I used my new tart pan today to make an apple compote tart that is cooling now and looks just lovely. Yes, it's a little clunky by Paris patisserie standards, but I'm happy with it nonetheless. I adapted a recipe from Epicurious that calls for cooking an apple compote to use as the first layer of the filling, topped with big chunks of apples and brown sugar. I added a little cinnamon when I cooked the compote, and topped the tart with a few almond slices and brushed the top with a glaze of melted apricot preserves before baking. When I do this again, I will brush on the hot glaze just after the tart comes out of the oven, not before. It got just a little scorched the way I did it.I realize after researching a few recipes that the little removable-bottom pan I bought at E.DeHillerin will not work for a classic "tarte tatin," which requires a heavy skillet to create an upside-down apple pie. I will try that soon. I priced a small tarte tatin pan today at Williams-Sonoma. It was $149. (Sigh. I know where I could get one cheaper.)
Also today, I bought an inspiring cookbook, My French Kitchen, by Joanne Harris (who wrote the novel "Chocolat") and Fran Warde. Here is a quote I love from the preface: "Food -- and its preparation -- should be a pleasure. Faced with such a bewildering selection of 'conveniently' processed foods and ready meals in the supermarkets, it is sometimes hard to remember this. There is nothing convenient about bad food. When in a hurry, it takes less time to make a fabulous salad or sandwich or pasta dish than it does to defrost an overpriced tray of mush." Oui, c'est vrai.
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