“J’aime la galette, savez-vous comment? Quand elle est bien faite, avec du beurre dedans.”
The Berry Galette, up close and personal. The Tuesday with Dorie Baking with Julia recipe choice for this week.
French school children sing a silly, nonsensical tune about this week’s TWD/BWJ recipe choice, Berry Galette. Translated, the lyrics are,“I like galette, do you know how? When it is made well, with butter inside.”
This afternoon, as I was putting together what I considered a simple recipe, “est bien faite” , the “made well “ part, became a problem. My dough wasn’t coming together for me. Not at all. Frustrated, I combined the two small disks into one and tossed them back in the refrigerator.
What started as two, wrapped tightly and chilled for two hours, failed to live up to their task. Two became one and were returned to the fridge to “chill out”.
Next, I’ll even admit pulling out my “if all else fails” emergency back-up, hidden in my freezer: Trader Joe’s Pie Crust. Just couldn’t do it. Instead, I walked around our community’s Loop ( it was 106 degrees), huffed and puffed and returned to try again.
Thought about it. Seriously. Considered it. Seriously. Couldn’t do it.
My second attempt was successful and I managed to roll out one 11” circle that was about 1/8” thick, discarding the rest of the dough. After transferring it to a parchment-lined jelly roll pan, I spread blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, within two inches of the border. Then I sprinkled sugar, poured honey, and sliced butter over the fruit. I wrapped and pleated the dough to seal in the fruit (hopefully).
In the oven, pleated and wrapped.
Although my galette sprung a leak, my sleuthing suggests it’s quite difficult to not have seepage. Even master baker and cookbook author Flo Braker, who shared this recipe with Julia, believes a juicy galette is a well-baked galette as shown in her photo on pages 344-345 of our cookbook, Baking with Julia.
Whoops.
The only change I made to this recipe was substituting one-half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. To add more flavor, a small amount of Licor 43 could be poured on the fruit mix but I choose not to add more liquid this time. To see the full recipe go to the websites of our hosts this week: Lisa, http://tomatothymes.blogspot.com, who is from Ohio and Andrea, http://kitchenlioness.blogspot.com , who now lives in Germany. Andrea is also my colleague as a member of French Fridays with Dorie. To see if others huffed or puffed this week, go to http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com
Served warm, with a scoop of ice cream, Berry Galette is very tasty.
A lovely lunch or light dinner: Tomato-Cheese Tartlet with steamed, chilled lentils and baby beets lying on an arugula bed. In the spirit of full disclosure, while the adults enjoyed their lunch, Clara opted for macaroni-and-cheese.
French Friday turned into an oops! moment last week as the day swept by without our even realizing my Dorista duties were beckoning. Let’s put the blame directly where it belongs…..at the feet of the nine-year-old cutie pie who was visiting me.
Since her Dad and 11-year-old sister, were hiking/camping the Pacific Crest Trail last week, she and her Mom decided to jump in the car and dash over to Grandma’s house. Never mind Nevada’s 111-degree heat. Our days were jam-packed with back-to-school shopping, craftwork (beading), jig saws (three 500-piece puzzles), swimming, nutritious meals tilted by tasty, sugary treats, all interspersed with cheering on the Americans (and, the Brits) at the Olympics and playing Jeopardy! (It was Kids Week and Clara held her own against the eleven-year-olds and, unfortunately, also her Mom and Grandmother.)
Needing to roll out the thawed puff pastry to a 13″ square, Clara grabbed the tape measure to be precise. A grandchild after her grandmother’s heart.
But Saturday morning, we got busy, pulled the puff pastry out of the freezer, waved our wand and created Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, an easy but showy pastry concoction that highlights the seasonal tomato harvest.
The technique to be learned this week, to my mind, is in the puff magic. ( I would sooooo like to finesse some dragon allusions into this week’s Post but am refraining from the obvious.) “These tartlets,” Dorie explains, “are built on a base of puff pastry that’s been weighted down so that it bakes to a flat crisp. These flat, rather sturdy discs can be grown into whatever you have on hand or want to pile on top of them.
Using a bowl with a diameter of 6″ as a guide, Clara used the point of a paring knife to score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough.
For this week’s recipe, spread the baked, browned pastry base with tapenade or pesto. Then overlap circles of heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella dressed in olive oil or aged, drippy and languid balsamic vinegar. I preferred to let my cheese melt just a smidgen so I placed it in the oven for a few minutes before dressing it.
Lay the rounds on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Prick each disc carefully with a fork so the puff pastry won’t even think about puffing.
