Who said tarte tatin is made with apples and is a dessert? Even though tarte tatin IS a traditional French dessert made with apples (most French restaurants do serve it on their menu with a scoop of vanille ice cream), we have tons of savory versions as well. Traditional tarte tatin comes from Sologne region where Caroline Tatin and a few nuns owned a restaurant in early 1900 (which still exists and is still called Restaurant Tatin). Their main clients were hunters, and a Sunday during hunting season while making an apple-based dessert, Caroline let the dessert burn, so she had the wonderful idea to add some extra dough and put it back in the oven…needless to say that was a huge success among hunters, and since then became a famous dessert. Out of a mistake, came out a wonderful dessert!

Basically tarte tatin is an upside down tart, now of course, you can play around with its ingredients and the savory versions are really a wonderful alternative to regular tarts.

The toppings and in this case, the artichokes are caramelized due to the juices of the ingredients falling down on the bottom of the dish. For the puff pastry, you can either make it, or buy sheets. I found some decent puff pastry that is not too greasy and remains fluffy and crunchy, so if you have time (about extra 2 hours) and have well mastered the art of puff pastry making, you can make it. In my case, it really depends on the time I have. Today I had little time to make it, so hello Whole Foods. The ingredients for the crust are for about 2 tarts, usually when I make puff pastry, I keep extra and use it when I have lots of guests.

For the ingredients you can use your imagination, this combination is well balanced and delivers a nice harmony of flavors.  The sweetness of the onions allied with manchego and artichokes texture make it a delicious tart.

Ingredients for 3-4

For the puff pastry

• 8.8 oz (or 250 g) flour
• 6.5 oz (or 185 g) butter
• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) water
• 0.17 oz (or 5 g) salt

For the toppings

• 3-4 medium size artichokes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 2 onions, sliced
• manchego cheese, sliced (enough to cover the surface of your dish)
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the puff pastry

In a working surface,  place flour in the middle, add salt, then add water gradually, mixing with the flour to form a ball.  Cross top of the ball with a knife and place in a plastic wrap to rest for about 30 minutes. Remove wrap and lay in a flat surface, spread it out with your hands to form a cross shape dough. With a rolling pin roll it flat and place soft butter in the middle. Bring sides of the dough towards the middle and flatten out with rolling pin. Fold again using same procedure about 6 times. Place in the refrigerator for 30-45 min after the second round and again after the fourth round.

For the tart

Start trimming the artichokes. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, stir and add artichokes. Add wine, salt and pepper and cover with a lid, cook at medium heat until the artichokes are tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, heat olive oil, add onions. Cook at medium heat and let them caramelized. It will take about 15-20 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, and let it reduce for about 1 minute. Add thyme, salt and pepper.

In a deep dish pan, place artichokes in the bottom to cover the surface of the pan. Add onions, then add manchego covering the surface of the onions.

Roll the puff pastry and place it on top of the ingredients. There will need extra pastry about 2 inches extra (your sheet will be 2 inches larger than the dish, the puff pastry tends to shrink while cooking). Make sure your ingredients are holding into place and using your hand firmly press on the puff pastry.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the top of the puff pastry is nicely golden. Remove from the oven and turn upside down using a plate and serve immediately.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/05/i-like-it-upside-down-tart-tatin-with-artichokes-caramelized-onions-and-manchego-cheese/feed/ 40 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:50:23 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=3237 Une grosse envie de chocolat – Tarte aux poires et double chocolat

Amis du chocolat, Bonjour!!

This is the chocolate addict dessert par excellence! When you have a chocolate craving, this tart is the perfect choice…chocolate crust and chocolate filling, how much more chocolate can you have? I am not a chocoholic, but I do love chocolate, besides what’s better with espresso than a piece of very dark bitter chocolate melting in your mouth?

I got inspired by a recipe I found on a book called “Cuisinez en Souplesse“. I changed the proportions but I kept the concept of the chocolate crust and chocolate filling which is what we call a ganache. A ganache is a mixture of cream, milk, butter and chocolate that is used to fill pastries. If you had more chocolate than cream, then your ganache will be thicker. I like it a little unctuous and slightly creamy rather than harder.

