Lattice-Topped Apple Pie Tart

I'm sitting here trying to write the story of the photos of an Apple Pie Tart I baked, yet my tired wrung out brain is fighting me tooth and nail.  I've been wandering as of late, my mind that as. My mind has been wandering to far away places, reading more and thinking about the future.  A future that includes a nephew due to arrive shortly and news today that twins are on the way from my other sister-in-law. I've been wandering to all the dark and dusty alley ways still untapped in the crevices of my mind.  I think sometimes in order to find yourself you must get lost, completely and utterly lost.

Funning thing is no matter how lost I get I or how much I fight the path my life is destined to be on, something gently guides me back in the right direction.  I wandered upon  Nick Malgieri's book Bake! and was guided straight to the kitchen where I set about baking his Apple Pie Tart on a leisurely Saturday afternoon.  I lovingly placed the apple bits in the pastry shell, sprinkled it generously with sugar, I placed a photo on Instagram and had my brother, sister-in-law and niece at my door in half an hour.  We ate pie and ice cream for dinner, played games and stayed up late.

Adapted from Nick's recipe.

Flaky Pastry Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon into a dry-measure cup and level off)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon cold water if necessary

In a food processor combine flour, salt, and baking powder and pulse to combine.  If you would like more detailed crust explanation there is one on my Dark Chocolate Cream Pie.

Add pieces of butter and eggs and pulse a few times until starting to combine.  Add the water if the dough isn't coming together enough.

Divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3 sized pieces onto pieces of plastic wrap, flatten and wrap tightly in the plastic wrap.

Store in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours before rolling out.

Apple Filling

3 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces

Finishing

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out the bigger piece of dough on a floured surface and place the crust into an 11" tart pan with a removable bottom.  Use your fingers to make sure it gets into the sides and edges of the pan.  Cut off any excess from the top.

Put the apples in a large bowl.  In a small bowl mix the sugars, flour, and cinnamon.  Scatter 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture onto the bottom of the tart crust.  Pour the rest over the apples and use a large spatula to mix together.

Scrape the filling into the prepared crust and redistribute the apple pieces so that the top of the filling is level rather than domed.  You really have to work those apples in with your fingers, but they should all fit.  Dot the filling with small pieces of butter.

Roll out the other 1/3 of the crust into a rectangle on a floured surface until it's about a 1/4" thick.  I had to go a little thinner, because I didn't have as much dough to work with.

Use a pizza wheel or serrated pastry wheel to cut dough into 1/2" wide strips.  Place 4 or 5 strips an 1" apart or so going in one direction and then the same amount, going the other.  I just pushed the edges down to the edge of the crust with my finger and cut off any extra.

Brush the top of the crust with a little water and sprinkle with the two tablespoons of sugar.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet so it won't leak in the oven.

Bake for 45-55 minutes.

I've been fighting who I am as of late, rebelling if you will, and balking at the path I'm supposed to be on. It's funny though the harder I fight it, the more it seems futile.  This pie pulled me right back into a warm, comfy, familiar place, one that I have been many times and one that I want to visit many more times to come.  Matter of fact, I'm not sure if I can ever look at a traditional apple pie again and want it in the same way I used to.  This tart version was need I say, gasp, pretty impressive.

Maybe I can bake my way back and things will fall back into place, it's worth a shot anyways.

Do any of you have a way of finding your way back when you are lost?

Gina

Oatmeal, Apple, Ginger Cookies

I'm finally starting to feel a bit like my old self.  I knew moving meant lots of big changes, but sometimes it's the little ones that end up being the hardest.  I had to part with a big part of my cookbook collection, except for a few I grab for often.  I love staring at all the delectable photos in them, but most of the time I end up getting recipes elsewhere.  I do love having a couple of good reference books though and I consider The Joy of Cooking one of them.  Somehow I start with a recipe but end up somewhere completely different.  Do you guys have a favorite you just couldn't part with?

