ADDICTED TO FOOD BLOGGA’S ADDICTION…A BEAUTIFUL PEACH & PLUM GALETTE!

“We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink…”
Epicurus
Galette a la Plums & Peaches!
If someone said to me that they made a galette, I would just nod & get on my way, maybe wouldn’t even bat an eyelid! Never heard of something like that before (seriously I haven’t, even if that means you think I live under a rock!). Now if someone showed me a picture of a galette they baked, & if that someone had the word addiction in the blog post, & if that someone was the ever so talented Food Blogga gal, it would grab me by the eyeballs…as did Susan’s post @ Food Blogga! I should have never wandered towards her highly addictive blog, because it talked me into bookmarking the “Peach & Blueberry Galette“! Calories, calories & more calories I thought…but what a delightful pastry it turned out to be.
Once again in a fantastic combination of peaches & plums…& ever so pretty. Susan, this was quite easily the best pastry thing I made this summer; am already looking forward to next year…to try it with cherries!

A galette is a type of French pastry made with a rich, flaky crust, and traditionally served at Epiphany, on the 6th day of January. Many bakeries also offer galettes year round, in both savory and sweet incarnations. In general, a galette is rounded and flat, and it tends to be very crusty because of the type of pastry used to make it. A galette can be made at home with minimal effort.

Depending on the region and the chef, a galette may be made plain, but it is more usually filled with something. The traditional sweet filling includes almond paste mixed with eggs and slivers of orange peel. This filling is often used for an Epiphany galette, to which the cook also adds a small feve, or charm. The Epiphany galette is known in French as the galette des rois, or “King Cake,” and the consumer who gets the slice with the charm is crowned the king or queen.

Peach and Plum Galette as adapted ‘minimally’ from Susan @ Food Blogga
Serves 8
Ingredients:
Dough:
All-purpose flour – 1 3/4 cups
Granulated sugar – 1/3 cup
Coarse cornmeal – 1/4 cup
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Cold butter – 1/2 cup; cut into small pieces
Fat-free buttermilk – 1/3 cup

Fruit Filling:
Plums – 10-12; stoned & chopped
Peaches – 3 cups; thinly sliced (about 3-4 large)
Granulated sugar – 1/2 cup
Light brown sugar – 1/4 cup
Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
Pure vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
Fresh minced ginger – 1 teaspoon
Cornstarch – 3 tablespoons

Egg white – 1
Fat-free milk – 2 tablespoons
Turbinado sugar – 1 tablespoon

Method:
To make the dough:
  • Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, and salt in a processor; pulse 2-3 times. Add butter and pulse 4-5 times, or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the processor running, slowing pour the buttermilk through the chute, processing until the dough forms a ball.
  • Remove the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30-35 minutes. (I did it for almost an hour because the weather was HOT)
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • To make the fruit filling, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently, making sure that the cornstarch is coating the fruit. (This will prevent too much juice from leaking out while the galette bakes.)
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Starting at the center of the dough, roll out, forming a 14-15-inch wide circle.
  • Place the dough with parchment paper on a baking sheet. Add the fruit mixture to the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border.
  • Fold the border over the filling, overlapping where necessary and pressing gently to adhere the folds.
  • Lightly whisk the egg white and milk in a small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
  • Bake for 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes. (Cutting it too quickly will cause the dough to crack).
  • It’s best served at room temperature or slightly warm. Optional garnishes include vanilla ice cream, a dollop of creme fraiche, or freshly whipped cream.

Waiter There’s Something In My Picnic Basket…& it’s a scrumptious galette!

The PassionateCook, Cook Sister & SpittoonExtra are back after a small break & with the August edition of WTSIMthis time, they’re looking for picnic recipes, anything that transports well, can be prepared in advance and doesn’t need (much) preparation on the spot. Just a knife needed to cut a slice of this delicious pie; it’s absolutely yummy on it’s own, but a dollop of ice-cream or some mascarpone makes it divine!
The great thing about my newly discovered ‘sweetie-pie’ is that the pastry remains CRISP no matter what…hot, at room temperature & even chilled.

I did some more with the pastry…I nicked a bit of dough to experiment. You can see a sneak preview in the background below. Will post that in the next post…

…Until then, enjoy the picnic! Bon Appetit !!

TO QUICHE OR NOT TO QUICHE…A mushroom quiche & wholesome lunchboxes!