Canned pears can be used for the filling but I prefer to use fresh ingredients. No matter what type of pear you are using, they need to be well drained. If you are using fresh pears, you need to cook them in water with honey and vanilla for about 3 minutes, then drain them and pat them dry carefully to remove excess liquid.

I had guests for dinner, and that was the dessert, I would not make this for just the pleasure of eating chocolate, it’s too dangerous, because no matter how big your slice is, you just cannot resist a second one. Will power is fighting with cocoa and the latter is definitely winning. So yes, chocolate rules!

Ingredients for 6-8 people

For the dough

• 4.58 oz (or 130 g) flour
• 1 oz (or 30 g) unsweetened cocoa
• 2.80 oz (or 80 g) soft butter
• 2.11 oz (or 60 g) sugar
• 1 egg

For the filling

• 7 pear halves
• 1.70 fl oz (or 5 cl) milk
• 7.4 oz (or 210 g) baking chocolate
• 6.76 fl oz (or 2o cl) crème fraîche or heavy cream
• 0.90 oz (or 25 g) butter, diced

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar and soft butter, mix until the dough has obtained a “sandy” texture. Add egg and mix all together. If the dough is too thick add a little water. Make a ball, with dough, wrap with plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Roll dough on a flat working surface, place it in a round tart mold, cover it with a parchment paper and add some beans on top to prevent it from inflating while baking. Place in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 360-370F.

Drain pears. Heat milk and cream in a pot at slow temperature. As soon as it boils, remove from heat. Add butter, chocolate and mix well until obtaining a smooth consistency. Beat the egg and add it to the chocolate mixture.

Remove parchment paper from mold, place pears inside mold and add chocolate mixture. Cook for 10 minutes. Let the tart rest for 20 minutes when removing from the oven. Let it cool before serving.

There are as many apple tart recipes, than there are people…I bought tons of apples for my parakeet Pepita (it turned out she is a girl) but then I have ants all over the place, that drives me insane and they go all over the place or if they find a crumb, they start invading. I left an apple slice in Pepita’s cage and here we go ants are back. Not sure yet how to get rid of those, but so far the store products don’t work. I cannot leave anything out. No other option than baking and eating it fast.

Apple tart is a French classic. In Lorraine region of France where I grew up, they use what they call “migaine” actually that word is only used in that region to describe a cream/egg mixture to fill in the fruit tarts. If you go to Paris and talk about “migaine” with a Parisian, he has no idea what you are talking about and would think you are making it up.

I have another version of apple tart with a layer of apple sauce on the bottom that is delicious as well, sometimes I like it with “migaine” and flavor it with calvados that enhances the natural apple flavor, since Calvados is a liquor made with apples.

This dough is a little different from a traditional pâte brisée, where the butter quantity comes in half of the quantity of the flour. I always like to add almond flour to my regular flour to give it a little kick. When I use my rectangular molds like that one, usually I have leftover dough. If you use a larger mold, that dough quantity would be enough, then you might need to adjust apple quantity as well.

Ingredients for 6-8

• 2 eggs
• 2 golden apples one a kind with tender flesh
• 3 tbs crème fraîche
• 1/2 cup milk or almond milk
• 2 tbs calvados
• 3 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tbs golden raisins

For the dough

• 7 oz (or 200 g) flour
• 1.7 oz (or 50 g) almond flour
• 2 tbs sugar
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) butter, cut in pieces
• 1 yolk
• a little water

Preparation

For the dough

In a mixing container, mix flours together. Add sugar and yolk, butter and start mixing ingredients. Add a little water gradually to obtain a nice texture and consistency. Wrap in a plastic foil and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

For the tart

Using a rolling pin, spread the dough and place in a round tart pan. Place apple slices nicely.

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, cream, sugar, raisins, calvados and milk. Mix all ingredients well. Pour the mixture on top of the apples and cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes or until the tart is cooked.

