SAUCISSE DE MORTEAU ON A BED OF SALSIFY

the Morteau Sausage on a bed of salsify

I live in a very old stone townhouse. The walls between my house and my neighbors’ are probably about 3 feet wide. Last night I was headed upstairs when I froze in mid-step, catching a scent that was intruding the stairwell. Like a hunting animal, I began to flare my nostrils to find the trace – an unmistakable smoked odor – “Saucisse de Morteau!” I exclaimed to my cat, who had also caught the scent. My neighbors must have been cooking. That’s the first time that the odor was so strong that it made it through the walls.

I remembered these photos of a meal Bastien prepared a few weeks ago. The dish was delicious.

Salsify may be rare, but it’s a great vegetable with a flavor that can’t be doubled. It’s best fresh, but if you can only find it in a jar or a can, you can still go for this recipe. It’s funny to prepare fresh, with an unexpected sticky sap that appears as soon as you peel.

Simple to prepare, here is the recipe from a most eloquent cookbook: an ode to the pig in all of its culinary forms, “Cochon et Fils.” The English title translates to “Pork and sons” but one could more accurately say “Pig and sons.” Think of southern BBQ, the “blue pig” etc… taken to a whole new level with all of the possibilities for puns regarding pigs in French.

recipe for saucisse de Morteau on a bed of salsify:

for 6 friends

2 Morteau sausages, or a good smoked sausage

6 thick cut slices of smoked bacon

1 kg fresh salsify

1 lemon

6 shallots

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp bouillon cube in 50 cl water (or your own home-made beef stock if you have any)

50 g salted butter

olive oil

 

Cook the sausages in boiling water for about 40 minutes.

Place the skinned shallots in a casserole dish drizzled with olive oil. Bake at 180°C/350°F for 20 minutes. They should be soft to the touch.

Peel the salsify, keeping the peeled salsify in lemon water to keep them from browning. Place in a large skillet covered with the lemon water and beef stock. Add the butter and sugar and cook at low heat until the salsify are cooked to your taste.

Grill the bacon.

Everything’s ready. Just dress the plates: bed of salsify, slices of sausage topped with bacon and the shallot. Don’t forget to pour some cooking juices over each plate. Easy peasy, hearty, and elegant.

 

 

 

TARTE TATIN

An apple tart, cooked upside-down

The year is about 1898. Two sisters are rushing around welcoming clients and preparing a meal for a group of guests at their hotel in Sologne, France. In her haste, one of them realizes that she forgot to prepare a dessert. She spots some apples that have already been peeled, and with mad speed she throws them into a skillet with butter and sugar and tosses it into the oven.

She continues the service while the scent of butter and apples begins to fill the kitchen. She suddenly realizes that there is no crust! What was this dessert to be? Just gooey apples? In lack of a better plan, she covers the apples with pastry dough and puts the dish back in the oven. But when she takes it out again, the visual aspect is not particularly appealing. 

 

So she flips it over onto a plate to discover gooey apple caramel delight. To everyone’s surprise, the accidental tart is a big hit and soon becomes the specialty of the house. The Tatin sisters go down in history and are even cited in the first edition of the Guide Michelin in 1900.

Goes to show that sometimes mistakes can turn into delicious surprises.

The Hotel Tatin is still operating today

I’ve made many a tarte Tatin, but it is a recipe from the American Saveur magazine that has been the most moving. Crisp caramel aromas pierce the air around you when you bite into a slice, making your eyes tear up with joy. If you like deep dark caramel this is a tart for you.

recipe for tarte tatin from Saveur Magazine

I followed this recipe to a tee, except for the placement of the apples. I used fuji apples and rather than placing them on their sides, I placed them on their backs, still very tightly packed. I find the finished tart prettier when the rounded part of the apple is visible rather than the sliced edges.

You can go to the original recipe here.

For the pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
6 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
10 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the apples:
8 granny smith apples
12 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar

1. For the pastry: Sift together flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to work butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in egg with a fork until dough just begins to hold together. Press dough into a rough ball, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough a few times, gather into a ball, then flatten slightly to make a disk. Wrap disk in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. For the apples: Preheat oven to 375°. Peel, quarter, and core apples. Melt butter in a 10″ cast-iron skillet over medium heat, then remove from heat and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Tightly pack apples around inside edge of skillet, standing upright on their sides, nestled against one another. Arrange remaining apples in similar position in center of skillet. (Apples will shrink as they cook.) Return to high heat and cook until butter and sugar caramelize to a rich brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, then carefully turn apples over to uncooked side with a fork, taking care not to burn your fingers. Return to heat and cook 5–8 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

3. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12″ circle. Drape pastry over apples and skillet, then tuck overhanging dough between apples and inside wall of skillet. Bake in oven until pastry is golden, 20–30 minutes. Allow tart to cool for 15 minutes, then loosen edges with a knife. Place a platter on top of skillet and invert quickly and carefully. Serve warm.