion, bacon, and cheese and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk to combine, pour into crust, and bake until center of quiche is just set, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. To reheat, place in a 325º oven, cover with foil, and cook for 15 minutes or until warmed.

Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons

We made this Julia Child recipe last night. Our thermometer was broken so it gave us the wrong reading on our chicken, and it was way overcooked. We thought smoking the chicken would taste delicious with the flavors of the sauce. Also the sauce was so amazing, we thought it should be doubled (or even tripled, who knows! It was amazing). So here is our adjusted version.

Ingredients:

Chicken tenderloins

Salt

Pepper

10 TBS butter

2 TBS minced shallots

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

1/4 tsp salt

Fresh, minced parsley 

Lemon Juice (maybe)

For the sauce:

1 cup pinot noir

1 cup beef stock

2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º. Season chicken with salt and pepper and put on the smoker. Heat the butter in an oven proof pan until it is foaming. Don't brown. Stir in the shallots and sauté, without browning. Then stir in the mushrooms and sauté lightly for a minute or two, without browning. Cover and place in oven for 15 minutes. (I'm sure you could skip this, this is where the chicken was cooked, but I am keeping this step in because it made the mushrooms this amazing texture).

Remove pot/pan and add the stock and wine. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste the sauce and add salt, pepper, and lemon drops to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serve with steamed green beans and possibly rice. (Although we were glad we didn't make rice as planned because the sauce was that amazing)

Source: Julia Child

Tarte au Citron

Serves 6

1 pâte â tarte
4 fresh lemons
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
5oz thick cream
4 large eggs
3-4 TBS of soft butter
1 TBS flour

Butter six small ramekins (or one large tarte pan)

Flour your workspace and roll the dough out to about 1/8 of an inch. Cut out either 6 small circles or on large one. Fit the dough into your pan(s) and place in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 360.



Wipe down lemons. Remove the zest from two lemons, without taking the white skin, and chop finely. Juice these two lemons. Cut the other two into fine, round slices and set aside.

Mix the eggs and whip with sugar. Combine with lemon juice, the zest and the cream just until mixed.

Put fork holes in your dough and pour the lemon mixture in. Cook for 30 minutes, or until done.

Decorate with lemon slices or rasberries.


Source: Cuisine Actuelle

Moelleux au Chocolat

This recipe is so AMAZING! Although I'm not the biggest chocolate lover, I absolutely love this! While living in le Vesinet my friend Lisa and I decided to make a french dessert because our obsession with les tarte aux citron was getting to be quite costly; thus began our baking escapades which began and ended with Moelleux au Chocolate and une tarte du citron.

The chocolate here is not the same. If you plan on making it with Hersheys or even Ghiradelli, don't waste your time. Blah.

roughly 6oz of dark chocolate

4 large eggs

4 TBS flour

about 1/2 c. of almond powder

Butter

Melt the chocolate in little pieces in a double boiler on low heat. Remove from heat and slowly add the egg yolks while mixing really fast. Add 2 TBS of flour and the almond powder.

Beat the egg whites until firm with an electric mixer. Add it to the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375-400. Pour the mixture in a big dish or individual ramekins. Grease the ramekins with butter and remaining flour. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven.

Remove carefully onto a plate and enjoy!

Source: Cuisine Actuelle