Serve lukewarm with whipped cream , vanilla ice cream

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/12/pom-pom-pom-i-want-some-apples-apple-tart-with-raisins-and-calvados/feed/ 15 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/are-there-still-fishes-in-the-sea-salmon-tart-with-spinach-onions-and-dill-on-a-black-sesame-seeds-chili-and-herb-crust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-there-still-fishes-in-the-sea-salmon-tart-with-spinach-onions-and-dill-on-a-black-sesame-seeds-chili-and-herb-crust http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/are-there-still-fishes-in-the-sea-salmon-tart-with-spinach-onions-and-dill-on-a-black-sesame-seeds-chili-and-herb-crust/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:07:40 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=3580 Y a t-il encore des poissons dans la mer? – Tarte au saumon, épinards, onions et aneth avec pâte au sésame, piment et herbes

I love my rectangular molds and think I haven’t used them that much, so I need to place them somewhere I can see them, otherwise I tend to forget I have them. What a shame. Well, it’s the same thing with clothes, the ones you don’t see, you don’t wear.

I just realized the sun goes down sooner, it’s completely dark at 8pm in San Francisco, despite the weather being sunnier. Completely the opposite of where I grew up. The longest days are in June, you still have light at 10pm and it’s really a wonderful feeling. So fall is just around the corner, I feel time goes by so fast, you blink, and one month is already gone.

Fall recipes are coming and I will be exploring plenty of delicious savory tarts. They are a perfect light lunch of appetizer. J’adore les tartes salées! Tu veux une tarte? Do you want a tart? In French slang than can also mean a slap! Not sure exactly where that comes from.

The particularity of this tart is its crust. I have decided to use less and less refined white flours, and use organic spelt, whole wheat or other nutritious flours made out of grains. Then, in addition, I decided to flavor the crust. This crust has black sesame seeds, chili flakes and dried mixed herbs…and olive oil instead of butter. So we have a healthy version of the traditional French tarts with pate brisee made with white flour and butter. I prefer to use olive oil for savory tarts than butter, the crust is lighter, and you can taste the olive oil which adds a lot of character to the tart.

I am still dealing with the dilemma of eating wild salmon vs. the farm raised one, and I really don’t know what to do. I don’t want to eat salmon that had been injected with coloring, nor eat grey salmon (I don’t think they would sell it anyway) but I don’t want to contribute to destruction of environment. So I am confused.

I had leftover dough that I will use to make some other tart, but the quantities for the tart are good for a round medium size mold of maybe 8.5 inches diameter. My rectangular one is 14×4 inches. If you are using a larger mold, you need to adjust quantities, add 1 egg and more milk and cream and probably extra spinach.

The below pictures are a traditional French mustard, tomato and tuna tart, made with leftover crust I had. This is a very quick and easy savory tart, nonetheless delicious. You can use any type of dough for this an it turned out great with the sesame, chili and herb crust. You just need Dijon mustard, tomatoes, tuna, chives, and of course the egg/cream/milk mixture. This is what we make when you don’t know what to cook and you have some unexpected guest that pop in.

Ingredients for about 6 people

For the crust

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 1/2 tps chili flakes
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs like herbes de Provences, etc…
• 80 ml olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• a few pinches of salt

For the topping

• 6 cups raw baby spinach (or 1 cup of unfrozen spinach)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 salmon steak (about 1/2 lb), cut in cubes
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup low fat milk (or regular milk)
• 1 1/2 tbs dill, chopped
• 1 tbs chives, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Mix all flours in a mixing container. Add sesame seeds, chili and herbs, mix well to combine all ingredients. Add olive oil and salt.  Add water gradually, while mixing to obtain a smooth dough. Do not over knead. Form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 min.

In large pot, heat olive oil, add garlic, cook for a few seconds to get flavor out, then add spinach. Add salt and pepper, and keep stirring until the spincah are wilted. Remove from heat and squeez excess water. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil, and add onions. Cook the onions slowly until the melt and become soft. When cooked, add 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar, and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a mixing container, mix eggs, eggs, cream, salt and pepper.

Roll the dough and place in your greased non-stick mold (it’s better to grease them anyway even if they don’t stick). Add onion layer, then place spinach, followed by the cubed salmon. Add dill and pour egg mixture on top. Add cracked black pepper.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes or until the top of the tart is golden brown. Serve hot with a simple green salad.

