I am so excited to have a new food channel to watch.  If you haven't had the chance, you need to check out The Cooking Channel.  It is a sister channel to Food Network.  It's a lot like Food Network used to be -- with cooking shows and no competitions.  I think it's getting back to the basics of actually cooking.  I like it.  My new favorite show, not surprisingly, is Rachel Allen: Bake.

Rachel Allen is from Ireland, so you get the fun accent, but what I really love about her is that she makes baking accessible.  I think people shy away from baking sometimes because they think it is too hard or takes too much time.  I really love how she debunks that through segments of the show where she is teaching regular, every day people how to bake.  The recipes seem to be pretty European in nature and the measurements given on the show reflect that (luckily, it's "translated" for American bakers on the channel's website) but I think you'll find something for everyone!

I was watching the show the other day while folding laundry.  She was making a tarte tatin.  As soon as she flipped it over, my three-year-old says, "Oooo...that looks good!"  Oh how I love her!  And I had to agree.  It looked amazing.

For those of you who don't know, a tarte tatin is kind of like the French version of an upside down apple pie.  Apples are baked in caramel and topped with pastry dough.  Once cooked, it is flipped over to reveal the sugary, sweet apples.

You may be wondering why I decided to make this because many of you know I am not a pie fan.  Well...as the saying goes, you eat with your eyes first and this truly looked delicious.  Plus, it looked easier than an apple pie.  No slicing of endless apples -- just the quartering of four.  I thought I could handle that and surprise my family.

I do have to say, it was easier to make than a pie.  The crust was easy and came together quickly, although the recipe was very disorganized and I ended up adding too much sour cream because I didn't read until later that I also needed to add an egg.  I don't think it mattered though.  The crust was still tasty and flakier than I've ever made.

I had the most trouble with the caramel.  I mixed the water and sugar and waited for it to caramelize.  It took a bit longer than I thought and by the time it started to brown, I felt like I should have gotten it off the heat right then.  When I added the apples, I was really scared that the caramel was going to burn.  Luckily it didn't.

I finally got it in the oven to bake (still worried it would burn -- but it didn't!).  When it was done, I let it sit a bit before I flipped it onto my plate.   All but one little apple came right out.  I rearranged the apple on the plate and showed my prize to my husband and asked, "Isn't it pretty?"  He looked at it and noncommittally said, "Interesting." 

Hmmmm....

I thought it was pretty.

I decided to wait until my girls were in bed before eating my piece.  My two younger daughters opted for Halloween candy for dessert instead, but Ella, as always, was up for giving it a try.  Unfortunately, for her, it fell flat.  She liked the crust but not the top.  I have to say that the apples cooked really thoroughly.  While they held their shape, itt was almost like thick applesauce and I don't think that appealed to her.  I was a little annoyed, to be honest.  I thought she was going to like it.

I had cut a second small piece, thinking that one of my other girls would eat it, so when my husband took the girls upstairs to help them get ready for bed and I stayed downstairs to "wash the dishes", I had to give it a try.  I took one bite.  Better than apple pie, in my opinion, but I still wasn't sure about it.  I took another bite.  Pretty good.  I took another bite and went through the crust too hard, thus knocking the last bite onto the floor.  I stood back and watched my dog lap it up.  She seemed to like it.  She drinks out of the toilet so I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

After the girls were asleep, I had my official piece.  It was good.  I liked it but I thought it had a bit of a metallic taste.  I'm thinking it was from the cast iron pan I used to make it.  I'd like to give it another try in a different pan.  Once I got passed that, I decided I liked it.  It won't ever be my favorite but that's just my own personal taste.  It has a comforting, familiar quality about it -- perfect for cool fall evenings curled up with someone you love.  An the other hand, it's fancy enough to impress dinner guests and easy enough not to drive you crazy when you make it.  

Goodness all around.


Tarte Tatin
From Rachel Allen

Sour Cream Short Crust Pastry

7 ounces all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons very cold butter, cut up
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg, beaten

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and butter until it looks crumby,  Add on tablespoon sour cream and pulse again.  The mixture should be moist enough to come together when pressed.  If not, add the remaining sour cream.  Add in your egg, slowly, until the dough comes together into a soft ball.

On a piece of plastic wrap, press out the dough into a disc.  Wrap up and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Caramel and Apples

4 1/2 ounces sugar
3 1/2 ounces water
2 tablespoons butter
4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In an oven proof saucepan, set over low-medium heat, stir the sugar and water together until the sugar melts.  Turn up the heat to medium-high and allow syrup to boil.  Once it begins to boil, do not stir.  The syrup will crystallize.  Once the syrup starts to turn golden brown, swirl it around and take off the heat.  Add the butter and swirl to combine.  Place the apple quarters in a circle around the outside edge of the pan.  Place any remaining pieces in the middle.    Be sure to get them all in and cover the entire pan.  They will shrink as they cook and fit in better.

Place the pan back on medium heat and cook apples for 10 minutes -- to just cook them a little bit.  While they cook, on a lightly floured surface, roll out your pastry dough into a circle 3/4 of an inch wider than your pan.  You may need to make the circle bigger and then cut it out.  Your dough should be about an 1/8 of an inch thick.

After the apples cook.  Turn off the heat.  Cover the apples with your pastry dough.  Tuck the edges in around your apples with a spoon or fork..  Brush top with beaten egg.  Prick dough in several places with a fork.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the apples are cooked when you poke them.

I suggest serving with some whipped cream or ice cream.  Yum!