Rustic Apple Tart!

Four items from my "To Do" list down, and seven to go!

I received a pallet of Washington's finest straight from Wenatchee from a client of ours, which included my favorite hybrid, the Honey Crisp!

You can imagine my excitement when I opened the box and saw all these freshly picked, sticker-free apples since my list included some sort of apple desert - the perfect excuse to knock this one off the list!

As I usually do, I turned to my friend Ina Garten for a good/easy apple really "make it my own" (in the words of Paula Abdul circa American Idol).

What you will need for the crust:
1.5 sticks of cold, diced salt free butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup ice cold water

How to make the crust:
1. Pulse butter, flour, sugar and salt together until small beads are formed. (I don't have a food processor so I used a hand mixer).
2. Add cold water slowly until dough comes together.
3. Kneed briefly, then form into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour.

What else you ll need:
1. 4 sliced apples (Contessa, Barefoot calls for Granny Smith apples, which I too would normally use for baking, but since I had all of these delicious apples, I decided to go for the Honey Crisp.)
2. 1.5 tablespoons of apricot or another favorite jam
3. Juice from half a lemon juice (only use this if you use a non-baking apple that needs a bit of tartness)
4. 1 egg yolk
5. 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
6. 2 tablespoons cold, diced salt free butter

Next, roll out the chilled dough in a round form. Take a fork and prick the surface. Mix the apple slices with the lemon juice, sugar and jam. Next, arrange sliced apples neatly over the dough leaving a 1.5 inch border around all edges. Once the apples have been placed, fold the edges over gently and brush with egg wash (makes it shiny). Lastly, drop little pieces of the cold butter on the crust and over to apples.

Pop it into a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until brown, and enjoy! I like that this looks a bit more rustic and it was just wonderful with a glass of white wine!