That was the dessert part of the dinner when my friend came over.  Originally I wanted to make the traditional tarte aux fraises, strawberry tart with vanilla custard (crème patissière). Then I had those beautiful yellow peaches, and it had been such a long time, I did not make a peach tart. So peach tart it was going to be. Eventhough I prefer to make savory dishes than bake, fruit desserts are one of my favorites.

Soon, peach season will be over, and we’ll start to find those mushy, frozen peaches with an insipid flavor and with a brownish color, don’t you hate it? It’s beautiful from the outside, and when you bite in it, you just want to spit it out. I still haven’t figured out how to detect from the outside that a peach will be mushy when you open it up.

It’s a very almond tart, the crust has almond meal and the crème patissière is flavored with almond, so if you like almond flavor, you’ll love this tart.

So far, in San Francisco, I haven’t see the color of summer, so hopefully fall will be my summer, and more tarts are coming this way…I don’t think there is a season for tarts, they’re perfect to consume all year round.

I don’t know if this is available in the US, but I brought from France some vanilla bean powder. It’s basically vanilla bean ground, so instead of opening and scraping a regular vanilla bean, this is already ground, and ready to use. If this is not available in the US, you can just open and scrape a regular vanilla bean.

If you don’t have individual tart molds, you can just use a regular mold.

For the almond crust

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 2.82 oz (or 80 g) butter
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs water

For the almond custard cream

• 1 cup (or 250 ml) milk
• 2 eggs
• 1.8 oz (or 50 g) sugar
• vanilla powder
• 1/8 cup (or 25 g) flour
• 1 tsp almond extract

For the topping

• 2 large peaches not too ripe
• vanilla bean powder
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tbs chopped pistachios

Preparation

For the crust

In a mixing container, add flour and almond meal, mix well, add sugar. Cut butter in small cubes and add to the flour, add water. Knead with the tip of your fingers to obtain an grainy dough but do not over knead it. If you knead it too long you won’t be able to roll it later and it will break apart. That’s the process to make a pate brisée (brisee = broken). Roll in a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 min.

For the amond custard cream

Mix eggs, sugar, flour in a mixing container, beat well to obtain a smooth consistency. Heat milk in a pan with vanilla bean powder, and when it’s hot (do not boil) add the egg/sugar/flour mixture. Continue to stir until the cream has thickened, it should take about 7-8 minutes. This cream can boil, since it has flour in it. Remove from heat and add almond extract. Let it cool down.  To prevent the cream from forming a crust, sprinkle with granulated sugar and let it cool.

For the peaches

Cut peaches in 4 quarters, peel them. cut them in slices about 5 mm thick. Heat a grill pan or regular grill, and grill the peaches slices on both sides. They grill very quickly so don’t over cook them or they will be mushy.

Place peaches in a container and coat them with honey and sprinkle with vanilla bean powder.

The finishing

Roll the dough in about a 4 mm thickness. Place in your non stick molds. Place some wax paper on top of your crust, and cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 10 minutes, then remove the wax paper and cook for another 10 minutes. You will have to check the crust occasionally since every oven is different and it might cook too fast and eventually the crust might burn from the outside. When cooked remove form the oven and let it cool.

Fill the crusts with almond custard cream, then place grilled peaches on top and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. You can serve it at room temperature, these tarts don’t need to be placed in the refrigerator.

I really don’t like to throw food away…I had some leftover dough that I used to make the Tarpiz a few days ago and I thought it would be a shame to throw away that delicious and healthy dough, so I decided to make a tatin with it. Tatin in French refers to an upside down tart. The fruits or vegetables and first placed in the dish, then comes the dough that is placed on top. Usually people use either puff pastry or pâte brisée . In this case, I used the whole wheat and kamut dough, which is more similar to pizza dough and has a lot less fat in it. The thing is since it has some yeast in it, you need to make it thin or it will rise and get too thick.

Try to get really ripe, organic and meaty tomatoes. If you get regular tomatoes, they tend to be filled with water, and even after it’s cooked the tatin will be filled with water and soak its crust.

