On Rue Tatin (27 page)
Authors: Susan Herrmann Loomis
Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Culinary, #Cooking, #Regional & Ethnic, #French
It became apparent quite early on that, as Joe had been the neighborhood toddler, Fiona was to become the neighborhood baby, growing up at ease with the shopkeepers and characters of our life in Louviers.
My life had come together seamlessly—house, children, Michael, friends and neighbors, the markets, the shops, the customs, and the food. I felt wonderfully at home on rue Tatin.
TARTE TATIN
Living on rue Tatin, which is named after a general in Napoleon’s army and has nothing to do with the tart, I nonetheless feel a tremendous responsibility to have an exceptional Tarte Tatin in my repertory. After years of tasting Tartes Tatin all over France and making them at home, I came up with this recipe, a version of which was first published in
French Farmhouse Cookbook
(Workman, 1996). It is simple to make, and simply delicious, a perfect Tarte Tatin.
One 101/2-inch/26.5-cm tart shell (use the pastry from the Apple and Thyme Tart, page 80)
11/2 cups/300g vanilla sugar
10 tablespoons/150g unsalted butter, cut in thin slices
5 pounds/2.5kg tart apples such as Cox’s Orange Pippins or Boskoop, peeled, halved, and cored
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly flour it.
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to form an 11-inch/29-cm round. Transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Spread the sugar evenly over the bottom of a very heavy 101/2-inch oven-proof skillet or flame-proof baking pan. Place the butter slices evenly over the sugar, then arrange the apple halves on top of the butter. Begin at the outside edge and stand the halves on their sides, facing in one direction with stem ends toward the center. Pack the apples as close together as possible, gently pushing them together so they are held standing by pressure. Make a second circle of apple halves inside the first, packing them in on their edges as well. Place one apple half right in the center of the second circle to fill in the small space that remains. The idea is to get as many apples into the pan as possible, while keeping them nicely arranged.
4. Place the skillet over medium-low heat and cook the apples in the butter and sugar, uncovered, until the sugar turns golden brown; this will take at least 1 hour. Watch the apples closely to be sure they don’t stick; you may want to adjust the heat now and then, to slow down or speed up the cooking. As the sugar and butter melt and the apples give up some of their juices, baste the apples occasionally with a turkey baster. Gradually, the sugar will caramelize the apples nearly all the way through, though they will remain uncooked on top.
5. Preheat the oven to 425° F/220° C/gas 8.
6. When the cooking juices are deep golden and the apples are nearly cooked through, remove the pastry from the refrigerator and quickly and carefully place it over the apples, gently pushing it down around them, simultaneously easing it toward the center so that if it shrinks on the sides there will still be enough of it to cover the apples. Using a sharp knife, trim off and discard any extra pastry.
7. Place the skillet on a baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven until the pastry is golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Don’t be concerned if the juices bubble over; the tart will be more or less juicy, depending on the variety of apple you’ve used.
8. Remove the skillet from the oven. Immediately invert a serving platter with a slight lip over the skillet. Quickly but carefully invert the two so the crust is on the bottom, the apples are on top and the juices don’t run off onto the floor. Remove the skillet. Should any apples stick to it, gently remove them and reinsert them into their rightful place in the tart.
9. Serve generous slices as soon as the tart has cooled slightly, but is still very warm.
6
TO
8
SERVINGS
Recipe Index
APPETIZERS
Apples Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Leeks
SOUPS
SALADS
Apple, Roquefort, and Walnut Salad
EGGS
FISH AND SHELLFISH
The Fish Merchant’s Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
Monsieur Taverne’s Everyday Fish with Tomatoes
MEATS AND POULTRY
Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard
VEGETABLES
The Fish Merchant’s Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
Tiny Baked Potatoes with Cream
SAUCES
CHEESE
Apple, Roquefort, and Walnut Salad
Apples Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Leeks
Goat Cheese with Raspberry Vinegar and Lavender Honey
BREADS
The Rolls That Brought Us Together
DESSERTS
Goat Cheese with Raspberry Vinegar and Lavender Honey
Mamie Jacqueline’s Chocolate Cake
Rustic Nectarine and Apricot Tart
JAMS
SUSAN HERRMANN LOOMIS, journalist and professionally trained chef, is the author of five cookbooks:
The Great American Seafood Cookbook, Farmhouse Cookbook, Clambakes and Fishfries, French Farmhouse Cookbook,
and
Italian Farmhouse Cookbook.
She is the proprietor of On Rue Tatin, a cooking school she operates from her fifteenth-century home in Louviers, France, where she lives with her husband, Michael, and their two children, Joseph and Fiona Rose. She can be reached at her website,
www.
susanloomis.com
.
ALSO BY SUSAN HERRMANN LOOMIS
The Great American Seafood Cookbook
Farmhouse Cookbook
Clambakes and Fishfries
French Farmhouse Cookbook
Italian Farmhouse Cookbook
ON RUE TATIN.
Copyright © 2001 by Susan Herrmann Loomis. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address Broadway Books, a division of
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Title page illustration by Robert Hunt
The Library of Congress has cataloged the
hardcover edition as follows:
Loomis, Susan Herrmann.
On rue Tatin: living and cooking in a French town /
Susan Herrmann Loomis.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Cookery, French—Normandy style. 2. Normandy (France)—Social life and customs. I. Title.
TX719.2.N67 L66 2001
641.5944¢2—dc21 00-060836
eISBN: 978-0-7679-1144-3
v3.0