Feels Like Fall 2: Mini Dutch Apple Tarts

It was great to feel "back to normal" by mid week.  I was still a little queasy and weak when I went to work on Monday, but by Friday, I was BACK!  Both Ds spent a day out of school this week with miscellaneous ailments, but both of them seem BACK as well.  Unfortunately, by last night I felt under the weather again...sinus-y, scratchy throat, cold sore...yet totally different symptoms than the previous week.  I was hoping to begin the fall season with good health, but perhaps 2 out of 3 of us being healthy isn't too bad.

In a few weeks, the first quarter of the school year will be ending.  Most of my students are passing, and I have been pleasantly surprised at how they have been willing to rise to the challenge of SpringBoard.  This commitment to working steadily at something difficult will serve them well in the future.

Speaking of working steadily, The Help was extremely busy this week.  He took on the daunting project of cleaning the fishpond filter.  In spite of having a UV sterilizer, the fishpond had been looking rather dirty recently.  He also ordered new gaskets for one of the pool controls, cut back the bambusa chungii clump in the back yard, took my car for a safety check, and was finally able to pick up his car from the dealer in Kona.  He made a second trip to Kona on Saturday to take me to Costco and shoot the high school football game.  Whew!

Since he was already on the other side of the island on Wednesday, The Help made a quick stop at Costco to pick up provisions.  I told him to buy a tray of apples, and he came back with SweeTango apples for us to try.  I never heard of SweeTango apples before, and after eating them, I can honestly say I didn't care much for them.  I prefer a sweeter, crisper apple like Fuji or Envy.  SweeTango is known as an extremely juicy apple, but I guess juiciness is not a characteristic I value in an apple.  So not wanting to have to force myself to eat a dozen "not my cup o' tea" apples out of hand, I decided to make some type of dessert with the apples, after all, my fresh apple cake has become my most popular blog post.

TBH, I am really not much of a pie person.  I hate to make the crust.  I am not good at rolling out the dough in to a flat, even disk.  My rolled-out crust dough often is scraggly and has pukas (holes) everywhere.  While I don't like to get my hands dirty, pressing a crust into a pan is preferable to the whole rolling out process.

Perhaps that's why I've taken so well to mini tarts.  A few weeks ago, I posted a recipe for Chinese egg custard tarts.  I actually enjoy making those tarts because they seem like they are a lot of work when they really aren't so difficult.

These mini Dutch apple tarts really aren't the hell work they seem to be either.  The crust comes together so quickly.  The filling is also easy to prepare.  While the posted recipe doesn't make a lot, my suggestion would be to at least double the recipe if you plan on serving this to more than 4 people. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Mini Dutch Apple Tarts

Crust:  1 1/2 c flour

            1 tbsp sugar

            1/2 c cold butter

            2 tbsp cold Crisco shortening

            1 egg

Filling:  2 apples, chopped (best to use at least 2 different types)

             1/4 c sugar

             1/2 tsp cinnamon

             1 tbsp minute tapioca

Topping:  2 tbsp sugar

                3 tbsp flour

                1 1/2 tbsp cold butter

For crust, combine flour, sugar, butter and Crisco in the bowl of a food processor.  Process until fine crumbs form.  Add egg.  Process just until dough holds together.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.  Knead 15 seconds.  Divide into 18 pieces.  Press each piece into a 2 1/2" mini tart pan.  Place on a flat baking pan and chill while preparing topping and filling.  In same food processor bowl, make topping by combining all ingredients.  Place in a small bowl and keep chilled.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make filling by combining apples, sugar, cinnamon and tapioca.  Divide evenly among tart shells.  Spoon topping over filling.  Place on foil/parchment/silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool on rack (in tart pans) for 10 minutes.  Carefully remove from tart pans and leave on rack to cool completely.

Makes 18.

I Heart Tarts: Egg Custard Tarts

Today is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which means it is Moon Festival (a.k.a. Mid-Autumn Festival), the second biggest Chinese holiday. 

Unfortunately, Moon Festival in Hilo is not commemorated by a holiday.  When I was growing up, the United Community Church would host a Moon Festival dinner.  The Moon Festival banner would be displayed for weeks leading up to the dinner.  My parents would invariably have tickets, and we'd go to pick up food.  I remember there was tough and chewy kau yuk (steamed pork or pot roast pork) and sweet-sour spareribs on the plate, but neither were as good as homemade or the kind from Leung's.  I don't remember anything else on the plate, but I'm sure there was a round scoop of sticky white rice.  Mr. Dependable, whose family did the same (get tickets and pick up food), tells me the food was indeed less than memorable.

