Roasted Vegetable Tarte Tatin

 

Happy New Year!  I thought I'd start off 2011 by sharing an absolutely delicious creation.  To my surprise, the Food Network Magazine consistently delivers solid recipes that rarely fail to please.  This was my favorite from all of my holiday cooking.  I had never heard of a Tarte Tatin, but in doing a little research I learned that it was created in error as two French sisters attempted an apple pie gone wrong.  What you're looking at above are gorgeous roasted root vegetables: sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, parsnips, leeks and garlic all slow-roasted first to bring out their flavor.  As they cooked, I created a little caramel and then proceeded to assemble this dish upside-down.  The caramel went down first, followed by sage and oregano.  As the root veggies came out of the oven I positioned them in the caramel which hardened very quickly.  I was afraid at this point because the caramel wasn't perfectly covering the bottom of my baking dish - thankfully this all smooths out when you put it back into the oven.  A small sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and a final layer of puff pastry were the final toppings.  It baked for only a short time before smelling divine.  Once it came out I had to invert it.  This was the scary part - the pan had to cool for a bit but remain relatively warm for the Tarte Tatin to pop out.  I held my breath as both myself and my mom (assisting me as sous chef for this dish) had four hands working to flip it.  To my great surprise, it worked!  The picture you see is only moments after it came out of the pan.  We sliced it up immediately and it was pure heaven!  The sweetness of the caramel sauce pairs amazingly with these root vegetables.  A total winter treat in my opinion :) 

Make it again? This is sure to impress any dinner party.  In fact, it is pretty enough to place as your centerpiece.  Serve it right on your cutting board covered in parchment paper and scatter it with a few more herbs for a rustic, beautiful focal point.  I plan to use it for dinner parties and holiday gathering throughout the winter months.

Improvements?  No improvements to this recipe are needed.  It is perfect.  Variations could be fun though.  Different herb combinations as well as alternate root vegetables could be used.  I used leeks because I had them on hand even though the recipe called for a regular onion.  Purple potatoes would also add to the presentation.   

Here is the link for the recipe, enjoy!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/vegetable-tarte-tatin-recipe/index.html

Sweet Potato Chips

 

Sweet potatoes, I'll take 'em any way, shape or form.  By far, one of my favorite fall veggies.  I'm always searching for different ways to prepare them.  Combine that with the fact that my mom bestowed upon me her mandoline and this is what you get: chips :)  These chips were super easy to prepare.  My least favorite part of sweet pots is when I have to peel them - but no peeling here.  Just a thorough scrub, a pat dry, and onto the mandoline.  I had about six sweet potatoes and once I put them through the mandoline, they made a LOT of chips.  I actually had to bake them in batches because there were so many of them.  Seasoning was simple: olive oil, sea salt, and cinnamon.  That's it.  I made the very first round with pepper, but found that I didn't like the pairing of the cinnamon with the pepper.  Also, the chips have to lay flat and be spaced apart from one another on the baking sheets, otherwise they won't come out 'chip-like.'  Into the oven at 350 degrees for a brief 15 minutes.  (And trust me on that timing, I thought batch number two needed a few extra minutes and I ended up with undefined, black disks!).  When they were done, I simply piled them onto a plate in huge heaps, easily accessible for snacking as we went about our evening.  The best part was that my husband kept walking by the table swiping a chip or two, commenting on their sweetness.  He didn't believe me that there was no sugar added....

Make them again?  Yes.  Absolutely.  In fact, I am now interested to know what other types of vegetables I can 'chip.'

Improvements?  Well, in this first round I certainly learned on the job.  I tossed the sweet potato chips lightly in olive oil at first.  But found them to be oil-laden and heavy when they came out of the oven - they were not light and crisp.  So the second time around I switched to a spray olive oil instead.  This allowed me to achieve the chip consistency I was hoping for.  Besides the oil factor, I know are more spice combinations to be had with these sweet little pots, and that is what I plan on trying next.