My husband and I found ourselves attending three different potluck dinners in a 10 day run and luckily for us, the most recent Tuesdays with Dorie recipes were perfect choices for a dinner party.  The Tourte Milanese from Baking with Julia is on the left while the Apple Kuchen from Baking Chez Moi is on the right.  We took these to a potluck party to celebrate the 5th anniversary of PECK, the Peninsula Chicken Keepers association.

The Tourte was not new to me; years ago, I made that recipe when it was featured in one of those best cookbook of the year annuals.  While I do not remember what book it was, I could never forget that tourte and thought about making one on many occasions.  For this tourte, I followed the recipe pretty closely.  My only changes were to use herbs fresh from the garden in the eggs, adding eggplant slices (also from the garden) and mushrooms to the spinach and a few convenience products.  The puff pastry was homemade and had been in the freezer for a while so it was time to get it out and put it to use.  To save some time, I used a bag of frozen spinach and a bottle of roasted peppers from Trader Joes.  If only we had something left to take a photo-I brought home an empty plate and the knowledge that I must make that again and when I do, it will not go any further than my own dining room table so that I can have more than just a little sliver…

The Apple Kuchen is actually a tart packed with apples and a cream custard.  To make it a little more fall like, I decided to combine apples and pears.  Ordinarily, I love an apple tart.  But this one, not so much; it just did not work for me.  My instincts told me to add spices but followed the recipe as written.  All of that fruit, the custard, the absence of starch in the filling-it added up to a wet filling that I just didn’t care for.  The majority of it was eaten at the potluck and I only brought home a small wedge and the knowledge that this recipe would not be on my “make it again list” any time soon.

To see how the other bakers did with the Tourte Milanese, visit the Tuesdays with Dorie website.