October 23, 2010

Tarte Tatin - I peeled 12 apples today


English follows. Later.

今日は日本語から!という作戦で。これでバイリンガルを目指します。



思わず早起きしてしまったので散歩に出かけて、半分部屋着のままスタバでコーヒーとマフィンを頂き、編物をして朝を過ごしました。帰り道、広場で「信州物産展」なるものに遭遇。まあ小ちゃなファーマーズマーケットです。紅玉を一袋買いました。500円で9個くらい入っていた!
お店のおじさんに「何に使うの?」と聞かれ思わず「もちろん食べるんです」と答えそうになったところ、別な種類の甘いリンゴと一緒にジャムにすると美味しいと教えてもらいました。家に帰って早速皮むき。紅玉の煮えた匂いって、コーヒーの次くらいに良い匂いだと思います。




紅玉が思ったより熟していたこともあって、残りの5個も使ってしまうことにしました。



今では買い食いを極めるわたくしからは想像もつかないかもしれませんが、大学くらいまではほぼ毎日のようにお菓子やパンを焼いていました。今考えれば、母もよくあれだけバターや小麦粉を買ってくれたものだと思う。バターだって高いのに。
当時、秋といえば「紅玉でアップルタルト」が作れる季節。で、久しぶりにタルトタタンを作ろうと思い立ったものの、もう作り方が分からない!ネットで探して15年ぶりにタルトのクラストを作ってしまいました。

使ったのはこのレシピ。大好きなSmitten Kitchenを検索して見つけました。

クックパッドのレシピは冷凍パイ生地やホットケーキミックスを使ってお手軽に作るものばかりで、却下。(冷凍パイ生地は不味いです。)

リンゴを剥きすぎて手が疲れた。
ストウブの鍋を使い、鍋が深すぎたこともあって水分が蒸発せずリンゴがすぐに煮えてしまって、結果的にキャラメルっぽくならず。クラスト生地の上にリンゴのコンポートが載ったようなかたちになってしまいました。



でも!美味しい。。。。。。。

やっぱり砂糖はこれ以上入れられないので(今でも十分過ぎるくらい甘い。紅玉って砂糖入れなくても美味しいし)、焼き時間を次回は27分ではなくて35分くらいにしてみようかな。

美味しすぎる!ただ、バター200gと砂糖1カップ、小麦粉1.5カップを総て一人きりで消費するのかと思うと、非常に哀しいものがあります。だから一人暮らしって嫌なんですよね。

今日は早起きに感謝!かな〜。う〜ん。

友達に「美味しそう、あれ、カボチャじゃないの?」とメールで言われたので、次はカボチャに挑戦しようかなと闘志を燃やしているところ。

Farmers' Market, Japanese Style...
売っているものはファーマーズマーケットなのに、見た目がここまで違う。。


I happened to have a very early start this morning, against my will, so I really treated myself well.

After spending a few hours knitting at Starbucks, I found a small farmers' market in the neighborhood, and bought a bag of cooking apples.  It's my favorite kind of apple, called "Red Ball"(sort of).  In fact, I don't like any other kinds.
So anyway, a man at the apple stand told me how to make apple jam without adding any sugar - just add another sweeter apple.  So I was compelled to try that myself.



On returning home, I peeled 7 apples (I could not fit any more apples in my cooking pot), started an oven, then my room was filled with an amazing aroma of cooking apples. Hmmmmm!
Three big jars were now full.


While chopping up the apples, I noticed that some of them were rather soft.  Instead of saving them for eating, I decided to make a tartlet.  There is a fairly easy but great recipe on Smitten Kitchen, linked here.

The process was fairly easy.  The only issue was that, because I used Staub deep pot, the apples were cooked too soon and it became more saucy.  After baking it for about 27 minutes, it was not yet caramelized as it was supposed to be.  Next time I will try 35 minutes.



Anyway, though it looks like some apple comport on top of a crust, rather than Tart Tatin, it taste soooo delicious!  My god.

But if you imagine the 9 ounces of butter, 1 & 1/2 cup of flour, a cup of sugar, all destined to go into my belly, it makes you a little scared.  I hate living by myself.

Nevertheless.  Today I am thankful that I couldn't sleep in, that I had a wonderful start of the day, and ended up with a delicious tarte.

The best part is looking into the oven and breathing in the gorgeous smell.

7 comments:

Shelly said...

I love Smitten Kitchen! Everything I've made from that site has been so delicious. I had to laugh about the part with all the sugar & butter & being scary & hating living by yourself sometimes. I can totally relate... which is why I end up bringing most of what I bake to work for my co-workers, so I don't eat it all myself. :)

IndianInWarsaw said...

Oh my god, such an amazing description of some wonderful cooking. I am compelled to try the stuff. I had been involved in making apple pie at home once and I know apples smell great. :)

Thanks for the beautiful description. Happy Cooking!!!

IndianInWarsaw said...

I have never have someone describe the smell as gorgeous. I learn it today. :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a perfectly lovely morning - from hours at Starbucks, to a farmer's market, to apple-scented home. Delicious!!

Meri said...

Thank you all, for your comments!!!

Shelly, yeah, I know! This time, I can't really bring it to work (it will get messy so I am going to put it in the freezer.

Ruchir, yeah, you should try. You can get good quality cooking apples only in this time of the year. Looking at things in the oven is the best part of baking at home!

Kelly, yes, it was a perfect day. Although my right arm got really tired from all the peeling... :D

lau said...

waoow !!!!!!!!
what a tarte tatin !!

good news here also : I just found bulldog sauce (along with mirin and rice vinegar) at my local "combini" !!:-)

I also bought IDEAT (a French design magazine) special issue " Japan, the trendiest destination rigth now "

you can have a look inside here :
http://fr.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issn=1294-9485&o=ext

+ yesterday homemade treat was black goma paste ice cream ... :-)

Meri said...

Lau, wow, you know so much about Japanese food. It's amazing :) I will take a look at the magazine too!