Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten's Apple Crostata

Here I am in Paris, City of Chic Elegant Pâtisserie, and I am making an homely apple concoction from American celebrity chef Ina Garten.

My (delicious) husband, Sjoerd (well I think he is), is here doing the final part (superieur cuisine) of his Cordon Bleu diploma, and I am visiting for a few days. It is a tough life, but somebody has to do it :=) Since he is here for 3 months, he has rented a great apartment with a very well-equipped kitchen. We'd invited a fellow blogging student, Anthony, over for Sunday Lunch, and somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered an Apple Crostata recipe. Thank goodness for internet and my laptop, because a quick search brought me to the Food Network website - and rave reviews.

I have to be honest, that the pictures here do make it look more elegant than it turned out. 'Homely' or 'rustic' is being too polite....I am not sure what went wrong (if anything!)...because it looked quite floppy.

However it certainly did taste good.
It is a cross between an apple pie and apple crumble, buttery, flaky and fragranced with cinnamon and allspice It was especially good served slightly warm with crème fraîche.

I quote here the American quantities from the Food Network, rather than the conversion that I attempted, just in case that this is what went awry in translation.

Barefoot Contessa Apple Crostata
Serves 6-8

For the pastry:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
1.5 pounds cooking apples (3 large)
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough becomes a solid mass. Turn the dough onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 230 degC.

3. Flour a rolling pin and roll the pastry into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.

4. For the filling, peel, core, and cut the apples into 8ths. Cut each wedge into 3 chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Cover the tart dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

5. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly on the apples. Gently fold the border over the apples to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle.

6. Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lucious Lemon Curd

After having posted a couple of days ago about Proper English Muffins, I thought you might like to make something quintessentially English to spread onto them. So, I give you, my Lucious Lemon Curd recipe. No fuss, simple, and ready in a (lemon) jiffy.

Lucious Lemon Curd
Makes enough to fill a one-pound (450g) jam jar

2 lemons, finely grated zest and squeezed juice
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
150g sugar
100g butter

1. Beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together.

2. Melt the butter over a low heat in a heavy-based pan, and when melted stir in the eggy-sugar mixture and the finely grated lemon zest. Keep cooking gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened.

3. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the lemon juice until well amalgamated.

4. Pour into a clean jam jar, and screw on the lid immediately. As the lemon curd cools down it will create a vacuum which will help to preserve it (until it is opened). Once cooled to room temperature, store in the fridge and smear to face regularly.

Proper English Muffins

Sometimes nostalgia just hits me just square between the eyes....and all I can do is to act on it.
This bout of nostalgia started with my flicking through Nigella's Feast and finding a recipe for Welsh Rarebit.

Welsh Rarebit!!

It has been years since I had that cheesey paste spread on a muffin at Betty's in Ilkley. Betty's - that Yorkshire institution of high teas and ladies who lunch.

So in the quest for Welsh Rarebit then I had to make Muffins first. This is the result of that search. And Muffins can be yours too in about 90 minutes from start to finish.

Proper English Muffins
Makes 6 lovely thick ones

450g flour
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon dried yeast (=1 x 7g packet)
1 teaspoon salt
250ml warm water
Cornmeal

1. Mix the warm water, sunflower oil and yeast together in a large bowl.

2. Add in the flour and salt, mix well and bring together in a ball.

3. Oil the top, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes to rise.
In my case, I have found the top of our coffee machine to be the perfect rising place.

4. Pre-heat oven to 175°C.

5. Knead until soft (5-10 minutes) and roll out to a thickness of about 2cm. Cut into 6 rounds (or more, depending on the size of your cutter). Roll in cornmeal.



6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the muffins sound hollow when tapped.
7. Leave to cool for as long as you can.....then spread with butter, or make Welsh Rarebit