La Tarte Tatin!

Okay so the pie is a huge failure. A dishonor to the art of cooking. A shame and an embarrassment. Guess what? It didn't turn out like I had hoped! But to be honest, I don't really care. At least I tried! *goofy smile*
At the moment I'm listening to the Winner Takes it All, which perfectly describes my feelings with the pie.


Ingredients:
* 8-10 Golden Delicious apples (I just took... you know apples...)
*200 g butter
*300 g sugar
*puffy pastry, selfmade or just like I did: bought in the grocery store. (I'm so sorry, I know it's a shame.)



So the first defeat: I didn't use Julia Child's recipe... Great beginning! I didn't understand a thing of it, so I used the Larousse Gastronomique, which isn't that bad since Julia Child had it too! I mean, it could have been worse, no? Anyway, I opened the Larousse and after reading it seven times in a row I actually understood it.





Peel eight to ten apples and cut into eight parts. Cut the tips of the apple parts. Yes, uptill now everything is alright, I'm following, everything is going great.

Cover the sides and bottom of a copper pan with a mixture of 300 g butter 200 g sugar. I checked at least thirty thousand eight hundred and fifty two times if it wasn't 200 g butter and 300 g sugar.
I don't know if that went well: I put the butter in the microwave to melt, I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that.

Put a first layer of apples in the pan with the ends against the border. Then a second and a third layer.
Note: don't forget to put the ends against the border, I forgot it and believe me it doesn't look like a Tarte Tatin when you don't do it, so I suggest you read your recipe better than I did.

Set the pan over moderately high heat and wait until the butter-sugar mixture comes up foaming and with a light color. That may take about twenty to thirty minutes.

Let the content rest for eight hours. So, I suggest that when the Larousse says you have to let it rest for eight hours, you f*cking listen to what the Larousse says. I'm speaking from experience.

The next day you put a puff pastry above the pan.
a) I know, I'm ashamed, I actually bought the pastry and didn't make it myself.
b) Now that you're here, and I'm giving you suggestions of what you better not do: I also suggest you put the pastry IN the pan, and not just above it. As you see I didn't put it IN the pan okay, don't do it like I did!

Put the pan in the oven for about twenty minutes at 180 °C.

Let the pie cool. Also: when there is written to let the pie cool, let the damn pie cool because: "these damn things are as hot as a stiff cock", quoting Julia Child, you know.

Last but not least: the flipping of the pie.
I have absolutely no tips to flip the pie, not that I have actually given you any advice, I just told you what to not do. Just take the pan and flip it on a plate.
TADA.

So, yesterday I tasted it, and let's say it wasn't that good. This morning I tasted it again and it was much better. So let the pie rest for eight hours, I'm sure you won't regret.

Julia and... Me!

Let's talk about... Julia Child, for once! The most beloved woman of the United States of America! America's sweetheart, Mrs. Child! The goddess of recipes for the serventless American cooks! Television sensation, the American cook, feeling more Fench than American. I present you: Julia Child!
What I love about this woman is her joy, her happiness, her optimism and postive look at life. Always a sunshine, making absolutely everyone fall in love with her. Her beautiful marriage with Paul Child, her love for French people and... French food.
As Meryl once said: "I really love what I do. I love acting. And I love to work, and I love food, and I love sex (laughter). And so did Julia Child. So it wasn’t that much of a stretch, it was a stretch this way (pointing up)."


Meryl Streep as Julia

Our beloved Julia had been played by our beloved Meryl - isn't that just perfect? - in the movie Julie & Julia, written and directed by my favourite writer: Nora Ephron. Not only the movie makes the butter in your heart melt because of its beautiful love romances, it makes you absolutely ... HUNGRY! Instantly you feel this urge to cook, and then of course to eat it all (by yourself!). Julie & Julia makes you hungry for more!

The height, the voice, the moves:
A deserved Oscar nomination for Streep, and I am being objective. The voice is spot on, she walked on platform shoes during the whole movie, to be taller than her co-star Stanley Tucci (Paul Child) who is actually taller than her. She also gained 15 pounds during filming but I honestly think she didn't plan to. What  did you expect, seeing  those delicious dishes in front of you, making you want to lick your screen.     A little note about the voice: for once, I know Streep's secret. I myself can do the famous Julia Child voice, the 'Bon appétit!' (to all Americans: bon appétit is written like this, not bon appetite, I'd appreciate if you'd never make this mistake again) was already inside of her. Meryl has always spoken like that, only not striking. To be Julia she just had to exagerate it. But anyway, nobody would be able to do Julia Child like she did, and that's what makes the name Meryl Streep legendary.
Something I had remarked during the film: Paul Child is ten years older than Julia, but in the movie Stanley is eleven years younger than Meryl, which makes a difference of 21 years!

Julia Child and me

I decided to bring my inner  Child out and make Julia's tarte tatin! No, excuse me, I'm not making her famous boeuf bourguignon, but if the pie turns out as I hope, I might give it a try! So during this week, I will post my way through the making of La Tarte Tatin, with pictures and explanation. I hope you give it a shot and try to make it as well! I will try not to cheat and use Julia's recipe, but I don't guarantee. ;) Since I am not a skilled cook, there's a chance that the pie turns out to be disgusting and absolutely a dishonor to Julia, I don't guarantee success either.

Anyway, never excuse yourself! Bon appétit!
(Don't have too high expectations, my pie won't turn out like this one.)