This recipe is the first I've tried out of Sunday Suppers at Lucques, a new cookbook by Los Angeles chef Suzanne Goin (AOC, Lucques). Goin is a Chez Panisse graduate, so her sensibility is much like that of Alice Waters and Judy Rogers. The photos in this book are gorgeous, and the book is divided into seasonal meals which make dinner planning easy peasy.SSL isn't the easiest cookbook to work with. It makes a lot of assumptions that the reader has knowledge that might be basic to a seasoned cook, but could easily confuse a newbie. I like to think I can hold my own in the kitchen, but there could definitely be more clarity and I have had to look up some things to make this recipe work. Still, I'm hoping the challenging nature will make SSL the perfect next step in my kitchen adventures.
I'm not going to post the whole recipe here, but I think the photos are good to have for technique. The tart is any basic tart crust, made and chilled. The filling is a thick lemon curd. To make curd, you have to keep stirring. 
The curd will slowly thicken over medium heat. You switch to a spatula after the mixture becomes foamy because you want to get rid of the bubbles.
After what seems like forever, the curd will thicken to the consistency of pastry cream, and you'll be able to mound it on a spoon. Look at how the curd in the pot keeps its shape. Finished curd has butter stirred into it, is allowed to cool a bit, and then is strained into the tart shell so no curdled bits or inadvertently added egg whites end up in the tart. Chill, then cover with fruit. Some forethought would have probably convinced me to make concentric circles of fruit, but whatever. I think it looks very pretty in a semi-haphazard way.
I brushed on some homemade apple jelly (1 apple, cut into bits, boil until mushy, add half a cup of sugar, boil some more, cool). Hopefully it will keep the fruit from turning yellow.
7 comments:
gorgeous! it sort of looks like a fruit swirl that changes fruit. adding some smaller berries next time might be good too since they are starting to go on sale.
Very nice...I like your design more than concentric circles, which always seem so contrived to me.
Are those candied orange pieces, or just raw ones?
What was the occasion for such a pretty dessert?
As usual, the blog is a nice diversion from reality.
Long story...I really wanted to make the tart because it was the first thing in SSL that jumped out at me.
Then, after buying a tart from Cafe Madeleine (which I loved precisel because it didn't have a concentric fruit pattern) for an office party , I was really eager to see if I could make something equally pretty. I think, for a special occassion where I would go buy a bigger variety of fruit, I could totally make a party-worthy tart.
A bout of cooking woes hit after I made the crust, so it's been sitting in my fridge for days and I finally forced myself to go for it. It's a nice welcmoe back to cooking!
The tart lemon curd goes really well with this selection of tangy fruits. I think I would stick with slightly sour fruits and berries for this, rather than very sweet fruits like pears or mangos.
Oh, the slices are from a very small fresh orange. I sliced it very thinly and let it sit in some sugar before putting it on the tart. I don't mind eating the skin when it's been sort of candied this way.
That is completely and utterly awesome.
you made THAT??! That looks scrumptious!! now I want to make it! wait. I just read your comment, but you didn't make the crust part? I figured since we always keep those Marie Callendar pie plates, I could make the crust. Lily needs to look up pie crust recipe.
You'd like this tart because you like lemon bars. I think the lemon curd in this is even more sour than my usual lemon tarts, but it might just be the lemons I had this time.
And duh, of COURSE I made the crust. The crust is as important as the filling, you know.
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