STONE FRUIT GALETTE
Last weekend Alicia and I took a trip up to Hudson, NY to visit our friends Tom and Chris and check on the status of their new property - the Burkestone Estate - a house, airbnb complex and barns which they're turning into a retreat and event space. (Before/after pics to come).
Bringing a bottle of wine to your host is of course nice (we are a little obsessed with lambrusco at the moment and love introducing the refreshing tingle of a fizzy cold red wine to our friends) but if you want to take it a step further as a guest, I always feel like pulling something delicious out of the oven for a late night snack is the perfect unexpected treat at the end of a good meal and perfect for socializing around the table. And the leftovers make for a quick and delicious breakfast the next morning. Your host will inevitably invite you back.
Enter the galette, the beautifully French open-faced pie. (As I'm writing this, it's Julia Child's birthday and what better way to honor her since she's the queen of French cooking!) It's super easy to throw together, can be prepared ahead of time, and looks (and tastes) super impressive with a dollop of ice cream and a dust of powder sugar as the tart cools. All you have to do is roll out your prepared dough, squeeze out the juices from the fruit, and bake. It doesn't get simpler or more homey than a rustic country style galette. We posted an apple galette last Thanksgiving which was delicious but I've made a few revisions and I think it's even better now. I tried Melissa Clark's version from the NYTimes Cooking section and I think it's solid. I slightly adjusted a few ingredients but kept around the same ratios. I also love a dessert that is beautiful being sloppy and imperfect. Just like how you can't play a bad note on the harmonica, there's no wrong way to shape or crimp the edges of a galette.
Being the end of summer, Union Square Greenmarket is ripe with the last of the season's plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots and cherries. Grab them before they're gone! With stone fruits being more tart than berries or apples/pears, I like to add a thin layer of raspberry jam over the dough before adding the fruit to cut the puckery-ness. If you're not into berries, fig jam works nice too or any jam flavor of your liking. I added almond flour to the crust which adds a crunchy nuttiness that compliments the half spelt/half flour combo. Being a basic recipe, you can try a lot of different versions like adding spices or candied ginger to the fruit. Regular flour works too but I find this combo of flours especially tasty and healthy too, as it breaks down in your gut easier. I like to let the fruit sit for at least 2 hours to overnight and squeeze out as much juice as I can right before I bake it. Letting it sit brightens the taste with the lemon and sugar and squeezing out the fruit is essential so it isn't sitting in juice while it bakes. Before you begin, make sure you have parchment/wax paper on hand.
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
Filling:
3 cups of any combo of stone fruits (plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries), sliced into wedges
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
4 tablespoons of raspberry jam
METHOD
Crust:
1. In a bowl mix together the flours, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the heavy cream.
2. Wash your hands. Add butter to the dry ingredients and with your fingers, break up the butter until it mixes with the flour forming sandy pea-sized pieces. Pour in the egg mixture, lemon juice, lemon zest and combine.
3. Tear off 2 pieces of parchment paper roughly the size of a sheet tray. Reserve one and lightly flour the other. Lay out the dough and flatten with fingers and top with the 2nd piece of parchment. With a rolling pin (or a wine bottle in my case) roll it out to a rectangle to at least 1/8 inch thick. Feel free to tear off pieces and add wherever need be until you have a rough rectangular shape and dust any surface with flour that feels sticky. Pull off the top piece of parchment, dust again and roll up like a fruit roll up and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 10 days. While it chills prepare the filling.
Filling:
1. In a big bowl, toss together the fruit, all but a tablespoon of the sugar, the salt, lemon juice, lemon zest and pour into a sealed container. Let it sit 2 hrs (if you're in a rush) but overnight is best.
2. When you're ready to bake, set the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Drain out as much juice as possible from the fruit container. Unroll the parchment onto a sheet tray sealing any cracks or holes. You don't want any holes in the crust or the juice will spill out while it bakes which will turn on the fire alarm. Spoon out the jam on the dough, stopping a few inches before the the edge. Pile the fruit evenly over the dough, leaving 1 & 1/2 inches of overhang. Gently fold the pastry over the fruit, pleating the dough to create a nice lip over the fruit. Sloppy is okay. Sprinkle your remaining sugar on the crust.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until the filling bubbles up. Cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
