There were quite a few things I learned during my brief flirtation with the restaurant industry; how to find and market to an attractive market segment in a competitive and saturated local market, how to not get burned both literally and figuratively from the salamander, distributors, employees, and how to make the perfect shrimp tempura … these were all lessons learned the hard way. And while the one or two scars from stepping into the bustling kitchen at the wrong moment or being too hasty with the salamander are slowly beginning to fade from my forearms, the learnings and discipline developed during that time are here to stay.
One of the key things I learned during that time was how to be resourceful. As in any business, margins are key in the restaurant industry. And one way to keep those pesky little things called costs down is to be creative with your inventory. Take salmon, for instance. In the mornings, our distributors would lug in crates of fresh produce and fish. And we’d purvey the stock and bring it into the back kitchen, where our chef would take hold of a massive salmon and begin to carefully prepare the specimen: he would cut away the prime sections for use as sushi and sashimi with deft knife cuts so precise that you could see a rainbow on the surface of the fish when you held it up in the light. Remaining sections of the fish were reserved for use in the back kitchen for salmon teriyaki. The skin was fileted off to be crisped in the salamander for use in salmon skin hand rolls. And the remaining skeleton was saved to be flash broiled and prepared for a staff lunch.
I like to carry that resourcefulness into the home kitchen whenever possible. Hence, the following two recipes are delights; not only are the end products scrumptious, but the recipes are incredibly resourceful. Nothing goes to waste: the apple tart calls for the apple cores to be reserved to create a syrupy reduction to be brushed over the finished tart as a final glaze. And the rustic strawberry tart makes optimal use of the leftover tart dough and the influx of strawberries we’ve been enjoying in NYC. All-in-all, both recipes take things that would have ended up in the waste bin to heighten the flavors of the product. And that makes both recipes incredibly creative and elegant, at least to me!
Apple tart
Alice Waters, adapted
Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
7 tablespoons chilled water
Apple topping:
12 small apples – I used a mix of tart green apples and sweet mcintoshes for a more complex flavor (and also because those were the two varieties in the fridge most in need of use)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a dough cutter, two knives, or a food processor, cut 4 tablespoons of the butter into the flour mixture until the mix resembles coarse meal. Add the remainder of the butter and cut into the dough to create small pebbles.
2. Dribble in the cold water and toss the dough through your fingers. It will become stringy, then will start to hold together into a ball. Divide the dough into half, and flatten each into a 4-inch thick disk and wrap in plastic wrap. 1/2 the dough will be for the apple tart. The other for the strawberry tart. Chill the disks of dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and prepare the apples: brush some lemon juice onto your knife and the surfaces of the apples. This will prevent discoloring of the apples. Halve and core the apples and thinly slice. Keep the apple halves together after slicing so you can easily fan the slices out onto the tart later. Reserve the cores
3. After 30 minutes, remove 1 of the disks of dough from the refrigerator and let soften until it is workable. Smooth out any cracks on the edges and on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick. Brush off any excess flour.
4. Lightly butter a 9-inch round tart pan and line the tart pan with the dough. Leave an equal bit of overhang over the edges of the tart pan. Fan the apple slices onto the tart pan, overlapping the slices as you go. Fold the dough on the edges over the apple slices, folding and crimping the dough as you go.
5. Brush the 2 tbspn of melted butter over the apple slices and the crust. Lightly sprinkle 2 tbspn turbinado sugar over the crust. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the apples.
[you may want to pause here to make the strawberry tart so they can both go in the oven at the same time]
6. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes (or until the crust is nice and golden brown and the apples are soft, with brown edges). Rotate every 15 minutes to ensure even browning.
7. Prepare the glaze by placing the apple cores in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar. Let simmer for 25 minutes and strain through a cheesecloth when finished.
8. Remove the apple tart from the oven when done (~45 min), remove from the pan, and let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Brush the glaze over the apples, slice, and serve. The tart is best the day-of, slightly warm.
Strawberry tart
1/2 tart dough from above
Thinly sliced fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons almond flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1. Mix together the butter, brown sugar, and almond flour
2. Roll out the tart dough into a disk 1/8 inch thick
3. Smear the almond flour mix onto the disk, leaving a border of about 1 inch on each side
4. Fan the sliced strawberries out onto the tart
5. Fold the edges over the strawberries, crimping the dough as you go
6. Brush the melted butter over the crust
7. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the crust
8. Place in the oven at 400 degrees F (along with the apple tart!) and bake for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and strawberries are nice and gooey