” I asked the barmaid for a quickie. The man next to me said, ‘It’s pronounced ‘quiche’ “…
(on occasional perils of speaking a foreign language)
Luigi Amaduzzi, Italian Ambassador in Britain.
A MUSHROOM QUICHE…

At home, the lines are firmly drawn as far as the quiche story goes…or more suitably, the ‘quiche’ war. On one side, stand the son & me, who are not great egg fans at all; me far worse than him! The rest on the other side. It’s the quintessential question…to quiche or not to quiche? One wonder’s why I make it anyway. Well, firstly the die-hard baker in me overtakes the egg-disliker; & then, I actually like the idea of a savoury pie (which the son might enjoy in time). It’s only in the winter months when one can truly enjoy the rather filling slice of savoury pie…eggs + cream + butter! In summer, one would gladly settle for something much lighter!

I’ve made a quiche after almost 4 years. Leafing through a baking book the other day, I chanced upon a picture of a quiche, which was enough to set me off. I had a slice as well…it was quite nice actually. The son had a slice too, though he didn’t look like he was enjoying himself too much. The rest of the quiche disappeared into a sumptuous lunch for the eggy side of the family. Even the daughter, who was running a 102 viral fever, devoured it happily! PHEW…another meal completed & another day gone!

Quiche is a rich unsweetened custard pie, often containing ingredients such as vegetables, cheese, or seafood. Although quiche is now a classic dish of French cuisine, quiche actually originated in Germany, in the medieval kingdom of Lothringen, under German rule, and which the French later renamed Lorraine. The word ‘quiche’ is from the German ‘Kuchen’, meaning cake. Quiche can be served as an entrée, for lunch, breakfast or an evening snack.

Ingredients:
Crust:
Flour – 1 cup
Butter – 1/2 cup / chilled & cut into pieces
Chilled water as required
Method:
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
  • Sift the flour into a bowl.
  • Cut the butter in with either your finger tips or a pastry cutter till it becomes a breadcrumb like mixture.
  • Add chilled water & gently pull together to a firm dough. DO NOT OVERWORK or KNEAD dough, or you will get a tough crust.
  • Wrap in clingfilm & chill for about 30 mins.
  • Roll out to a diameter 2 inches larger than size of pie dish. Carefully place in dish, trim edges as required, leaving a 1/2″ overhang. REMEMBER that the crust always shrinks while baking, so don’t be tempted to stretch it to fit the dish. ( I’m always tempted!)
  • Cover with foil, then top with pie weights or beans, & bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove weights & foil & bake for a further 10-15 minutes till light golden brown.
  • Leave on rack.

Filling:

Mushrooms – 200gms/ finely sliced
Juice of 1 lime
Basil, parsley or coriander – 1 tbsp / finely chopped (optional)
Sweetcorn kernels – 1/2 cup
Garlic – 3-4 cloves / finely chopped
Cheese – 100-150gms / grated
Cream – 200ml (I use light cream 25% fat) (original recipe has 300ml)
Salt, pepper etc
Eggs – 3
Tomato – 1-2 / sliced for topping

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
  • Heat 1-2 tbsps of olive oil in a frying pan. Stir in the mushrooms, garlic & lime juice.
  • Season with salt & pepper. Cook until the mushrooms give out their liquid.
  • Increase heat & cook until dry. Stir in herbs; adjust seasoning.
  • Whisk the eggs, cream & half the grated cheese.
  • Stir in the mushrooms.
  • Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the bottom of the pie shell & pour the mushroom filling over the top.
  • Bake for 15 minutes till it starts setting. take out of oven gently & place overlapping slices of tomatoes on top.(I put them on half & left the other half plain)
  • Return to oven & bake further for 20 minutes, till puffed up & brown.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature.

Read about an interesting foodblogging event at Coffee & Vanlla , Margot’s blog, the other day…a ‘Wholesome Lunchbox’ event – looking for some lunchbox ideas for kids. Margot has worked out a nice balanced lunchbox & I’m trying to fill it up as best as I can. The tummy-filler comes from this post, which is a slice of quiche.

The rest are from below…recipes/posts that I have done previously. The five-a-day options & dairy products are covered by the raisins & nuts, steamed brocolli & the fruit kabobs which have fruit & cheese too. There’s plenty of taste & ease of eating. The sweet something is a slice of Chocolate, Chocolate-chip & Walnut cake (my own recipe, a delicious moist cake, which has some wholewheat flour & yogurt in it too). Would finish it off with a drink of water or lime juice. My daughter would be over the moon if I could get all these into a box for her on the same day.

Novel idea Margot…got me thinking ‘lunchboxes’!

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