fredovic

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Tarte Normande Revisited with few modifications/Normandy Apple Tart

Revisiting our favorite Tarte Normande (previous post..https://fredovic.blogspot.com/2020/06/normandy-tarttarte-normande.html) with some modifications..enjoy.

Ingredients:

Pastry dough:

250 g. T55 flour
150 g; unsalted butter
1 egg
30 g. sugar( I prefer brown/muscovado sugar)
1 sachet vanilla/sugar powder or 1-2 drops of vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Apple wedges:
3 medium apples
juice of 1 lemon or lime( zest the lemon/lime first and set aside to add in the cream)

Cream mixture:

2 eggs
1 egg yolk
35 g. sugar
200 ml. fresh cream or 100 ml thick fresh cream(crème fraiche épaisse) and 50 ml liquid fresh cream(creme fleurette/fluide)

zest of lemon or lime

optional : calvados or kirch

Topping/Nappage:

2 tbsp neutral jam like apricot jam and 2 tbsp of water

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with a quick, light action of your finger tips until the butter is incorporated and the flour is sandy in texture. Make a well in the center. beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and place int he well with the sugar, vanilla powder/extract and pinch of salt. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients until a rough dough forms. Push the dough lightly down and forward with the palm of your hand and turn over with our fingertips until smooth. Form into a flat ball and cover with plastic wrap.(alternatively I just put it in a rounded stainless steel lunch box). Place in the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes.

2. Peel and core the apple. Cut each apple into 8 thick wedges and cut some wedges into small pieces to decorate the center of the tart like flower, toss into lemon/lime juice and keep chilled until ready to use.

3. Ligthly whisk the eggs and egg yolk with sugar, add cinnamon(optional),cream and zest, mix well and set aside.

4. Roll the dough into a 2-3 mm(1/8 inc) thick round. Line the flan tin with the pastry ,making sure there are no air pockets and the dough is lying directly against the tin to prevent shrinking. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4a. Preheat the oven to warm at 170 C. butter a deep loose bottom flan tin, 22 cm across the base, then place in the refrigerator to set the butter. Note: for other materials like perforated tart ring, grease the inside of the tart ring with butter and you will need a perforated mat or just a baking tray with parchment paper...

5. Arrange the apple wedges over the base of the pastry, making sure that it is well filled, then pour the cream mixture over without overflowing. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until set. depending on the sizes of flan tin or tart ring you will use..if in case you have excess pastry dough, cream mixture and apple wedges make some tarteletes /mini tarts.

6. Boil apricot jam with water then bring it into a warm temperature and brush the top of the tart(glaze) to give a glossy sheen.

Friday, February 03, 2023

Oatmeal breakfast to reduce insulin spike

... 40 grams of rolled oats(not instant) ..add 15 grams of oat bran and boiled water....

add nuts, banana, unsweetened cacao powder(optional)...

do not pour too much boiled water... just enough to cover the rolled oats and oat bran..not too liquid to avoid glucose..

...overnight oats recipe next summer...

"We're eating rolled oats(not instant) every morning..30-40 grams of rolled oats ..add 10-15 grams of oat bran, add nuts, banana, unsweetened cacao powder(optional)do not pour too much boiled water... just enough to cover the rolled oats and oat bran..not too liquid to avoid glucose. The key point is avoid boiling the rolled oats. Actually above 65°c the starch starts "to leak" making it more digestible, hence a quicker and higher glycemic load. The insulinemic response being mainly driven by the glucose, no peak of sugar =no peak of insulin. In the literature, the GI of large oats flakes is given for around 50 but is more than 60 for thin flakes. Boiled for 8 minutes it can reach more than 70. Take note that the flakes(rolled oats) are already pre cooked, it is not like eating raw oats. Overnight rolled oats during summer. We buy organic(avoid glyphosate) rolled oats here in France. 14 hour Intermittent fasting is enough for us but we never skip breakfast."