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Recipe from Simca's Cuisine   Go to last post Go to last unread
#1 Posted : Tuesday, March 8, 2011 11:10:40 AM(UTC)

I am a new member of EYB and  am hoping, for help from other members who just happen to own a copy of 'Simca's Cuisine'. I do have an old copy myself, but there is a page missing and on that is a recipe of an apple-almond tart. Simone Beck titles that "La Tarte pour Jim" (Beard). It is such a beautiful, rich tasting dessert ... very French. If someone is kind enough to let me have that  particular recipe I would be most appreciative and return the favour in kind. Thanks muchly!

#2 Posted : Wednesday, March 9, 2011 5:34:37 AM(UTC)

Hi, pchymchy, welcome!  So here's the thing about recipes: The exact words of the method are under copyright.  The ingredient list is not -- you can't copyright a list, which the courts have found is "mere fact," not a composed work.  I'm very up on this stuff right now because I'm working on a book about changing recipes, and I need to be sure that I'm not violating copyright on the recipes I start with.  (I'll post a link to the first draft of my book in a while.)


So I'm going to quote the ingredient list exactly, but then give you the method section in my own words, not Simca's.


La tarte pour Jim
apple-almond tart for Jim [Beard]


Simca recommends using a large, shallow tart mold, 10".  I've never owned so large a mold, so I'm sure you can make it in a smaller mold and adjust the baking time accordingly, i.e. lengthen it.


For the tart shell, Simca calls for one recipe's worth of her pate sablee (raw), on page 314, chilled in your refrigerator to 35-38 degrees F (1.73.3 degrees C), and 6 Tablespoons of apricot jam. You paint the bottom of the shell with a thick layer of the jam.  I used to put the jam through a sieve; these days I give it a whir in a mini-blander.  (Mine is a Sumeet Multi-Grind, but there are lots of other good ones.)


The filling consists of:


4 eggyolks
1/2 cup of sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup of almonds, pulverized (see page 317)
1/3 cup of raisins
2 large cooking apples or 3 medium-sized tart apples
1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
4 Tablespoons of melted butter


So.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).


You beat the eggyolks and then slowly add the sugar and salt.  (Simca's recipe is unusual for a French person in calling for salt in a dish like this.)  As usual, you beat the mixture till it's pale and does what the French (but not Simca here) call "forms the ribbon."  Add the almonds and the raisins -- Simca just says "add," not "beat in," so I just add.


Then the apples.  You peel them and rub them with the cut lemon.  The lemon is presumably to keep them from turning brown, to which I say, who cares whether they're brown?  But I like the little lemon lift and use all the juice from the lemon half.  Then you shred or grate the apples to make 1 1/2 cups.  My note to myself says to put the apple shreds into a dishtowel and squeeze out all the juice (which you can then drink or use for something else).


You stir the apple shreds and the cinnamon into the egg mixture, stirring just enough to combine the ingredients, then spread the whole mixture out into the chilled tart shell and bake it until the filling is lightly set (20 minutes for the large shell, longer for a smaller shell because the tart is thicker).


At the 20-minute mark, take the tart out of the oven and turn the oven up to 375F (190C).  Poke holes in the tart filling and pour the melted butter over every inch of the filling, poking more holes if necessary.


Return the tart to the oven and turn the oven down to 350F (175C) again.  (Fiddling with the oven temperature is meant to compensate for opening the oven door.)  Bake till the top is golden brown (I told you it wasn't a problem that the apples went brown), 20 minutes for the large tart, longer for a smaller one.


Simca recommends Rome Beauty apples; my notes say Greenings.  I can tell by the pen nib I used that I made this some time in the 1970s.  It sounds wonderful -- I'll have to make it again some time soon.


 

#3 Posted : Wednesday, March 9, 2011 11:54:53 AM(UTC)
Thanks so much, mcvl! I was having a chuckle whilst reading your take on the recipe. I could not remember if I had to "bake blind" before putting in the filling as I remember pulling the tart in and out of the oven a number of times. Now I know why ... because of the butter drizzle. It has been such a while since I made it. But I am now also cognizant of the copyright problems and will bear that in mind for the future. I look forward to the posting of first draft of your book. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.
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