Ricotta salata, in Italian “salata” means “salty” (can be sometimes called “ricottone”) and it is basically regular ricotta to which salt has been added and has been left to dry for about one month.  The drying process made ricotta lose half of its water. This ricotta can also be grated like regular cheese.

I just put one slice of bacon, but you can put more if you like it, I didn’t want the smoked flavor to be too powering.

Ingredients for 4

• 6 medium tomatoes, skinless and seedless
• 2 tbs of ricotta salata
• 2 tbs goat cheese
• 2 tbs basil
• 1 slice of bacon, diced
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First prepare the tomatoes. Remove the skin by putting them in boiling water for a few seconds. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Add salt and pepper and place in the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes to dry them out.

Oil a deep dish. Place tomatoes in the dish, the side that has been cut should be face down. Make sure to tighten them closely, not to leave any space between them. Add cheeses cut in slices on top of tomatoes. Add bacon (previously diced and cooked in a pan), add basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spread the dough using a rolling pin. Make it into a thin layer. Make sure to make a larger circle than the dish containing the tomatoes. Spread mustard on top of the dough and place the dough with mustard side down, facing the tomatoes. You need to push the extra dough down, all around the edge of the dish.

Place tatin in a preheated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Before removing from the dish, wait about 30 seconds. Then unmold upside down and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Tra una torta e una pizza – Tarpiz con verdura mista del sud, feta e rucola

When you can decide what to make between a pizza and a tart, and you end up doing something in between those two, it would be inaccurate to call it either tart or pizza, that’s why it should get its own name. Entre les deux mon coeur balance (in between those two my heart can’t decide), like my heart has been balancing between France and Italy my whole life, so I might as well be a representation of this round and savory Tarpiz…really Tarpiz is really what it is…and I feel I am a Tarpiz myself.

Lately, I have been avoiding to use white refined flours in my pastries or other dishes where it requires flour. I have been going to the Rainbow and buying all those wonderful cereal flours, such as quinoa, kamut, buckwheat, spelt, etc…they’re wonderful for baking, very healthy since high in fibers and protein and most of all they taste absolutely amazing. I definitely stay away from white refined flour when possible. 

Our modern society has been consuming too many refined and industrialized food, lacking nutrients and vitamins. We have forgotten natural and ancient grains used in the old time as far as Antiquity, such as spelt, kamut, millet, etc…and really wished that restaurants would also serve food that would be focused on nutrition rather than heavy in grease and sugar to make it more “flavorful”. Flavor is not linked to sugar and grease, but on quality of the ingredients.

Anyway, this Tarpiz is made out of whole wheat and kamut flours, topped with grilled vegetables, and rucola. I love pizza bianca (white pizza) with rucola they serve in Italy. 

For about 4 people

For the dough

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup kamut flour
• fresh yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup lukewarm water or less
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt

For the topping

• 1 red bell pepper, grilled
• 1 small size eggplant, sliced crosswise
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tbs feta, crumbled
• a few cherry tomatoes (5 or 6 cut in half)
• 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped (optional)
• 1 handful of wild rucola
• salt and pepper

For the dough

Mix flours together. Dissolve one tsp of fresh yeast in 1/2 glass of lukewarm water. Stir well until the yeast has completely dissolved. Mix yeast, salt, olive oil with flours, making a dough. Knead the dough to make it into a nice and elastic texture. Let it rise for a couple of hours at medium temperature. It needs to double it size. Then fold again, make a ball, wrap in plastic and leave in the refrigerator for one about one hour.

For the topping

Broil the bell pepper under the broiler, until all sides are browned. Remove, let it cool and remove the skin and seeds. Cut in stripes.

Cut the eggplant crosswise, sprinkle with salt and olive oil and broil under the broiler on both sides. When nicely browned, cut in half or quarter depending on the size of the eggplant.

Cook the onions slowly in olive oil until they become soft almost like a jam. 

Start spreading the dough, then top with onions, eggplants, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper stripes, olives, feta cheese, salt and pepper. Cook in a preheated oven at 375F for about 25 minutes. Remove and add rucola. Serve hot.