A few minutes of Thanksgiving downtime with an Apple and Prune Tart.

Given that I've just received a few minutes of Thanksgiving downtime after the baking of my apple and prune tart, I thought I'd post a quick picture and the recipe for this delicious baby!

Mmm, rustic and warming. Perfect for the Thanksgiving dessert table!

Apple and Prune Tart
via Epicurious.com

For pastry dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

For filling
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons Calvados
1 cup packed pitted prunes (7 oz), halved
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 pounds tart green apples
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup nut pieces, toasted

1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar

Make dough:
Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

Turn out dough onto a work surface. Divide dough into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together with pastry scraper. Press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make filling:
Simmer water, Calvados, and prunes, uncovered, until most of liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Stir together cinnamon, cloves, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 cup sugar.

Peel and core apples and cut into 1/2-inch wedges. Halve wedges crosswise and toss with cinnamon mixture. Add lemon juice and toss to coat.

Finely grind walnuts with remaining 3 tablespoons flour and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor.

Assemble and bake tart:
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 14- by 18-inch oval. Roll dough loosely onto floured rolling pin and unroll onto a large buttered baking sheet. Sprinkle walnut mixture over pastry, leaving a 2 1/2- to 3-inch border.

Stir stewed prunes into apple mixture and spoon over walnut mixture, evenly tucking prunes between apple pieces. Turn edge of dough over fruit to form pleats. Brush top of dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake tart, loosely covered with foil, in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crust and fruit are golden and juices are bubbling, about 30 minutes more. Cool tart on baking sheet on a rack at least 20 minutes before serving.

Now, back to the madness, such as it is. I still have pumpkin butter to make!




P.S. Did anyone else see the Rick Roll they pulled in the Macy's Parade? I think it's a bit late for the meme, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. ^_^

Enjoy!

Cranberry and Apple Relish

Every year we go and enjoy Thanksgiving with some neighbors of ours, and have done so for as long as I can remember. And also for as long as I can remember, the deep rouge cylinder accompanied the turkey at the table. Yes, ridges and all, on its side sliced up like an analogue to the turkey...the cranberry sauce.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the red cylinder is okay, and has it's place in the kitchen (stir some into your oatmeal with some cinnamon, über délicieux!), but just not at the Thanksgiving table. Try telling that to my family or our friends. Thus it was that a few years ago I decided to try and show them the light and bring to Thanksgiving dinner real, honest to god, homemade, from scratch, cranberry sauce!

AND...it was a flop. No one touched it, except for a pity nibble from Rita. To ad insult to insult, I was actually ridiculed for making it myself. Joking comments along the lines of, "Traditional cranberry sauce not good enough for ya?" and so forth. I tried again the next year, but yielded similar results. I have therefor decided that though this year I will again make my own sauce for Thanksgiving, I'll just keep it at home, private reserve, if you will.

Most recipes I've tried over the years involve cranberries, water, a lot of sugar and varying spices. All have been either simmered or baked and yield a candy-like sauce that though might good, is also very sweet and often heavy on the palate. I was therefor pleasantly surprised when I found and made this recipe for a cranberry-pear relish on FoodNetwork.com.

The relish is completely raw and is simply thrown together in a food processor, so it's fast and easy. I also find that the rawness makes the relish lighter in the mouth than its cooked counterparts. It strikes me as a grown-up variation on the Thanksgiving classic, being nicely balanced with the sweetness of the pear (well, I actually used an apple because that's what I had on hand), the acidity from the orange juice, tartness from the cranberries, and bitterness from the orange peel and pith (yes, you literally throw in an entire orange). It also uses only a half cup of sugar, versus to the one or more cups in previous recipes I tried. I actually used less than that and sill found it plenty sweet to ward off the tartness, especially after a day in the fridge.

Cranberry-Pear (or Apple) Relish
via Food Network, all credit to them for a wonderful recipe

1 small navel orange
1 (12-ounce) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Bartlett pear or an apple, cored and cut into large chunks
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch kosher salt
3 tablespoons pecans or other nut, toasted and coarsely chopped

Wash and dry the orange. Cut the orange into small wedges, including the peel, and put in a food processor. Add the cranberries, pear, sugar, and salt. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Just before serving, stir in the pecans.

On a related note, I'd like to introduce the newest member of Cogito Team...my new Canon SX10 IS!

With his help, I hope to bring you ever tastier blog posts through ever more delicious photography.