Cuisine: French

Course:

Serves:

Cooking time:

THE TOWN OF Lamotte-Beuvron is nearly slap-bang in the middle of France, directly south of Paris. During the 1850s, Napoleon III bought a stunning chateau there and, as a result, this sleepy town became a hive of activity for visiting officials from Paris. The area was also famous for game hunting. Therefore, the enterprising Jean Tatin took the opportunity of adapting his own establishment, “Lhôtel Tatin” for all this new business and, when he died in 1888, his two daughters, Stephanie and Caroline, took over.

Now, believe it or not, there is a “brotherhood of Tatin” website, set up to defend and honour the traditions and integrity of tarte Tatins from blasphemous cooks everywhere. They give you a run-down on what they do and how the tarte Tatin came into existence. My favourite bit is the description of Stephanie Tatin, the chef who created the dish. She is described as “a particularly fine cook, but not the brightest of people” – not the most complimentary bio I’ve ever seen. However, it seems the not-so-bright Stephanie, in a hurry to serve up a dessert to hungry punters, ended up placing her usual apple tart in the oven, upside down. She served it regardless, and the rest is dessert history.

It is one of my favourite desserts and, although I hadn’t made one in years, I was surprised by how easy it was. The only thing is, you do need a saucepan that can go in the oven. I used a small, cast-iron, non-stick coated one, from Le Creuset , which was just over 20-centimetres from rim to rim (as opposed to the base, which was a bit narrower). I’m not normally one to insist on or dictate to you about cooking equipment, but the saucepan here is what makes it so easy.

The other tart is a Nigel Slater recipe I’ve been meaning to try for years. Again, it was supremely easy and perfect for greedy people watching TV, who need dinner on a napkin in one hand and beer in the other. I think the key to both tarts is ready-rolled sheets of frozen puff pastry. For some reason, the blocks of puff pastry never rise as well for me, probably because of my disastrous rolling pin skills. What starts off as a rectangle ends up as a hexagonal, bumpy, mound of dough that does not behave itself and remains a greasy, raw, doughy flop of pastry that no-one wants to eat. So the moral of the story is: ready-rolled sheets rock.

TARTE TATIN

Ingredients:

Even if it all goes a bit humpty dumpty and you feel like you have to piece it all back together, don’t fret. Caramel, plus apples, crisp pastry and a big blob of vanilla ice-cream equals magic.

200g store-bought puff pastry (1 sheet rolled)

4 Cox’s Pippin apples or similar, peeled and cored

Large knob of butter

1 tbsp caster sugar

Caramel

50ml water

100g caster sugar

Another big knob butter

Method:

Preheat an oven to 190 degrees/gas mark five. Make sure the pastry has defrosted. Lightly dust it with flour and roll it out a tiny bit, to wake it up rather than thin it. Using the frying pan as a template, cut out a circular disc as wide as the upper rim of the pan. Prick the circular disc with a fork and keep chilling on a baking sheet until you’re ready to use it. Make the caramel next. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat gently, but don’t stir or the sugar may crystallise and prevent a smooth caramel from forming. Gradually, the sugar will dissolve and the mixture will start bubbling. Keep an eye on it and when it starts to go caramel in colour, let it cook until you have a lovely dark, golden, colour. Remove from the heat, add a knob of butter and let it melt and swirl around. Then, pour it into the frying pan you’re going to cook the apples in. Peel the apples, slice in half and quarter, and pack them in as well as you can on top of the caramel. Be careful not to get burnt! Sprinkle the other half tablespoon of sugar over the apples and drape the pastry sheet on top, carefully tucking in the pastry between the apples and the sides of the pan. Again, be careful of the hot caramel. Bake for about 30 minutes. The pastry should be golden brown. Cool for another 30 minutes and then invert onto a plate. This took a couple of goes and a few bits of sticky apple had to be prized and coaxed away from the pan. Eat immediately.

Onion and Taleggio tart

Serves 4-6

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

4 onions, peeled and sliced

Big knob butter

Salt and pepper

Few sprigs thyme

200g Taleggio or brie

Preheat an oven to 220 degrees/gas mark seven. Roll the puff pastry out a bit, then place it on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray. Lightly score a border about two-centimetres wide. Chill until ready to use. Sweat the onions in butter with lots of seasoning and thyme (any herbs will do) for about 20 minutes until very soft and not coloured. Make sure they are very savoury and tasty or the whole thing will end up bland. When you’re ready to bake, use a little of the onion butter to brush the border, then spread the onions onto the pastry, leaving the border free to rise (you can do this while they are hot, no need to wait for them to cool down), dot with the cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes until the rim has puffed up and the cheesy bits are golden brown. Let it cool slightly, then cut it into slices and serve with a cold beer.

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DOMINI RECOMMENDS: Sanchi Furikake Japanese seasoning is a bottle of black and white sesame seeds mixed with nori seaweed and red shisho leaves. It makes everything tastier and is especially handy if you like to get extra savoury flavour into salads and stir-fries, and don't want to use salt.