Raspberry-Goat Cheese Galette and Granny's Pie Crust

Hmmm. Now, I will admit to having zero training as a chef or other food person, but it seems to me that "galette" is very pretty French for "messy pie." But I'm down to try anything, and honestly, I think the rusticity is quite fetching. So after Christmas, as we finished the pumpkin pie, the pecan pie, the cranberry pudding, etc...I decided not to let dessert die just yet. And there was leftover frosting from the jury-rigged cinnamon rolls I'd made the day before languishing in the fridge.

The day before, my daughter had woken up absolutely desolate that we were out of cinnamon rolls and orange danish. BUT, there was a roll of Grands biscuits, so I rolled them out flat, sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar, re-rolled them up, and made frosting from cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar. They were...okay. I'd be willing to improve upon that particular recipe, but it worked in a pinch. I'm sort of dying to know what sort of emergency meals you cobble together for yourselves or your children. Is anyone out there? I feel sort of like this is the point that my students get to when they start leaving me notes in the middle of their essays to see whether I'm really reading them or not.

Anyway, so I had a decent amount of frosting left, some delectable goat cheese from Latte Da Dairy (the goddesses of all things goat-ish) that needed using, and I'd gotten two pints of raspberries from the store. Rad. 

It seems to me that for a galette, you need a rocking crust. Fortunately, I happen to have just such a thing in my repertoire courtesy of Granny Pauline, bequeather of the purple velvet couch.

An aside here. I hope you all have something special to remind you of dear ones no longer living. The person I miss the most every day is my dad's mom. Granny was a schoolteacher and my best friend through middle school on. She gave me my first job (dismantling and cleaning her dining room chandelier, among other things). She had an attic full of the coolest stuff ever. When I got my driver's license, I went to her house at least a couple of times a week for visits. I confided in her like she was a peer, and some of the teenage secrets I told her must have made her toes curl at times. However, she would just sit, on a bar stool at the tiled bar in her kitchen, spooning hot cocoa and prunes out of a giant Campbell's soup bowl/mug, and listen intently. She never ratted me out, never judged me. And she made me fried chicken and butterscotch cake for my birthday and served it on her good china in her formal dining room. She died when my daughter was less than a year old. I inherited her recipe box as a remembrance of the time spent in her kitchen, and it's one of my most treasured possessions.

I guess I'm telling you this because I want you to get that it's a big deal to me to share Granny's pie crust recipe with you. One of the first things she taught me to make was apple pie, and this is her recipe. Please love it and share it with folks you love.  

In a large bowl, combine 4 cups flour, 2 t. salt, 1 T. sugar, and  1 3/4 cups shortening (I like to use butter-flavored Crisco). Work the shortening into the dry mix until it's in small pea-sized shapes uniformly throughout the flour. You can do this in a food processor as well. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup cold water, 1 t. apple cider vinegar, and one egg. Work the wet and dry mixes together until they're fairly smooth, but don't overwork. Separate into two balls, cover, and refrigerate for about a half hour before using. This crust recipe is meant to make the top and bottom of two standard-sized apple pies. I halved it for the galette.

Using half of the raspberries, I made the compote from one of my previous posts and added an extra teaspoon of corn starch to make it almost jelly-thick. Roll out the dough into a rough circle. Spread the cream cheese/goat cheese mix in a circle. Add your cooled compote. Carefully fold over the edges of your dough so it naturally makes creases. Add the rest of the raspberries on top of your compote and drizzle with some good honey. Brush the crust with cold water or an egg wash. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the crust is done throughout.

Though I think I would roll the crust out just a bit thinner, I quite liked this with a bit of vanilla-bean ice cream on top.

Granny's pie crust recipe follows...

Eat Well, Live Well

On the same Saturday that I picked up my Bountiful Basket, I decided to go in search of truly local food. I want to do a series of blog posts on the wealth of local, sustainable food that is available in our area. Or maybe I just want an excuse to take foodie field trips every weekend. Whatever.

 I'd been reading about the White Rock Local Market, and thought I'd check it out. It was a super-cold, drizzly day, so several vendors didn't show. In spite of that, there was plenty to keep me occupied. I can't imagine this market when the vendors are out in full force! I met the lovely founder and coordinator, who showed me around a bit and explained some systems to me, like the money tokens. All the vendors take cash, but only some take credit/debit cards. So you can run your card at the money tent for whatever amount you want, they give you wooden tokens in $5 increments, and you go get the goods! All the vendors take the tokens.

The first view of White Rock Local Market from the parking lot. There was quite a lot tucked back behind here. 

What I found at the market:

Local Honey!
This is the gentleman who was out representing a local beekeeper, The Texas Honeybee Guild. They have great products, like whipped, fruit-infused honeys, honey balm, the comb in or out of honey, and zip code specific honey for allergies. I bought some comb submerged in honey, regular honey, and some mini honey bears for my dad's stocking (he swears by local honey as an allergy treatment). It was gorgeous, rich and flavorful. This is not your local grocery store's honey in the bear.

Nicest honey guy ever.

I used my honey in Black Milk Tea and Honey Pound Cake bread with my Honeysuckle Pomegranate Jelly, homemade whipped cream, and honey comb garnish. It was pretty amazing. Thanks, beekeepers!

Black Milk Tea Poundcake with Honeysuckle Pomegranate Jelly, whipped cream, and honeycomb.

Meat and Eggs! (Hormone, pesticide, and antibiotic free)
Meet the lovely ladies from the JuHa Ranch! They had a fantastic bounty of fresh eggs, lamb, beef, pork, rabbit, and sausage with them to sell. You can pre-order with them to make sure they have exactly what you want. I found that they were very friendly, helpful, and had plenty of selection on hand. Their website is is really wonderful in that the commitment to sustainable, chemical-free farming is evident. I want a turkey from them next year!

After some deliberation, I bought some pork belly, much to my husband's delight. I made him a bourbon-glazed pork belly over a potato-turnip puree (he loves the bitterness of turnip).

Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of that lovely meal because he ran away with the plate. Silly husband.

The BEST GOAT CHEESE IN THE KNOWN WORLD!
I almost don't have words to describe the product from Latte Da Dairy. This sweet woman was more than willing to share samples, and she even held one to the last bowl of mango-ginger goat cheese for me while I ran to get another token. That mango-ginger goat cheese is an orgasm on a plate. I kid you not.

I wish I had a gorgeous picture of a dish with the goat cheese, but to be honest, I've mostly been eating it with a spoon every time I walk by the fridge.

TAMALES!
I got a dozen pork tamales for my other half from The Tamale Company. They had lots of flavors available, and the best part is that the tamales are uncooked and frozen so you make them whenever you wish. They cook beautifully!

PIE!
Alas, I got too cold before I could spend quality time with the pie lady, though her wares were quite seductive.

Fruit and Veggies Galore!
There were at least five vendors out with their locally grown produce. Here's one example from Demases Farm. The prices were great, and the produce was really beautiful.

He doesn't mean to look surly; it was just really cold. : )

The vibe at the White Rock Local Market was great. People were friendly, happy, knew the vendors, and were walking dogs (who the vendors had treats and water for) all over. Even in the freezing weather, folks were having a good time. Everything I bought was great.

So head to the website listed above for dates/locations/times. They have a food-only market on the first and third Saturdays, and a bigger craft/art/food market on the second and fourth Saturdays (these are at two different locations, so check out the addresses!)

On December 7th, they're having the fifth annual Local Holiday Extravaganza from 8-4 at 9150 Garland Road, Dallas, Texas that is evidently going to be a blowout of artisan food and crafts for the holidays with live music and raffles. Support local industry, and come check it out. I betcha I'll be there!

Lucky Layla's farm store off of Jupiter Road.

Just so you know I'm not being paid off to give glowing reviews, here's a lukewarm one for local food:
Right down the street from me is a lovely little dairy farm where I occasionally go to get butter, cheese, yogurt, and sometimes milk (we're rice and almond milk lovers around here, for the most part). Lucky Layla's is wholesome and local. I'm deeply sad they discontinued their yogurt cheese (really, really good with turbinado sugar on top and strawberries to dip or mixed with salt and spicy curry, slathered on chicken or fish, and put under a hot broiler).

While I love the idea of going to the farm to get my dairy straight from the source, I find that they're often out of what I want, and moreover, the woman who works in the farm store is unfailingly unpleasant to deal with. In this instance, I'm willing to go to Central Market and pay the middle man for Lucky Layla's products so I can get what I want without enduring the apathetic service. So great product review, but lousy stock and service review. Downer.

This coming weekend, I signed up for another Bountiful Basket (let's see if it's that good two visits in a row) and I added on a special fruit order that will hopefully come with vanilla beans. Wish me luck going to get it, as my graduation party is the night before, and the weather is supposed to be dreadful again. I'll try to squeeze in another field trip too! What lovely foodie things are you doing this weekend?

Fairy Food for the Holidays: Pavlova

I know this will come as a shock, but I'm sort of addicted to food-related television. I grade papers with Julia Child's shows on in the background (I have them on DVD). I wait in eager anticipation every week for Top Chef like other folks look forward to The Walking Dead. Anyhoo, I was watching reruns of Masterchef: Australia on Youtube the other day, and they made pavlova. Named for the famous Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, this really does look like fairy food. Having never heard of pavlova before, I immediately started reading about it. Evidently, it's considered a summery dessert (though Aussies eat it year round), though it feels holiday-esque to me.

It's simple to construct, as long as you're careful. I used Alton Brown's recipe
His instructions were clear and simple (though 4 ounces of egg white is approximately the white of 4 large eggs, and 6 ounces of sugar is just in between 3/4 and 1 cup). If you forget to get your eggs out in advance, put them in a bowl of tepid water to bring them to room temp.

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Follow his instructions to get the glossy, white mix that you can then shape into a cake-ish circle. I just threw some parchment paper over the bottom of  a springform pan. It worked great.

Admittedly, I did s#$% the bed on this one a little bit in my impatience. When Brown says to let it cool in the oven by letting the door hang open, do it. I, however, really wanted to see it!

 

So I did. I put it on a cold granite counter. It's supposed to have a few cracks in it like this, but the too-rapid cooling made mine crater a little bit. Clearly, I have the impulse control of a toddler. I do think that next time I will make little single-serving circles because cutting into the big one caused it to break up a bit, which is evidently normal. However, it is sweet and airy and lovely. 

I made a red wine-saffron sauce to go with mine. I really like booze in my food. And while I'm cooking it. And while I'm eating it. This boozy concoction makes a deep reddish-purple, rich, spicy sauce. In a saucepan, combine 1 3/4 cups water, 1 1/2 cups red wine, 2 T balsamic vinegar, 3 T honey, and 1/3 cup sugar. Let that simmer for about 15 minutes or so until it slightly reduces. Taste it and make sure you like the level of sweetness. Remember though, that the pavlova is an extremely sweet dessert to begin with, so you may not want the other components super-sweet as well. To your reduction, add 2T corn starch (mix in a separate bowl with 2T water and then add), a tiny scrape of nutmeg, 2 cloves, and a pinch of saffron. Let this boil for about a minute and then turn off the heat. Remove cloves.

We're big fans of homemade whipped cream around here. I used an 8 oz. carton of heavy whipping cream, 1T powdered sugar, and 1/2 t. orange extract. Whip with a hand mixer until peaks form. Do not comment on how generally dirty this section sounds.

Pavlova with red-wine reduction, whipped cream, and strawberries! It's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The tart strawberries were a good contrast to the sweetness. As much as I generally hate reality television, I have to say that I quite like watching food programs like Masterchef when it's set in other countries. On the down side, it's a huge contrast to the American version, which is much more focused on the theatrics, but on the upside, it's nice to see people being pleasant to one another, and even better, getting to learn about food I've never experienced, which makes me mad to try it. And even more fun, people who make this dessert routinely seem to be engaged in an unspoken contest to see who can pile the most topping on their fragile pavlova before the whole thing collapses. Check it out:

Kiwi, strawberry, and passion fruit are the most common toppings.

How is this not collapsed?

I'm so tempted to see how much I can load on with the next one.

Recipes after the jump!!