Tarte Tatin

It's a good thing I picked up a cast iron pan in time for apple season. I've been taking full advantage of both. Inspired by Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution (and how can you not be?), I decided to give Tarte Tatin a whirl. Not only that, but I made my own pie crust, after years of buying them frozen.

What took me so long?

This dessert is simple, as Waters promises, and simultaneously rustic and elegant. It celebrates wholesome, delicious ingredients without complication:

Pie Crust (Homemade or store bought) 

2-3 Apples (I used local Tompkins King apples.) 

Butter, 2 Tbsp.

Sugar, 6 Tbsp.

First, I prepared an entire recipe of Waters' "Tart & Pie Dough" from earlier in the book, refrigerating one half for the Tarte Tatin and freezing the other half for next time. (It ended up making the trip to Maryland in my cooler for the Tarte Tatin I made for my apple loving brother.)

Peel and core apples. Slice into thin segments (eights or sixteenths). It is important that they are as uniform as possible.

Oven preheated to 400°F. Butter and sugar combined in a 9-inch cast iron pan over medium heat. Stir until caramelized, careful not to burn! Remove the pan from heat. My caramel making skills need a lot of work, mainly because it involves paying careful attention and not getting distracted. This is a great example of how cooking can make me a better person. The promise of delicious, unburned caramel may be just the incentive I need to train myself.

Arrange apple slices perpendicular to the outside edge of the pan, pointy sides up. Make another ring inside that one. Then fill these rings in, pointy sides down this time, nestled between the first set of rings. Fill in gaps with smaller pieces. Lay pastry over the apples, tucking it between the apples and the pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes. Give the pan a gentle shake when you take it out of the oven, to loosen the apples. Put the serving plate face down over the pan and flip over. Gently lift the pan off. Serve with vanilla ice cream, yogurt, whipped cream, or just naked. Delicious warm or at room temp. Delightful with ice wine.

 This is how I made my Tarte Tatin, but this narrative is no substitute for Waters' eloquent description of her method in The Art of Simple Food. I highly recommend checking the book out, particularly the practical and poetic piece on "Rolling Out Tart Dough," which was a revelation.

Apple Gingerbread Cobbler

Apple season has inspired me to bake, but I don't have huge amounts of time on my hands. I wanted something fairly simple to throw together, and I also kept thinking about that cobbler that I had at the Red Newt. The gingerbread topping would work well with apples too. A search through cookbooks, magazines and internet yielded this recipe for Apple-Gingerbread Cobbler. A historic recipe that has stood the test of time, I will definitely make this cobbler again. Next time I will pump up all the spices, just because we prefer more gingery bread. 
     This cobbler is simple enough to make as the finish for a weeknight meal. Once the apples have been prepared, toss with lemon and sugar, place into baking dish and put in a hot oven (450) to bake while you are making the topping (about 15 minutes). The topping comes together like a cake, with dry ingredients sifted together, then mixed into the wet ones. Pull the apples out of the oven (turn it down to 350) and pour the batter over the top. Then return the baking dish to the oven for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

    The gingerbread topping is moist and spongy and the apples are a lovely complement, almost coming as a surprise as you dig in. (Next time, I might also increase the amount of apples to batter, but the gingerbread is so good that it can work either way.) This was a delicious treat for my co-workers at the winery after a busy October Saturday, our busiest time of year.

Littletree Orchards

A sunny day was forecast amid the rain, so we took advantage of it by going apple picking. The rolling hills south of Ithaca were bright with color. We haven't seen as much change in the leaves in Lodi yet but, as Pat pointed out, we are closer to the lake. (This is an interesting illustration of the microclimate created by Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.)

     I liked the laid back atmosphere at Littletree Orchards right away. There were fresh cider donuts and apple cider, hot or cold, available self-serve in the barn. We had a look at the map of the orchard and headed out with a couple 1/2 bushel bags in hand.

     The brisk day was perfect for a walk amongst the apple trees. The first tree we reached was a McIntosh. I picked one to munch along the way. Lovely sweet flavor with plenty of crunch.

Check out the nest (above) I spotted in one of the trees. Those smart birds must be living like kings!

 

It was interesting to see the so many varieties of apples available. It seemed that we had arrived a little late in the season, but I also overheard that this year's crop was a fairly small one. I didn't end up pick a whole lot, but it sure put me the mood to bake. You'll be sure to be reading about it soon.

 

Northern Spys (below) are said to be great for making hard cider.

 

The Asian pears (below) were crisp and juicy, but on the small side.

This is a great field trip for children of all ages!