Caramelized Apple Tart...mmmmmm...

The local foods potluck picnic today was a great time - good food, great weather, fun conversation, happy kids. I posted last night with what I was making, and today, here is the first of two recipes.

Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard

(recipe from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating From America's Farmers' Markets, from Deborah Madison)

Ingredients:

For the Apples:
3 apples (I wanted super apple, so I used 6)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar

For the Batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra
1/2 cup sugar
3 medium eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cream:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into thin wedges. Melt the butter in a wide nonstick skillet, add the apples, and sprinkle them with the sugar. Cook over high heat, occasionally flipping the apples, until they start to caramelize, then reduce the heat to medium. Keep a close eye on the apples, turning them frequently so they don't burn. This will take about 15 minutes in all. Turn off the heat.

To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla and salt, then stir in the flour. Smooth the batter into the tart pan with a spatula, pushing it up the sides to make a rim. Lay the apples over the batter.

Mix the ingredients for the cream together, then pour it over the apples. Set the tart on a sheet pan and bake until the crust is golden and starting to pull away from the sides, about 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

I altered a few things to keep it mostly *local* for the potluck. I used fresh ground whole wheat flour for the crust - yum. I substituted maple syrup for sugar. And in WI, finding local eggs, cream, butter and apples is easy. It was spectacular. And, a drizzle of our home made boiled cider on the plate before eating - oh.my.

Local Foods.

Today was a happily busy Friday.

Tomorrow we are meeting several other families from my online mom bookclub at a park for a local foods potluck picnic. This month our book selection was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and we are having this potluck to tie in with the book, and also to get out in this great fall weather and meet face to face after only chatting about books online for who knows how long. It looks like it will be a perfect day.

I planned on making several things - figuring one won't work out. So far so good though! The boys helped with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. in the kitchen today, much to the frustration of my husband, but they did a great job. They ground flour, sifted, peeled/cored apples, scrubbed vegetables - they made a mess. What fun!

A sneak peek of what we are making?
--Roasted Root Vegetables & Mashed Squash with Red Wine Sauce
::Includes locally grown herbs, carrots, brussel sprouts, radishes, beets, squash, garlic & flour. Also using local red wine & butter.

--Caramelized Apple Tart with Cinnamon Custard
:: Includes local apples, eggs, flour, cream, butter, and maple syrup combined with a few extra spices.

--Whole Wheat Bread
::Includes local wheat, honey, and milk. I'm taking this to go along with the apple butter I made a few weeks ago.

Yum.

Should be a fun day.

CSA Box This Week

My son picked the lovely background fabric for the photo today.

Today in our box we have: lettuce, arugula, leeks, carrots, brussel sprouts, green cabbage, red beets, beauty heart radish, red kuri squash, italian parsley!

Our CSA finishes for the season at the end of October. Another year passes...

Cider Pressing.

Today we visited the farm where we get our organic wheat. They also have 120 trees of organically grown apples. Some varieties are great for eating/baking. And there are some special antique apple varieties which are particularly good for cider. Hard cider. We have really enjoyed chatting with this couple, and were excited to go today. And cider apples was our mission.

We first dropped off my husband so that they could get all the equipment set up and rolling. No, we didn't just drive over and pick up the finished cider. We met the farmer and pressed it together!


I went and visited a park with the boys for awhile, and then went back to join them after the first hour. A was very excited. The pressing machine is very loud (yes, they have the hand crank variety, but we were pressing over 80 pounds of apples!), so the guys all had on ear protection -- there was even a kid sized set for A. I didn't have any ear protection, hence many of my dark from a distance photos.


At a certain point in the process A was able to hold containers under the nozzle and collect. He was given a special cup to taste test the freshly pressed apple cider as it flowed out--mmmmm.


After all 80 pounds were done, we finished up, chatted a bit, and loaded the car with our cider, plus some frozen cider for a neighbor. A got to sit in some special John Deere machinery, which made his day, before we left. We picked up another 5 pounds of wheat for bread making too.



It was such a beautiful day to be outside - cold and cloudy, dry leaves underfoot, wind blowing through the trees. Standing outside in the chill chatting about fresh wheat bread recipes and kids. Very fall, very fun.

Our neighbor plans to use his cider to make hard cider the modern way - using yeast and sugars. We plan to try our first batch of naturally fermented hard cider - which should be ready in about 6 months. We'll see how it goes!


Oh, and where was G? He fell asleep after playing in the park and slept through the entire event, in the car, 20 feet from the loud cider press. Amazing.

CSA Box This Week

This week in our CSA box: Arugula, french breakfast radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, carrots, delicata squash, italian parsley, garlic, "mystery" squash, and some roma tomatoes!

Applesauce revisited...

I have had a dozen or so requests for the applesauce recipe from our last batch (see here). Here it is!

Applesauce:

1/2 case apples
1/2 cup orange juice (you can use lemons too...I like flavor from oranges)
1 cup maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Core & cut apples into quarters and fill pot. We peeled 80% of ours, leaving only some for color. Pour orange juice over the top, add about 1.5 cups of water to pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for several hours until the apples are soft and mushy. During the simmering, push down the apples with a potato masher or stir well with spoon. Make sure nothing is burning on bottom...Allow to cool. Stir in syrup & spices. If you like chunky applesauce, leave as is. For smoother applesauce, pass in batches through food mill. Store in fridge or freeze.

CSA Box This Week

This week in our CSA Box: Brussellini, slicing & roma tomato mix, leeks, mixed beets, celeriac, broccoli, red cabbage, carnival squash.