Posts tagged ‘galette’

Jul 30

Pies And Tarts: Blackberry Peach Pie And A Tomato Tart

In the summer it’s hard to find balance. I love to cook but it’s so hot out it kind of knocks the wind out of my sails but I was inspired to get in the kitchen after reading Teagan newest serial Thistledown. I love the story and Teagan is so brilliant, her readers are part of the the story we were given faery names and oh well you’ll just have to read it, it’s wonderful!!! My characters faery name is Peaches Dragonfly and you might have guessed it yes, Peaches is a cook.

When I buy blackberries what I don’t eat I freeze, adding to the freezer container with each unused portion of berries. I do the same with other fruit, peaches, strawberries etc… There happened to be a rather large bag of blackberries and some peaches that I wanted to use and today the temperature is pleasant, a good day to fire up the oven and bake.

Pies are one of my favorite indulgences, especially fruit pies. They are simple to make, and are such a great dessert both homey and elegant. The combination of blackberries and peaches has always been one of my favorites and put them in a flaky buttery pastry crust and it’s pretty much heaven on earth. I’ve published the pie crust recipe I use probably more than a dozen times. It never fails, is always good and its from Julia Child.

I think I will bring both of these the pie and tomato tart to Fiesta Friday #182 the co hosts this week are Liz @ spades, spatulas & spoons and Jenny @ Jenny Is Baking

Blackberry Peach Pie

Makes one 9 inch double crust pie

Pastry

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 tsp salt

6 oz unsalted cold butter cut into pieces

4 tbs shortening (cold)

1/2 cup ice water

Whisk the flours and salt in large mixing bowl. Add the butter and shortening and using a pastry cutter or your hands break up the fat into the flour until it resembles crumbs. It’s ok to have small pieces of butter I actually prefer it the pastry is extra flaky. Mix together until if forms a cohesive dough. Divide into two disks, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Fruit and assembling the pie

approximately 3 cups blackberries

approximately 2 cups sliced peaches

2/3-1 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of fruit)

3 tbs-1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt and pinch of cinnamon

NOTE: If using frozen fruit use 1/4 cup flour + 1 tbs

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Mix the fruit with the flour and sugar, salt and cinnamon.

Roll out the bottom crust and place in your pie pan, add the fruit dot with some butter and place in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust. I made a lattice top crust for this pie and all you do is cut strips and basket weave. Roll out the top crust and lay on the pie, crimp the edges however you like, cut a vent or prick with a fork, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Heirloom tomatoes

The first tomatoes of the season are also showing up at the green market and I love buying heirloom tomatoes, they are my favorite, different colors, sizes and shapes and other than enjoying in salad or on their own making a tart is a great way to eat them. This time of year with so much bounty and just me to eat, I end up preserving or freezing much of what I purchase. This year my basil died, not sure why and it was very upsetting so I ended up buying a huge bunch at the farmers market and thought I would make some pesto.

The tomato tart is made using Julia Childs recipe for a galette pastry, it’s very different from a traditional pie crust, you mix flour and corn meal, butter, sour cream or creme fraiche and ice water. It’s a delicious rustic pastry dough and this recipe is one I have been using for many years.

Because tomatoes are so juicy I roast the tomatoes first in the oven until they are soft and a bit drier, I made the mistake once of putting fresh tomato slices on a tart and the crust was soggy, not good.

Tomato Tart

Makes one 9 inch tart

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 tbs cold unsalted butter

3 tbs sour cream or creme fraiche

1/3 cup ice water

Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in mixing bowl, cut in the butter until it resembles crumbs. Mix the sour cream and ice water and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until it forms a cohesive dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-4 hours.

Roasting the tomatoes and making the tart

Heat oven to 400 degree’s

Line a sheet pan with parchment, cut your tomatoes into thick slices and place on parchment lined baking sheet, bake for about 25-30 minutes they will just start to caramelize and will dry out a bit. Remove carefully so they stay whole and set aside.