Place the cookie sheet with pricked rounds in the oven, cover the top with parchment paper before placing another cookie sheet on top to weigh the pastry down.
Pop a bit of basil on top. It’s lunch or a light dinner. It’s lovely.
By far the most difficult part of this recipe is deciding what to do with the puff pastry scraps. Wouldn’t it be a shame to toss those morsels in the trash? Clara and her mom decided to rescue the leftovers from such a fate. Using a crystal Lalique wine glass as her cookie cutter (Yes, I blanched at that but said not-a-word.), Clara made twelve pastry rounds, brushed each one lightly with melted butter, sprinkled them heavily with Grandma’s ample stash mixture of cinnamon-sugar-and-chopped walnuts and baked until brown and puffy.
One of life’s selfish pleasures, for me at least, is rescuing that last lonely piece of pie, (a leftover from the night before), grabbing a fork and with a fresh cup of coffee, calling it Breakfast.
BLUEBERRY – NECTARINE PIE
This week’s TWD/BWJ recipe choice was Blueberry-Nectarine Pie, a big-buxom double-crusted dessert brimming with seasonal fruits. As for the morning-after pastry? Never happened. Gone. Nada.
One-half the fruit filling with sugar, flour and lemon zest added is brought to a soft boil over medium heat on your stove top.
This recipe, which Julia baked at the elbow of Leslie Mackie, a California Culinary Academy-trained baker of some repute, is all about the fruit. Because the filling is cooked briefly on the stove top, you can adjust the fruits’ flavor combinations before the pie goes into the oven.
As Dorie explains it, that’s “a good idea and guarantee of success from pie to pie, no matter the sweetness, or lack thereof, of a particular bunch of fruit.”
Time to chill-out and take a nap in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Hilary and Liz hosted this week’s Tuesday with Dorie/Baking with Julia so check their amazing blogs for the complete recipe. Then I suggest you make these changes:
1. After combining the softly cooked fruit mixture with the uncooked half and cooling it to room temperature, strain the released juices/liquid into a small bowl.
2. If this is an “adult-only” pie, add 1/8 to 1/4 cup of Licor 43 (Cuarenta Y Tres) to the liquid. I met this light-bodied, sweet liqueur through food blogger Susan Lester who suggests it as a subtle punch to baked goods. Made from citrus and fruit juices, it’s flavored with vanilla and other aromatic herbs and spices, in total 43 different ingredients.
3. Return half to three-quarters of the liquid (with or without alcohol addition) to the fruit mixture. Save the remaining liquid for a smoothie (I could become addicted to Licor 43 Smoothies but that’s another Blog Post story.)
In the oven, lookin’ happy.
I used my tried-and-true crust recipe from my food processor pamphlet and baked this pie for 50 minutes until the crust was golden and fruit bubbling. Let the pie sit for an hour or two before cutting so both crusts have a chance to set.
Hold your breath. Cut the first slice. Smile broadly.
If you have a slice or two left, be sure to cover it tightly and stick it in the refrigerator. Fat chance of that happening…………….
Although there was juice seepage, my crusts never were soggy and each slice was intact for presentation. I think reducing the liquid by one-half was key to my pie’s success. This will depend upon the fruit used, however.
Being Foodies, we all know the Games of the XXX Olympiad cannot officially begin until we have our menu planned for tonight’s opening ceremonies. Luckily this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice, with a tweak or two, fits nicely into my All-American lineup.
The star is Barley, which Dorie calls “an odd-man-out kind of grain” in the French (and, American) kitchen. Also called “groats”, barley is a hardy, earthy grain, commonly used for animal fodder and beer. This week we’re using its most polished version, Pearl Barley, to create Lemon Barley Pilaf. Since we are still suffering 110 degree temperatures here, I preferred Dorie’s Bonne Idee and made a cold Ham & Barley Salad.
A delicious cold Summer entrée: HAM and BARLEY SALAD.
I cooked the barley, as suggested, and let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, I cored, seeded and cut one red bell pepper into small cubes and sliced a dozen black olives. I tossed that together with 3 cups of diced ham (a 1 1/2 pound center-cut slab) and refrigerated it also.
A look at the butter, finely chopped onion, salt, pepper and pearl barley as it initially cooks before the broth, water and bay leaf are added.
For the dressing, I made a lusty whole-grain mustard vinaigrette:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt (since the ham is salty, back off a bit, if you wish)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3-4 drops of Sriracha
Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until thoroughly blended. Chill. Just before serving, pour lightly over the combined barley, ham and vegetables until thoroughly coated and to taste.
