Actually, I have two: this apple galette recipe was the best one I’ve ever had, so I’ll share it. And also a baked spinach a la Julia Child. I’m sorry I didn’t get these up sooner, November (and honestly, the last two months) just got away from me. And here it is December already and I’m so not ready for it. We’ve been dying for rain - and now we’ve finally got it and I find myself scrambling to get systems in place to deal with it, rather than been on top of my game. I’ve felt slightly behind all semester. I’m looking forward to getting my finals over with and then having a month to put everything to rights before the whole cycle begins again. You would not believe the state of my garden - such a mess - so much to do out there. I did manage to get our new mulberry tree planted, to replace our very sad peach tree.
“Country Apple Galette, adapted slightly from Jacques Pepin in Food + Wine
Pastry:
1-1/2 C all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1 stick plus 2 T cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup ice water
Filling:
4 large apples (I used six small Granny Smith from my friend Lawrence’s tree)
2 T sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T honey
1 T unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
In a food processor, combine the flour with the sugar, salt and butter and process for about five seconds. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour and process until the pasty just begins to come together, about 10 seconds. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, gather it together and pat into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate until ready to make galette (or just go ahead and use it right away).
Peel, halve, and core the apples. Chop half of the apples into small pieces. The other half, make nice slices. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.
Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the pastry to a 12”x14” rectangle and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within one inch of the edge. Drizzle honey over the chopped apple. Arrange the apple slices on top in a pretty way. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the apples and dot with pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples.
Bake for about an hour, until the pastry is nicely browned and crisp and all of the apples are tender. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temp.”
“Baked Spinach a la Julia Child by way of Smitten Kitchen
3 pounds fresh spinach
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 T unsalted butter
salt and pepper
1-1/2 T flour
I C stock
3/4 C grated Gruyere (or swiss)
2 T fine breadcrumbs
Stem and wash your spinach but no need to dry. Put spinach in large pot over high heat. Cook, covered until wilted. Drain. Fill pot with cold water, plunge spinach into it, then drain again. Squeeze spinach to extract as much water as possible. You should have three cups (approx) of cooked spinach. Chop coarsely.
Melt 2 T butter over moderately high heat and stir in spinach. Cook for a couple of minutes until all of the water has steamed off. Lower heat and sprinkle in flour. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock very slowly and stir as added. You might or might not need all of the stock. Stir in another T of butter if you like. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter a shallow 1-quart baking dish. Stir 1/2 C cheese into the spinach and then pour into baking dish. Mix remaining cheese with breadcrumbs and sprinkle over spinach. Melt 1-1/2 T butter and pour it over the top. Bake about 30 minutes, until heated through and brown on top.”
Hope you all had a lovely thanksgiving. We were able to travel to Tomales Bay for fresh oysters. It was fun to have them there for lunch, and fun to bring some home and shuck them for dinner too. It reminds us of our Maryland days!