apple nougatine tart

There's something about Tartine's apple nougatine tart that is simple and spectacular. The apples (three varities) are sautéed in butter and sugar beforehand, which creates a stable texture for the tart, reduces extra moisture, and creates a buttery-carmalized fillling.

The sautéed apples are layered in a fully-baked crust after being tossed with lemon juice and zest (which I used to deglaze the pan and reduced slightly). 

This is covered with a mixture of sliced almonds, sugar, and lightly whipped egg white (I prefer it slightly whipped to make the crust light).

And voilà: one of my favorite ways to consume apples. And it travelled well on the CTA to a friend's for dinner.

apple nougatine tart

This is another great recipe from Tartine, which has provided some great results in the past. I was actually amazed that I mentioned it in a post but have few details — I'm assuming we ate it all before I got to take photos.

It's a [pre-baked] flaky pastry crust filled with apples sautéed in butter and sugar (with a pinch of salt) that are tossed with lemon juice and zest. The tarts get covered with a mixture of egg white, sugar, salt and almonds, forming a delicious nougatine crust. The trick is for the apples to be cooked until not too soft, with some caramelized, some softer, some firmer. Once that all comes together the result is not to sweet with a brightness from the lemon. This was also one of my best pastry efforts crust-wise.

week's end...

A week (and then some) of canning comes to a close. Off to New Jersey and Delaware with Luke -- so canning, cooking and the like can be held at bay until Friday (at the earliest). Made a nougatine tart at work for the "demo" -- the small convection oven, as much as it is small, defies the "middle rack" logic and the almonds were carmalized (read burned, but everyone loved it). One coworker declared it her new favorite dessert. Who wouldn't? Almonds, apples sautéed in butter, a flaky crust... it's a whole lot of heaven.

& lasagne

Stephanie was here for a wedding, and Jonathan due to his new location. So...

While the tomatoes were brining, I made lasagne -- a white lasagne with delicata squash, carrots, mizuna and the standards (ricotta, paramsean, parsley).

Meanwhile, Jonathan documented the lasagne noodles on the rack. (Nothing special this time around, just eggs, semolina and salt...)

And then Stephanie and Jonathan prepped apples for the nougatine tart that was heavenly. Recipe courtesy of Tartine.

(I'm having a major internal debate: grad school or cooking school?)