Tarte aux champingnones

You can tell I just can't get enough with pâte levée, so easy and versatile. I have more pâte levée ideas I want to play with. So watch this space!

Tarte aux champignons

- pâte levée
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 500 g white or mixed mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp thyme leaves
- 1 cup of creme fraiche
- 1 tsp of whole grain mustard
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pâte levée as described here. Roll out the crust and line your chosen pie dish.

In the meantime, heat a skillet and a tablespoon of oil for a minute. Fry the mushrooms, onion and garlic until all water has evaporated. Stir in thyme leaves and season with salt and pepper.

In another bowl, mix together creme fraiche, mustard and egg. Pour the creme fraiche mixture onto the pie crust, followed by the mushroom mixture. Bake the tart at 180C for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy with green salad.

Apricot tart with light brioche dough

Pâte levée is one of M-T's specialties.  With the characteristic extensibility built-in, pâte levée is much easier to work with than pâte brisée, no more crumbly crust! Once baked, pâte levée is airy, full of flavor but not overly rich, a perfect foil for stoned fruits or savory hearty fillings.

There are two ways I like to fill my apricot tart, one with creme fraiche and the other with frangipane. Both are delicious. Experiment to find out your favorite filling.

For light brioche (pâte levée) dough:

- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 tsp fast yeast
- 100 ml lukewarm milk
- 1 egg
- 250 g flour (plain, strong or a mix)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g melted butter

For the filling (1):

- 6-9 apricots, stoned and quartered
- 125 ml of creme fraiche
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (or almond extract)
- 2 tbsps of sugar
- apricot jam
- demerara sugar
- 1 beaten egg

For the filling (2):

- 6-9 apricots, stoned and quartered
- 50 g melted butter
- 50 g ground almond
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- demerara sugar

The dough recipe is sufficient for two crusts. Half the recipe if you want. Otherwise, make two tarts, one sweet and one savory!

Mix all dough ingredients to form a dough. Let the dough proof for 2 hours until the size doubles. Cut in halves and roll out one piece for the apricot tart.

Cover the pie dish with the pie crust (as in pictures #1 and #3) and brush on a thin layer of apricot jam. You can go free form as I did in the picture #2.

Choose one of the fillings. For filling #1, mix creme fraiche, vanilla extract, sugar and half of the beaten egg. For filling #2, mix melted butter, ground almond, sugar and the whole egg. Pour the the filling mixture on top of the jam. Lay down the apricot quarters on top of the filling mixture in a decorative manner. Brush more apricot jam on fresh apricot quarters and sprinkle with sugar. Finally brush the pie dough edges with the remaining egg wash from filling #1. Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes.

Pâté aux pommes de terre

Limousin, in the geographical center of France, was where M-T lived all her life. Perhaps not very well known to the outside world, its countryside is one of the most beautiful I've seen. Lush with green fields, undulating roads along the valleys with countless rivers streaming through and an unmistakable sense of calm and tranquility. I always feel I am part of nature when I go there, not the other way around.

Limousin has brought a few things to the culinary world, one of the areas M-T was an expert, Clafoutis, Creusois, Madeleines, chestnuts in various forms and Pâté aux pommes de terre. I've eaten them many times, both homemade or store-bought. They are honest, hearty food from the countryside. Nothing fancy, just with good ingredients and simple manipulation. What would be a better way to remember M-T by learning and writing about Limousin cuisine? After all, I picked my first chestnut and walnut there. I also remember picking summer berries and turned them into jars of jam with M-T by my side. This post is about Pâté aux pommes de terre, humble potato pie. No Cheese, just with a little bit cream and wrapped in light brioche dough (pâte levée). For me, this is very Limousin, very M-T. They do the best with what they have and share wholeheartedly with people they love.

Pâté aux pommes de terre

For the pâte levée (1 pie mold of 25-28 cm):

- 1 tablespoon of sugar (15g)
- 1 tsp fast action yeast
- 100 ml lukewarm milk
- 1 egg
- 250 g flour (plain, strong or a mix)
- 1 tsp salt
- 50-100 g melted butter

For the filling:

- 500-800 grams of potatoes (depending on how tall you want your pie to be)
- 125 ml creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder (or two cloves)
- 3 tablespoons of minced shallots (or onions)
- parsley to your taste
- 1/2 teaspoon of thymes (optional)
- 1 beaten egg to glaze
- 1/2 tsp salt
- freshly ground pepper

Mix yeast and sugar in a bowl and drizzle in half of the milk. Stir to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Tip in flour.

In the same milk mug, beat in one egg.  Pour the whole milk-egg liquid into the flour bowl. Mix everything well to form a rugged ball. Tip in the salt and stir again. If the dough seems dry, add a tablespoon of water (or milk) a time to help mixing. Rest the dough for 30 minutes (optional).

After resting, beat in melted butter into the dough. Knead the dough until all butter is absorbed. Smooth the dough surface as much as you can and let it proof for 1-2 hours until the size doubles. Two amounts of butter are given. Both produce flavorful crust. I used 100g for the picture.

In the mean time, prepare your potato slices. Peel the potatoes and slice thinly with a knife or a mandolin. Mix together with garlic powder (or fresh garlic puree), 3 tablespoons of minced shallots, chopped parsley (of any amount you like) and 125ml of creme fraiche. Dry the potato slices lightly with paper towels and pour in the creme fraiche mixture. Season the potatoes with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix thoroughly and gently with your fingers to distribute the seasonings equally.

Divide the proofed dough into two portions (roughly 40-60 split). The smaller portion is for the top crust and the bigger one is for the base. Roll both dough pieces out, the bigger portion to fit the bottom of your pie dish, the smaller one to fit the top. Make sure the dough goes up at least half way to the side of the pie dish to hold the potato slices. Transfer the dough to line the base of your pie dish. Fill the covered pie dish with potato slices. Cover the potato slices with remaining pie dough. The two pieces of dough may overlap. Draw the two pieces together to close the gap.

Use the tip of the knife to create small holes on the top of the pie crust and brush with the beaten the egg. In an oven preheated at 180C, bake the pie uncovered for 1 hour. If the top becomes too dark, cover it with a piece of foil (and lower the temperature to 160C).

Serve warm with a good limousin green salad with mustardy vinaigrette.