TWD - Tarte Fine; Finale for HCB and Paul Newman's Tortellini with Chicken

Leslie of Lethally Delicious decided on the Tarte Fine on page 315 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking, From My Home to Yours for this week. Leslie chose this week's dessert out of the kindness of her heart for what her friends here on Tuesdays with Dorie could easily purchase on a budget, no matter where he or she lives. I always enjoy reading her blog because of the sweet lady she is. Today, you even get to meet her co-author Pearl, so click on over to see Dorie's recipe posted on Leslie's site along with Leslie's own Tarte Fine.

I horde Whole Food's Dufour puff pastry and have been known to pet the frozen pastry without taking it out of the freezer for several months. We never use this pastry on just any recipe . . . especially at $9 + a package. I really enjoy the buttery perfection Dufour creates in this little one sheet of pastry package.

Dorie's section to the right on "Playing Around" was put into effect when creating my apple Tarte Fine. We enjoyed the extra butter and sugar sprinkled throughout, especially since my Golden Delicious apples still had a slightly tart taste to them.

In my Heavenly Cake Baker's group, I learned to use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds in an apple. The ease, precision, and no waste has me hooked on the scoop method and I have never looked back.

I used my mandolin for slicing the apples into thin pieces; of course, I forgot to take a picture to show off the ease and efficiency when using a mandolin. Another piece of kitchen equipment I could not see myself living without.

Would you believe I added aluminum foil for the edges?

Thank you Leslie for picking out a beautiful Fall treat, centered on ease and baked with love.

For my Heavenly Cake Baker's group finale, the cake slicing and tasting. First word to come to mind is "rich", followed by "deep chocolate", then "crumbly". My step-son enjoyed his 18th year birthday cake as breakfast but what an adrenaline rush after one slice plus a cup of coffee. My slice was half of the one you see in the picture above and I could just "feel" my heart speeding along.

I did have a few air pockets in the cake. The chocolate ganache is rich and delicious too. Only half of the cake was eaten; the rest is in the freezer, waiting to be broken down into chunks and added into a freshly made container of vanilla ice cream.



For dinner we made Paul Newman's tortellini with chicken. I received Paul Newman's cookbook as a freebie when I ordered Dom Deluise's original Italian cookbook. I assumed the cookbooks would be full of cliche' recipes. I was wrong, in fact, I have been enjoying not only the recipes but the stories going along with to introduce each section or individual recipe.

The tortellini with chicken was the first recipe we have tried so far, AND I have many marked to be tried soon.

I thought I would share:
Tortellini with Chicken
(Paul Newman's Own Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T. butter
3 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
1 T. dried tarragon or thyme or 2 T. fresh tarragon or thyme
Flour for dredging
2 - 3 cups Newman's Own spaghetti sauce or homemade spaghetti sauce
10 ounces cheese or meat tortellini, prepared according to package directions
Chopped parsley for garnish


Directions:
Saute onion in butter until limp and set aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and tarragon if desired. Dredge in flour and saute in pan used to saute onion for about 5 - 7 minutes. Add onions, spaghetti sauce, and tortellini. Stir together, heating thoroughly for 5 - 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley.