Roasted Vegetable Galettes
“I don’t know how to put this, but…I made my own puff pastry.”
You heard me right, folks. I made my own damn puff pastry. All it took was some planning, organization, half a day, and two pounds of butter. See? Anyone can do it.
I don’t know how to put this, but…I’m kind of a big deal.
This is possibly my favorite Ron Burgundy quote, and I say it regularly. In the last two weeks, however, I have been saying it daily. Often after creeping up on my husband in the bathroom or shaking him awake in the middle of the night. “I don’t know how to put this, but…I made my own puff pastry,” I say.
He shakes his head and/or grunts something unintelligible most of the time, but I know what he really means: “Wow, honey. You are incredible. I’m so glad I said yes when you asked me to marry you.”
Not above mixing my movie quotes, I have skills. Bow hunting skills, bass fishing skills, and puff pastry-making skills. Yes. Because I don’t know if you heard, but I made my own puff pastry pastry.
And all it took was some planning, organization, half a day, and two pounds of butter. See? Anyone can do it.
And you should too, if you have some time to kill and the need for butter-soft hands. Otherwise, grab some Dufour from the freezer section and you’re good to go with any recipe that calls for puff pastry, such as the one below.
But before we get to the recipe, let me prevaricate a bit. I was not expecting my first experience with puff pastry to go well. I was expecting disappointment, like when the British Bake Off contestants stare into their ovens and wail, “I don’t know what happened! It never melted/burned/refused to rise or solidify in practice!!!”
But I was not disappointed. This puff pastry did as the name implied: it puffed. It also crisped, burst into shards of buttery decadence in my mouth, and was utterly delicious. And now…I’m kind of a big deal.
I made puff pastry as a learning experience. And then stood there with five pounds of puff pastry on my hands realizing I hadn’t really thought this through. What the hell to do with it all? Aside from tarte tatin, which is most definitely in my future. And while I do not doubt my ability to eat five pounds of puff pastry all in tatin form, I also needed to make dinner.
Long story short: roasted vegetable galettes. All from things I already had in my produce drawer.
The toppings - roasted tomato with feta, and roasted peppers and onions with baked eggs - were inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s… entire body of work, basically.
I often stand in front of my refrigerator and ask myself what Y.O. would make for dinner with what I have. Half the time, the answer is roasted tomatoes served hot over cold salted yogurt with lemon zest, as it is freaking delicious. And while that served as inspiration for one variant, the other came from his cookbook Jerusalem, where he was kind enough to spell out the solution to my puff pastry dinner dilemma.
In my version, I roasted onions and red peppers, tossing in some fresh sage I happened to have on hand. (It’s been in the produce drawer for nearly a month, and still fresh as a daisy! Who knew?) This paired with the eggs on half my galettes. For the rest of the galettes, I roasted tomatoes with z’atar and topped them with feta.
I paired these with a simple green salad, called it Dinner, and there was much rejoicing in all the land.
For drink pairings, I recommend either three fingers of Glenlivet, or a Manhattan… after you kick the vermouth in the side with a pair of steel-toed boots.
Enjoy.
Makes 6 galettes: 3 roasted tomato and 3 roasted pepper
Shit You Need
Puff pastry, 14 ounces (if frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator)
One egg whisked with 2 teaspoons water, for egg wash
Roasted Pepper Galettes with Baked Eggs
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
one onion, cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch wedges
one red pepper, sliced into 1/2 inch thick strips
fresh sage, one sprig
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
3 eggs
Roasted Tomato and Feta Galettes
cherry tomatoes, 12 ounces
fresh oregano, 3 sprigs
olive oil
1 tablespoon z’atar seasoning
feta cheese
Keep Calm and justeffingcook
Prepare the roasted vegetables
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In one oven-safe baking dish, toss onions and peppers with sage sprig and a generous amount (2 or 3 Tbs) of olive oil. Season with a few pinches of salt and a few generous grinds of pepper.
In another baking dish, toss tomatoes with 2 or 3 Tbs of olive oil, two sprigs of fresh oregano (reserve the last sprig for later), the z’atar spice mix, and additional salt, to taste. Some z’atar mixes contain salt, other’s don’t. Or you can make your own z’atar by tossing together sesame seeds, thyme, and ground sumac.
We have grown to love z’atar in our household. I use it as a spice mix to roast chicken, veggies, or give anything a little Middle Eastern kick.
Roast the peppers and onions, tossing occasionally, until softened and they are beginning to caramelize, about 35 minutes. At the same time, roast the tomatoes, tossing occasionally, until they burst, lose some of their liquid, and begin to darken. This takes a little longer than the peppers and onions. Or you can do what I do, and once you take the peppers out of the oven, turn on the broiler and hit the tomatoes with that for 5 minutes or so.
While the vegetables are roasting, roll out puff pastry until it is a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise, and then cut each strip into thirds. Space the puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Once the vegetables are ready, discard the herb sprigs and set the vegetables aside to cool until you are ready to use them.
Assemble galettes
Turn the oven up to 425 Fahrenheit.
Remove puff pastry from oven and brush the tops with the egg wash.
Top half of the pastry squares with sour cream/creme fraiche, leaving a 1/4 inch border to allow the pastry to puff.
To the sour cream-topped pastry, add the pepper mixture in a somewhat even layer, leaving that quarter-inch border. Make a slight hollow in the center. (There will be leftover peppers and onions)
To the remaining pastry squares, add tomatoes in an even layer, leaving - you guessed it - a 1/4 inch border. Crumble feta generously over the top, reserving about half.
Bake the galettes for 14 minutes. Remove from oven and add one egg to the center of each pepper-topped galette. Return to the oven and bake all until the egg whites are set and opaque but the yolks still runny, about another 10 minutes. In my oven, it took 12 minutes, but it’s cool like that. 😎
Sprinkle the tomato galettes with the remaining feta and sprinkle reserved fresh oregano leaves over the top. If you have a bit more fresh sage, garnish the egg and pepper galettes with some small (or chopped) leaves.
Drizzle olive oil over each galette and serve.
Pear Almond Tartlets
When life gives you lemons, make tartlets.
Lately, I’ve been cooking so damned much that I hardly have time to write about it. At this very moment, I am nixtamalizing corn on the stove in preparation for hand-ground masa tortillas while my duck carnitas slowly render in the oven.
Oh, and then there’s my obsession with learning all French pastry techniques before Christmas. For instance, I made my own puff pastry a week ago. Still not sure what I’m going to use it for, but by God I’ll be ready when the time comes! I have a list of all the recipes I want to master: Canelés de Bordeaux, kouign-amman, a true Parisian macaron, something pâte-à-choux with crème pâtissière or Bavarian cream inside, a gorgeous passionfruit or coffee or hazelnut entremet with perfect mirror glaze, and of course, an unimpeachable almond croissant.
On a completely unrelated note, I am on the last day of my 5-day fast-mimicking diet in which I go gluten-free, vegan, low calorie and zero alcohol. Because pandemic calories are no joke, my friends. I do believe I will need to do this every 6 weeks or so at my current pace of pastry-making.
We do what we must.
Today’s recipe uses frangipane, which is an almond cream filling used in tarts, cakes, and something called a pithivier, which I just this minute added to my list because it looks amazing and also requires puff pastry, so, win-win!
Frangipane is delicious. Something about the almonds/butter/sugar mixture creates a filling that puffs magically in the oven, caramelizes into chewy goodness at the edges and stays brownie-moist in the center. Possibly, it’s witchcraft.
It goes with just about any fruit you throw at it, although cherries and pears are the classic adds.
Lastly, it is incredibly easy to make. Which makes these tartlets easy to make, as long as you don’t count the pastry, which I know some people have issues with. But never fear! I will strive to make that easy as well.
This was very nearly a full sized tart when fate intervened. I was half-way through making a 9-inch pear-frangipane tart but couldn’t find my tart pan. So I divided my pâte sucreé into 6 portions and filled individual tartlet pans. When life gives you lemons, make tartlets.
If you don’t happen to have mini-tart pans, go with my plan A and throw this into a full-sized tart pan instead.
Speaking of flexibility, frangipane goes gluten-free amazingly well. Substitute your favorite gluten free flour in the filling, or go without any flour besides almond…you can totally get away with it.
As for the crust, I will need to do a little research on an effective gluten-free tart crust, but I have no doubt it can be done. I’ll get back to you on that. In fact, I plan to do a whole series of posts on pastry crusts, ‘cause it’s kind of my jam.
But for now, on to some kick-ass tartlets.
Shit You Need
Makes 6 tartlets
I have included volume measurements just in case you don’t have a kitchen scale. But for the love of God, go get one! It makes everything easier, faster, and you use fewer dishes!
For the pears:
4 cups water
225 grams sugar (1 heaping cup)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons brandy
2 ripe Bosc pears, halved and cored ( for a full-sized tart, use 3)
For the crust:
6 4-inch tartlet pans with removable bottoms.
190 grams all-purpose four (1 1/2 cups)
60 grams confectioner’s sugar (1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
128 grams (1 stick plus 1 Tbs) cold unsalted butter, split lengthwise into quarters, and diced
1 egg yolk, whisked with 2 teaspoons cold water
For the filling:
100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)
140 grams almond flour ( I use Bob’s Red Mill finely ground almond flour)
30 grams flour (3 Tbs)
140 grams butter ( 1 stick plus 2 Tbs) room temperature butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
Keep Calm and justeffingcook
Poach the pears:
In a medium saucepan, dissolve sugar in water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer. Add lemon juice, brandy, and pears.
Simmer 15 minutes, until pears are tender.
Set aside at room temperature until you are ready to use them.
A nip of brandy? Don’t mind if I do!
Make the crust:
Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to blend.
Make sure your butter is cold! If it isn’t, pop it in the freezer for 10 or 15 minutes. Then add it to the bowl of the food processor and pulse 8 - 10 times, about 1 second each time.
Add the yolk/water mixture and run the processor about 10 seconds, until the mixture starts looking a bit clumpy.
Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and press the dough together with your palms to form a disc.
Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate at least an hour.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Refrigerate the ones you aren’t actively rolling out.
Lightly dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Press one portion into a disc with your palm, dust lightly with flour, and roll into a very thin round - less than the usual 1/8 of an inch, but not so thin it isn’t workable. Use a minimal amount of flour to re-dust if necessary as you turn and flip the dough.
Cup the dough between your hands so that you can lower it into a tartlet pan. Press it into place. If it breaks, just patch it. No problem. There will be excess that overhangs the pan. Also no problem. Press and brush it off with your fingers.
Refrigerate the tartlet pan. and repeat for remaining 5 tarts.
Refrigerate the whole shebang for 30 minutes at least while your oven preheats to 425 degrees.
Bake 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden. I got by without pricking the bottom, lining the shells, or using pie weights. The dough puffed a bit at the bottom, and I simply pressed it back with a spoon when I pulled them from the oven.
If using a large tart pan, follow the same process with the entire portion of dough, but bake 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
Make frangipane:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed. As a reminder, your butter and eggs should be at room temperature. If they aren’t, go stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done.
Add almond flour and flour and beat to incorporate.
Add almond extract and eggs (also room temperature) and mix on medium speed, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl, until everything is one homogeneous happy-delicious batter.
How easy was that?
Assemble and bake tarts:
Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Transfer pears to a cutting board. Lightly pat dry and remove stems and ends. Slice thinly, then slice right down the middle lengthwise. Each quarter will top a tart . You may not be able to fit the entire length - if not, you’ll leave a bit of the neck behind.
If you are baking a 9 inch tart, leave the pears in their halves and thinly slice. All 6 pear halves will top the tart.
Pipe or pour frangipane into the center of each tart, to fill 3/4 full. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon if necessary.
Using a knife or cake server, lift each pear quarter, allowing the slices to tilt and fan. Lay on top of the frangipane and press slightly into place.
(For the large tart, place each pear half on the filling, small end toward the center and fat end toward the edge, like spokes on a wheel. Make it look pretty.)
Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, until filling is puffed and lightly golden at the edges. Cool to room temperature.
(For the large tart, bake 45-50 minutes)
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Bulgogi Bowl
Why does this dish inspire obsessive behavior? Because it is packed with amazing flavor, is super easy to make, and it all cooks in the amount of time it takes to steam the rice. Perfect weeknight dinner material.
Bulgogi goes bibimbap.
Certain people who will remain nameless (but her name rhymes with McCall) have been bugging me about it putting this recipe on the blog. I finally got tired of the light stalking and the drunk 2 am texts, so here you go, “anonymous stalker”.
Why does this dish inspire obsessive behavior? Because it is packed with amazing flavor, is super easy to make, and it all cooks in the amount of time it takes to steam the rice. Perfect weeknight dinner material.
I honestly can’t remember if this dish came about because of our family’s love of rice bowl dinners, or if our love of rice bowls was inspired by this dish. Sort of a chicken/egg scenario.
And speaking of egg, many of our rice bowls wind up with an egg on top. It’s very nearly a family motto. Put an egg on it!
When you start with rice and add a little savory protein and a bunch of herbs, dinner can go a number of different directions. Kimchi, seaweed, leftover veggies and a fried egg, and it bends toward Korean bibimbap. Fish, avocado, maybe some mango, and we’ve got Hawaiian poke. But regardless of the direction we take it, dinner is always quick, balanced, comforting, and delicious.
For this version, our favorite topping is a variation on another Korean dish: bulgogi. Bulgogi is typically made by grilling beef marinated in a sauce of sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil, and is completely, utterly, effing delicious. Somehow more than the sum of its parts. Possibly, it’s witchcraft.
The recipe that follows uses that sauce with ground beef, and a huge amount of the holy flavor trinity of garlic, ginger and scallions. One might even say a shit load…if one were inclined toward a bit of gentle profanity. Which as you know, I am.
With those aromatics, plus brown sugar, soy and sesame, it’s a flavor party in your mouth and everyone’s invited. Not just beef, but any protein that takes a shine to a little sauté. Pork? Hard yes. Veal? Yup. Ground chicken? Sure. Tofu? Definitely. Minced flip flop? …Yeah, probably.
You’re welcome, McCall.
Makes enough for two adults and 2 hungry teenagers.
Shit You Need
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce (low-sodium is key, else you will need to chase dinner with a gallon of water)
1 heaping tablespoon gochugaru (Korean chile flake) or chile flake of choice, adjusted for spiciness
5 good-sized cloves of garlic, minced (close to 1/4 cup when you’re finished)
2 inches of ginger root, peeled, cut into slices, crushed and minced (close to 1/4 cup when you’re finished)
1 bunch scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
Equal parts ginger, garlic, and scallion whites.
Keep Calm and justeffingcook
In a large sauté pan over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden brown. Set aside.
Turn the heat to medium-high and add ground beef to the sauté pan. Cook until any fat has fully rendered and the beef begins to brown. Note: if you are using tofu or chicken, add oil to the pan and let it heat first, then toss in your protein and let it sizzle.
Meanwhile, add sugar and soy to a small bowl and whisk in the chile flakes. Set aside.
Once the beef has fully browned, check the level of fat in the pan. If there’s more than a tablespoon or so, drain the excess or dab it away with a paper towel.
Add ginger, garlic, and scallion whites and toss over medium heat until the aromatics are softened, about 3 minutes.
Add sesame oil and toss well. Your kitchen should now smell amazing.
Give the soy mixture one last whisk and add it to the skillet. Toss well to coat everything. I bet you thought your house couldn’t smell any better than it did a second ago. You were wrong.
Turn up the heat a bit to allow the liquid to come to a boil, then turn the heat back down to medium and allow the sauce to reduce.
Once the sauce is the consistency of syrup, take the skillet off the heat. Add the toasted sesame seeds along with 3/4 of the scallion greens and cilantro. Toss well.
Serve over rice, quinoa, or cooked grain of your choice. Garnish with the extra cilantro and scallion greens.
Bonus points if you put an egg on it.
Put an egg on it!
Smoked Rosemary Negroni
As the summer begins to retreat and autumn slowly drifts in on the cool evening breezes, it is time to change your cocktail program.
As the summer begins to retreat and autumn slowly drifts in on the cool evening breezes, it is time to change your cocktail program. There are so many flavors of fall that can be infused into your cocktails. This can be easily done by infusing liquors with a variety of flavor notes including winter herbs like rosemary or the rich chocolatey depths of espresso. Here is the recipe for my smoked rosemary Negroni. Enjoy…
Infusion:
Pour 325 ml of a sweet vermouth (I prefer Carpano Antica Forluma) into an airtight, resealable container. Save the bottle as you will return the infused vermouth to the bottle. In the palm of your hand slap 3-4 springs of rosemary. This will open the leaves of the rosemary allowing the oils to be expressed and infuse in the vermouth. Drop the whole springs in, seal the container and place in a dark area to infuse. Allow the vermouth to infuse for 24-48 hours. The longer it infuses, the stronger the rosemary flavor. When the infusion is complete, strain out and discard the rosemary and return the vermouth to the bottle. The infused vermouth will store in you refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Cocktail:
1 ounce London style dry gin (Botanist, Plymouth Navy Strength, or St. George)
1 ounce rosemary infused sweet vermouth
1 ounce Campari
Place each of the above into a mixing glass. Add enough chunks of crystal clear ice so the ice rises above the level of liquid. Stir with a bar spoon for 37-46 seconds. Strain into a chilled rocks glass fitted with a large crystal clear ice cube. Place a sprig of rosemary in the glass and then light it on fire with a cedar match (or another flame source). As is burns place the entire drink under a glass cloche until the flame is extinguished. Remove and serve.
Cheers!
