Paris Cookin' Tarte Tatin

How Delacroix would sketch La Ratte potatoes or any food for that matter remains to be seen. Back to la Louvre à toute suite!
 

I saw these special little potatoes (you can easily substitute Fingerlings or any small potate you like) all over the shops for Christmas. There are just 7 Producteurs in Touquet growing these puppies, known for their nutty flavor and buttery texture. When Coco mentioned eating them in a bistro, I decided that's it. I'm getting them. Plus I'm mad for anything tarte tatin and the website offered a recipe. Monoprix still had pretty boxes of them so...

A quick stop in for a consultation with Géraldine of PPP. Naturalement she prefers the potatoes from Noumoutier but she was helpful none the less and took half kilo off my hands thank goodness.
 

Here's La Ratte's recipe. I made some changes.
 

For one I upped the quantity from 150gr ( a little over 3 ounces) to 350+.

I won't show you the par-boiling stage...OK. Just drop them into boiling water for about 10 minites and stick a knife in them to check for tenderness. I DID NOT PEEL the potatoes. Why ever? Isn't that where the good stuff is? Plus I added a gob of butter to the olive oil to brown them in for a more rounded taste. Or maybe they caramelize better? Qui sait.

French frying pans often come with a removable handle, nice to pop into the oven.
 

It took about 10 minutes to sauté the sliced potatoes.

When the edges get that nice brown crispy look it's time to make your tarte.
 

I simply used a leftover empty pie tin from a not very good frozen Picard quiche Lorraine. *Do cut a round piece of parchment to fit in the bottom of the tin for easy removal later.
 

The recipe shows the potato slices carefully arranged flat side down.

I couldn't be bothered. Plus I added a handful of chopped leaf parsley for color and texture not in the recipe.
 

You could use any blue cheese or any savory cheese you prefer to go on top. Best to slice the Bresse right out of the refrigerator since it gets mooshy quickly.
 

Does it get any easier? The cheese has plenty of salt so not to worry about extra salting.
 

The available ready-to-use pastries are terrific here though I have heard Picard makes the best. Still this supermarket version tasted fine to me.
 

Cut a circle using your pie plate as a guide and tuck in the sides a bit.
 

Punch some holes with a fork for steam to escape.
 

In about 15-20 minutes your pastry will be golden. Let the tarte sit 5-10 minutes, place a plate over it and turn. Voila! Not pretty as a picture but savory and easy as can be. Who knew making tarte tatin could be this simple?
 

Berthillon

Another twist of fate...I was on the Ile St.-Louis this morning. Does one really have a choice? Berthillon beckons.

And of course Caramel au beurre sale AKA CBS.
 

But wait. No Caramel au beurre salé today. Flavors are changed daily. I was not prepared for this!
 

There IS Caramel Nougatine the server suggests.
 

Oh no...but on second thought this is Berthillon who can do no wrong where ice cream or caramel is concerned.
 

So I throw caution to the wind and get the Caramel Nougatine which turns out to be just fine. OK maybe more than fine. Terrific! Frankly I can't even tell the difference.
 

It seems Berthillon can do no wrong when it comes to anything caramelized like these little chocolate-covered caramel pops. I had to buy one to use as a prop in today's watercolor except I ate it...just now. Uh oh
 

These caramelized apple tartelettes with salted butter are absolutely fab I promise you. I bought one of these. I just ate it too.
 

I did NOT buy their highly reknown tarte Tatin. I would have but I ran out of money thank gawd!
 

I've been eye-balling their tarte tatin for years the way some men ogle women. So far I've resisted but who knows when the day will come and resistance will give way.
 

A gentle hint PBers. If you are going to shoot inside a shop do buy something for heavens sake. It makes it so much easier.
 

Berthillon definitely fits into the oldie-worldie category of patisserie traditionnelle.
 

They have a lovely tea salon you might not know about.
The fact is that Berthillon's single dips are about the size of a golf ball. I did have just enough change to go back and get a second Caramel Nougatine cone. Besides there was no line. Besides one must take advantage of opportunity when it knocks no? It helps if you're good at rationalizing in Paris...or maybe it doesn't.
 

 

La Cuisine Paris with Mardi

 When you paint someone's cat in Paris you never know where it will lead...

 What good luck to have painted Canadian food blogger, Mardi of Eat-live-travel-write darling cat, Cleo a few years ago...

 Mardi spends many summers in France and was teaching cooking classes at La Cuisine Paris this year.

 Mardi kindly invited me to attend a recipe testing class making classic French tarte tatin and quiche Lorraine.

Your favorite baking flop

 Was happy to be surrounded

 By far more experienced bakers.

 I volunteered to peel the pommes/apples for the tarte and grate the Gruyere for the quiche.

 Enhale the carmelizing apple slices (my handiwork!).

 Who knew nutmeg/muscade and cayenne were essential ingredients in a quiche Lorraine?

 Mardi successfully turns out the tarte tatin from it's pan - quite an accomplishment.

 The aromas are to-die-for. 



And the taste of the quiches - absolutement authentique!

 The following weekend K. at Chateau du Petit Thouars made a perfect quiche Lorraine exactly like Mardi's (which I somehow forgot to shoot. Unforgivable!).

 Today L. emailed me a picture of her gorgeous cat, Corky to send to Paris. At least I can paint cats if not bake.

I'm also now an expert at eating tarte tatin thanks to Mardi and La Cuisine Paris!