We invited friends for an impromptu dinner the other night. It was a work night. I had exactly 24 hours to plan, shop, prepare, and serve. I knew I wouldn’t get home until at least 5:30pm, more likely 5:45 or 6:00. They were due to arrive at 6:30. This might throw some people into a tailspin, but not me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve (let’s call them “tips,” or “advice”).
Tip 1. Always shop in advance so you don’t need to get anything the day of the dinner party.
Tip 2. Set the table the night or morning before
Tip 3. Reach for my Mom’s rack of lamb recipe - a.k.a. Monday Night Lamb. This dish is so easy you can throw it together on a Monday night after a rough day at work. And it’s impressive. With crispy potatoes cooking underneath, it only takes minutes to prep, and only 45 minutes in the oven.
Tip 4. Always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer and fresh celery in the crisper. Peas, on their own murmur “Boring.” But, sauté a little celery in butter and then add peas? It’s a horse of a different color.
Tip 5. Forty-five minutes is the perfect cooking time for any dinner party. You pop your meal in the oven when you hear your guests pull in the driveway, and then enjoy the appropriate amount of time nibbling, sipping, and catching up before serving.
Dessert, however, can cause a problem if you don’t want to slap down a bowl of ice cream. (Which I never do unless it’s homemade...) That is when insomnia helps. (Note: I don’t advise insomnia... sometimes it just happens.)
Tip 6. Bake dessert before you go to work. I know it sounds unwieldy, but it really isn’t bad. You might have to give up reading The Times that morning, but - believe me - dessert is always more enjoyable than the news.
That brings us to today’s recipe. When I made the invitation via hands-free phone on the homeward commute, I bought groceries on the way home, but I still didn’t have a dessert plan until I the next morning. After looking, I discovered one apple.
How could I stretch that for four people? Individual Apple Tarts, that’s how. It only takes one apple and one hour out of your morning routine... consider it your morning workout, if you must.
Tip 7. If you are going to photograph last minute cooking or baking for a blog post (e.g. today!), make sure your camera battery is charged. That was today’s lesson for me. I forgot, and my camera battery was dead. That simply meant that had to make the tarts again so I could photograph them! (Great excuse, eh?)
~ David
Individual Apple Tarts
1 1/3 cups flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice water
4 tablespoons apple cider or apricot jam
1 large apple
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
vanilla ice cream, for serving, optional
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Make the crust. Place flour in the bowl of a food processor, and add the butter (cut into 16 pieces). Feel free to add a pinch of salt, if you like. I do sometimes, but generally not with fruit desserts. Pulse 10 times, then sprinkle with the water. Process until it forms a ball.
Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Cut out four 6-inch circles of dough. Place each circle into a 4-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Fold edges down and press into the sides of the pan. Trip tops, if necessary. Spread 1 tablespoon of jam evenly onto each crust.
Peel, core apple, and quarter the apple. Cut each quarter into 7 even slices. Arrange 8 slices onto the top of each crust in a shingle pattern. Sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoon of superfine sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the jam is bubbling away under the apples. Let cool on a rack and then remove from the tart pan. Serve each tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
Makes 4 apple tarts.
Labels: apple, apple tarts, dessert, individual apple tarts