I was flipping through said book when I came across a familiar Oatmeal Raisin recipe, cringing and reading at the same time.  I love oatmeal; it's the raisins I have an issue with.  It's not like they ever did anything to me - I just don't like them.  My mom made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies all the time because they were my dads' favorite.  Key point here being they were his favorite.  I didn't like raisins, not that she cared or even asked my opinion or anything.  Not that I have an ax to grind with my mother or the like, I just don't like Raisins!  Holy smokes have we covered the fact yet that I don't like raisins.  I just need you to know - I don't like raisins.  

After composing myself I scoured the pantry for something different to put in my oatmeal cookies. I found some dried apples and crystallized ginger that were calling me and these cookies were born.

Oatmeal, Apple, Ginger Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup dried apples, diced or cut into small pieces

2 ounces crystallized ginger, minced

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the butter to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer and mix until soft.  Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar and mix until combined.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined.  Add oatmeal and mix until combined.  Add apples and ginger and mix until combined.

Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to scoop out 1 1/2" balls of cookie dough, place the balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat.  Press the balls down slightly leaving them at least 1/2" thick.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes.

Makes 36 cookies.

Adapted from Joy of Cooking.

I had to laugh when a sweet friend asked me the other day, "So what happened to the bike?"   I had this grand plan all worked out to leave the bike parked behind the moving truck and tell the movers to back it up because the coast was clear.  My plan was foiled though by Hot Dog Dude who kept it under lock and key in our other garage.  So I will have to keep you posted if I find another way for it to mysteriously disappear.

Enjoy,

Gina

Does moving lead to spousal violence?

Before you saw it trending on Twitter;  I thought perhaps I should clarify things.

I’m surrounded by floor to ceiling boxes at the moment and piles of stuff with no rhyme nor reason. I’ve been playing a super fun new game called Stays, Goes or Burns. Why didn’t I discover it sooner? I’m getting ready to move and downsizing at the same time.  I’ll have a third of the space and hard decisions have to be made about what stays and what goes.

These decisions would be a piece of dark chocolate cake, smothered in silky chocolate buttercream with ripe, luscious raspberries – Hold on a second while I smack myself back to reality. Oh yeah, these decisions would be quite simple if it were not for one 6 foot problem.

I’m composing an anonymous e-mail at the moment informing the Enquirer that Fred Sanford is alive and well and living in my home.

I thought I’d give you a little synopsis of an argument that went down over here the other day.

Me: We need to move your bike to the garage sale pile.

HDD: No way, I need that bike, don’t touch my stuff.

Me: Really, how old are you anyways? That bike hasn’t moved since we lived here and it didn’t move in the other house either.

HDD: I have too ridden my bike since we lived here. (Wailed a 2 year old voice).

Me: SERIOUSLY (sorry I’m yelling, he was really pushing my buttons at this point)! Maybe you overlooked the fact it has two flat tires and a rusted out chain?

HDD: Look Nurse Ratchet don’t worry about my stuff, I’ll take care of it.

Me: Oh hell no - you didn’t just call me that!

Let me tell you - it took all my strength to not go straight to the kitchen and pull out one of my methodically sharpened Asian precision cutting instruments and shank him right then and there.

Me: (Did you really think he was going to get in even one word from this point forward). Look here Hot Dog Dude, I put up with your rock collection you’ve had since you were a kid, the cowboy boots that went out of style in the 90’s with 4 inches of dust on them, oh and let’s not forget your toy truck collection, but I’m drawing the line at this piece of c*** (cake) bike!

HDD: (Nothing but evil stares from him at this point).

At this point I quit talking to him because I was too busy remembering the mayo I had left out in the sun for days on end and how I needed to go inside and fix him a sandwich. Fortunately for him I just went inside and poured myself a glass of wine, after all it would be one less thing to pack.

I think we may have ended up on the evening news had it not been for a thoughtful package I received in the mail that afternoon from my dear friend Becky. Thank you such much Becky, you have no idea how much legal trouble you saved me from.

Thank you everyone for your continued support, I hope to be done moving in a couple of weeks, so I probably won’t be able to get back to regular posting until then. I wanted to share a few recipes with you that I thought sounded mighty tasty to me.

Belgian Endive Radicchio and Blood Orange Salad
Walnut Oil Mayonnaise

Enjoy,

Gina