This salad will make 4 ample servings. I plan to add sliced heirloom tomatoes (seasoned), chunks of American swiss cheese, and crusty country bread to the plate. Beer, wine or soda all compliment this menu.
After adding the broth, water and bay leaf, everything comes to a boil and then simmers, covered, for 45 minutes (longer than Dorie suggested).
You can’t miss the Olympics, even if you try. NBC will broadcast 272 1/2 hours, starting with the opening ceremony tonight (Friday). MSNBC has 155 1/2 hours with NBC Sports picking up 292 1/2 hours of team sports. CNBC has 73 hours of boxing. Bravo has 56 hours of tennis. There’s more: NBCOlympics.com will live stream every event for a record total of 5,535 hours.
With memories of and honoring the Israeli athletes murdered forty years ago at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, my wish is for a safe, harmonious, and peaceful global competition during the next two weeks.
I’ll be hooting and hollering for my country’s athletes just as other FFWD bloggers, Paula, Andrea, Mardi, Rose, and Cakelaw, to name a few, are cheering for theirs.
A French technique for a Chinese speciality dish: Mise En Place. Be sure you have all 18 ingredients on hand. The recipe is quite simple and you will use these products, spices and oils over and over again in Asian cooking.
There have already been two woks in my cooking past. Now, it seems, there will be a third. I prefer “third times the charm” rather than “better luck next time,” don’t you?
Here’s the story. I enjoy reading Catherine’s blog entitled My Culinary Mission. She currently posted a speciality dish entitled Yin Yang Beans. That plate of spicy green beans piqued my palate’s interest as much as it did her describing being part of the Wok Wednesday group piqued my curiosity. Now, I’d heard of Foodie Friday, Daring Bakers, Sunday Suppers, Baked Sunday Morning, Daring Cooks, and belong to French Friday with Dorie and Tuesdays with Dorie/Baking with Julia…………to name a few. But, Wok Wednesdays? That was a language I didn’t speak and had been a failure at cooking it as well.
I went to the library to check out “Stir-Frying To the Sky’s Edge”, the cookbook of choice written by award-winning author Grace Young. At home, with the book in hand, I pulled out my 12-inch skillet and put together Yin Yang Beans. They tasted every bit as good as their name implied. The cookbook seemed, as advertised, “the ultimate guide to mastery, with authentic recipes and stories.” With this book, I reasoned, I could do more with vegetables, portion control and even say “Au revoir” to my local China-a-Go-Go. I signed up and became a Wok Wednesdays wonk. (That’s my moniker, not theirs.)
One pound of chicken, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, is mixed with ginger, garlic, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt and cold water.
Combine and stir together chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine as the liquid mixture.
Last night I made Kung Pao Chicken, (p. 113), this week’s recipe choice. Although we are restricted from printing the recipe, you can find it on the New Asian Cuisine site.
The chicken, seared beautifully, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. While I realize the orange bell pepper is not as colorful as its red sister, the taste was the same. Next time, red.
Although, like in many Asian recipes, there are many ingredients required, they are all easy to find and purchase and will be necessary for upcoming dishes and meals. Why had I thought this so difficult before —- all I needed to do was cut, chop, mince, shred, grate, snip, and pour. The cooking time was less than 8 minutes.
Last night I served this with white rice. For me, a filling meal and because of the sauce, needing no additional soy sauce. When eating the leftovers today, I am going to add this salad I just found on food52:
If you wish to see other WW’s chefs’ Kung Pau Chicken, go here. I already can confidently suggest you add Grace Young’s “Stir-Frying to theSky’s Edge” to your cookbook library. Delightful, interesting and nutritious recipes. A good read.
My Wok Wednesdays Posts are dedicated to and honor my friendship with cook extraordinaire, Renée Deutsch, who now lives in Arizona. In the 1980s-90s, she and her husband, Bob, owned the Charcuterie, the best deli Aspen has ever known. Late one afternoon in those days, she and I were both at the check-out counter of our local Aspen grocery store. She spotted my groceries, a can each of LaChoy Chicken Chow Mein, Water Chestnuts, and Crispy Noodles. I said, “We feel like Chinese tonight.” I will never forget the look of pure horror on her face. She grabbed the cans, replaced them on the shelves and said, “Mary, just bring Michael and come over for dinner tonight.” We enjoyed an Asian feast that night, one of many food memories while gathered around Bob and Renée’s table. Renée, honey, this “wok’s” for you.