Press the dough into your tart pan or roll it out and place in the pan, put in the freezer for approximately 15 minutes or until partially frozen. Remove from freezer and weight it down by placing a parchment sheet on the pastry and fill with pie weights or beans. Bake on sheet pan for 20 minutes, remove parchment and weights and place back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Spread some pesto on the bottom of the tart crust, sprinkle with some cheese and layer your tomato slices. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Serve hot or room temperature.

Jul 8

92 Comments

2 Galettes And a Trip to Mealku

Galette #1

I was asked to visit the office of a food website called Mealku, and thrilled that they want to feature me as a cook on their site. They needed to do a photo shoot and asked me to bring a signature dish or something that is going to give people some insight into my cooking style. Well, that’s not so easy as I am all over the map and it’s very hard to figure out what screams me when it comes to food. It’s wonderful that this is happening in the summer when fresh produce is at it’s peak and there is a bounty of fresh and delicious fruit and vegetables to choose from. I thought that making something with a pastry crust really does represent me, I am well known in my neck of the woods for my pies. I decided for transport purposes it would be easy to make a free form tart or galette. I have used Julia Childs recipe for many years and love it. The recipe allows either one large tart or two smaller. So I decided to do two small tarts, blackberry nectarine. I am also bringing some homemade vanilla ice cream. I will tell you more about Mealku in another post, it’s a very exciting and innovative venture. Galette #2 is going to my Daughter today is her birthday!!

Galette Dough

From Baking With Julia written by Dorie Greenspan

1/3 cup ice water

3 tbs sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into tbs size pieces

Stir the sour cream and ice water together. Put flour, cornmeal, sugar. and salt into your mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the cold butter and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Using either your hands or a pastry cutter work the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs (about the size of peas) Add the sour cream/water and stir with fork to combine. Gather the dough and gently press into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. This is enough dough for 1 large or 2 smaller galette’s, if making 2, divide dough in half and wrap each individually. Dough can be frozen also for later use. Defrost in the refrigerator.

To make the galette’s generously flour your work surface, remove one of the disks and roll into a rustic looking circle, place whatever fruit or filling you like in the center and gather up the edges, leaving some of the filling exposed. Brush with egg wash or heavy cream, sprinkle with some sugar (optional). Place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before putting in the oven. Bake at 400 degree’s for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Looks like large crumbs leave some pea size chunks of butter

Dough is wet but thats ok!

Wrapped in neat packets

Galette #2

Jun 6

32 Comments

Bake Together-Creamy Blackberry,Raspberry,Basil Galette

I am excited about this months Bake Together, Abby’s challenge this month is pie, Very Berry Mini Pies to be exact. As always we follow the basic premise of the recipe but are given the freedom to make it our own. My submission is one of my favorite spring/summer combinations, blackberry and basil. I make gelato, simple syrup and what ever I can from this flavorful combination.I decided to make small galette’s (free form tarts) and fill with blackberries and raspberries folded into a mascarpone basil cream. The crust is my go to pie crust from Julia Child and instead of vegetable shortening I use leaf lard. These sweet little galettes are creamy, loaded with berries and really delicious. Thanks Abby for another great challenge.

The Dough:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 tsp salt

6 oz cold unsalted butter (I used cultured) cut into pieces

4 tbs cold leaf lard or shortening cut into pieces

1/2 cup ice cold water

Add the flour and salt to food processor and pulse twice. Add the butter, lard or shortening and pulse until it resembles crumbs, pour into mixing bowl and add the water. Gently mix to combine. Divide into two discs, cover in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Filling:

2 pints blackberries

1 pint raspberries (red or black)

4 basil leaves rolled and cut chiffonade

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup mascarpone

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs flour

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

Add the mascarpone, egg yolk, basil, sugar,lemon zest, flour and salt to mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the berries and fold in. Refrigerate until ready to use

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Divide the dough into 8 pieces. On floured surface roll a piece of the dough into a round that is approximately 7-8 inches in diameter. Spoon some of the blackberry mixture into the middle of the round and bring the sides up leaving a little of the berries exposed. Continue until you have 8 galettes’s. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

When the galette’s are chilled, bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven, brush with warmed apricot jam (optional) and let cool on a rack until ready to serve.