I suppose if we lived in Honolulu, we would've taken part in a more proper celebration...go out to eat, buy mooncakes, etc.  I know which restaurants would be on my list too.  Legend Seafood Restaurant or Hee Hing would be at the top of my list.  And I would go to Chinatown to Sing Cheong Yuan (formerly Shung Chong Yuein) to buy mooncakes and pastries.

street view of Harbor City Restaurant

Actually, I don't like mooncakes so much.  The kind we have in Hilo is either stale or preserved with more chemicals than the specimens in biology class.  I don't have a mooncake mold, so I really can't make my own.  So instead of mooncakes, I will be making another Chinese dessert. . .egg custard tarts.

I think it's a Chinese thing, but both Ds love gai dan tat (egg custard tarts).  Whenever we get to go to a dim sum restaurant, they will always get a plate of these tarts for dessert.  Unfortunately, the Ds weren't with me when I went to Harbor City Restaurant (Seattle).  The egg tarts there were the best I've ever had.  The custard filling was good, but it was the crust which made the Harbor City tarts outstanding.  It was the same pastry dough used for a barbecue pork pastry.  Crisp, flaky, light, and, I'm sure, filled with lard!

Because there is no handy-dandy dim sum restaurant where I live, I had to learn to make these tarts at home.  Of course, I don't have lard at home, and I think the idea of even buying lard grosses me out.  If I'm gonna clog my arteries, I will do it with butter.  I will be the first to admit that my tarts are nowhere close to the Harbor City tarts (the crust).  But its rather inconvenient, not to mention costly, to fly to Seattle just to enjoy a Moon Festival meal at Harbor City...or is it???

click on recipe title for printable reipe

Egg Custard Tarts

(adapted from Judy Lew's Dim Sum Appetizers and Light Meals)

Crust (makes 18 2 1/2" tarts)

     1 1/2 c flour

     1 tbsp sugar
     1/4 tsp salt

     1/2 c butter

     2 tbsp Crisco shortening

     1 egg

Combine flour, sugar and salt.  Cut butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse sand.  Add egg.  Mix well.  Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth.  Divide into 18 pieces.  Press each piece into a 2 1/2" tart pan.

Egg Custard Filling

     3/4 c milk

     6 tbsp sugar

     3 tbsp warm water 

     3 eggs, beaten

     1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine sugar and warm water.  Stir until dissolved.  Add milk, eggs, and vanilla and stir well.  Pour through a sieve to remove any solids.  Divide among lined tart pans, filling almost to the top.  Place filled tart pans in flat pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool for 15-20 minutes before carefully removing tarts from pans.

I had my first run-in with a teacher last week.  D2's teacher called, telling me she'd be receiving an F on her mid-quarter progress report for not doing an assignment.  I was puzzled because I had seen her working on it.  Furthermore, this teacher was named by D2 as "my favorite teacher", so the sting was even greater.  I was absolutely livid.  The teacher continued on, saying that she would be docking 5 points off for every day it was late.  By the time she called over 2 days had passed since the due date.  When I confronted D2, she produced the paper from her bag, complete with markings by the teacher.  WTF?!?  The teacher had forgotten that D2 had attempted to turn it in early!  I paid a visit to the teacher who, needless to say, was less than thrilled to see me.  She greeted me by saying that she was prepping for her class and had no time to speak to me.  But I apologized for my outburst on the phone and noticed that she had D2's paper on her desk.  By the time I left, 5 minutes later, we shook hands and hugged (Hawaiian style).  The teacher changed her mid-quarter grade to an A and added a smiley-face.  D2 said now her teacher knows her mom is crazy. 

Ending the week on the plus side, both HHS squads scored victories over the Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors.

JV QB Tiogangco makes a run for it

In spite of never leading until the very end, the varsity won a thriller which went into overtime.  The game was filled with penalties, not all legit, called against HHS.  The most blatant happened in front of my very eyes.  The ball touched the ground before it was in possession, yet the visually-impaired ref called it complete.  #dumbass #goseeanoptometrist It was my first experience with 20-20 scoring. 

taking down the QB

#4, my favorite varsity running back

Experimenting With My New Tart Pans

My new tart pans from the Confectionary House came just in time for Fall Intersession. I'm still experimenting with crust and filling options. Stay tuned!