Tarte Tatin aux Poires

Translation: upside-down caramel pear pie.

We've been quiet on here for about a week since we started our "full-time" jobs, and we thought we'd wait to share what those are like with you.  However, we realized we already did that a few entries ago, and there's not a whole lot to add yet.  We have mostly pleasant students both in class and in the interviews, and we're learning a lot about the French educational system.  This week, we also designed scenarios for the students to enact later this semester--one about genetically modified food, one about immigration in the UK, one about binge-drinking, and one about renewable energy.  We'll let you know how they go once they start!

What we did do was make a Tarte Tatin aux Poires, and it was fantastic!  Unlike in the US where pears take at least a week to ripen, pears here are ripe in two days and MUST be used.  The best use for almost any fruit is of course to make an upside down caramel pie.  How could anything be better?

Think about caramel for a minute.  Think how simple it is.  It can be just one ingredient even: sugar.  You heat it until it melts and then continue until it's just at the point where it would start to burn, and voilà!  Caramel.  Now, let's add an ingredient to that, sea salt perhaps.  If you like chocolate-covered pretzels, then you know how wonderful salty-sweet is as a flavor.  Let's go ahead and add one more ingredient: butter.  Oh, now that's just mouth-wateringly delicious.  Butter, sugar, salt, all cooked together until you have one thick, gooey mixture.  You can even choose from a variety of textures!  Sauce, chewy candy, harder candy.  Ingredient four: pears.  We're on our way to having a pie.  Ingredient five (and six): flour (and water).

Dismantled frying pan.

With these five simple ingredients, you are ready to make your pie.  We were certainly ready to make ours!  We talked a bit about the overly sugar apple version earlier.  This time, I was not going to fail.  I examined the frying pan, saw the screw that held on the handle, and I realized that if I ruined the pan, that would most certainly NOT be the worst thing that ever happened!  I dismantled it with no problem at all (I even got it back together, too).

Tarte pre-flip.

Following Brad's instructions, I melted salted butter in the pan (just a couple tablespoons), and then I sprinkled that with white sugar.  I let that cook until it all melted together, and then circled slices of pears (three pears in all) on top of the sugar.  This cooked for over an hour before everything started to caramelize.  Oh, the heavenly smell!  Then I put the pie crust I'd made on top and put it in the oven for another hour.  After letting it cool a bit, I turned the pie onto a plate.  For those of you looking forward to making this yourself, here's the best part.  You, the baker, get to take your spatula and scrape the best caramel that forms out of the whole process and eat it all yourself (there's only about a teaspoon, so it would be hard to share).  Pear-infused caramel with sea salt.  This is good.

Then you get to share it!  It was fantastic, and made a wonderful beginning to the fall season.

Finished pie, complete with crispy, caramel crust.

Next time, we'll tell you all about the biggest yard/garage sale/flea market we've ever seen!