Batter-Splattered

strawberry galette

 

On the plane home from Portland my friend and I stared hungrily at a recipe and photos of this strawberry galette in the pages of the May Martha Stewart Living magazine. On the side, it has a basil-infused whipping cream and fried and sugared basil leaves.

I had to make it.

But I must admit I didn't fry and sugar any basil leaves. Because I'm lazy. It's time you knew that about me. I kind of wish I had though. I bet those would have made for some very pretty photos.

The basil whipped cream was lovely. Not overwhelmingly basil-ish. It just has a nice herbal twist at the end when you taste a bit of it.

And my galette didn't turn out looking anywhere near as pretty as Martha's minion's galette but I could have told you that would be the case before I even started. Oh and I used some of my own dough because I had a single crust of it stored in my freezer.

Strawberry Galette

Serves 6 - 8

FOR THE BASIL CREAM

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup loosely packed fresh basil, chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup mascarpone cheese

FOR THE FRIED BASIL

2 cups vegetable oil

18 to 24 large fresh basil leaves

Sugar, for sprinkling

FOR THE DOUGH

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

1 1/8 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

8 ounces (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water

FOR THE GALETTE

1 pound strawberries, hulled

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Make the basil cream: Combine cream, basil, and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water, and stir until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 hours for a more pronounced basil flavor). Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add mascarpone, and whisk until medium peaks form. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 2 hours.

Make the fried basil: Heat oil in a deep skillet to 325 degrees. Fry basil, a few leaves at a time, for 12 seconds. (The leaves will cause the hot oil to spatter; step away from the pan while they cook.) Drain leaves on paper towels, and let cool completely. Sprinkle both sides of the leaves with sugar. (Basil can be stored at room temperature overnight.)

Make the dough: Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add ice water, and pulse until just combined (dough will still be crumbly). Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out a 10-inch round, and transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make the galette: Cut strawberries lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Reserve end pieces for another use. Toss slices with 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch, and immediately arrange them in concentric circles on dough. Start 1 inch from edge, overlapping slices slightly. Fold edge of dough over berries. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Whisk together yolk and water. Brush dough with the egg wash, and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Dot berries with butter. Bake until crust is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.

Transfer to a serving plate. Serve warm with basil cream and fried basil.

there's nothing prettier than pie / orchard patch pie

I call this my Orchard Patch Pie. It's a little something I came up with this afternoon, on the fly.

The pie fly.

'Orchard' because it has peaches (both white and regular) and 'patch' because it has berries (raspberries, blueberries, maybe a blackberry or two).

The husband and his friends were more than happy to help me out with the near-polishing-off of this pie (luckily, there were two slices left). One of them kept asking me to repeat the name for two reasons: one, he thought it was funny, and two, he wanted to be sure to be able to ask for it by name in the future.

I think you'll agree with me when I say there's nothing prettier than pie.

Here's my very simple recipe I created today. I think I need to make another one real soon.

Orchard Patch Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

2 apples, peeled, pitted and diced

2 peaches, frozen or fresh, diced or sliced -- no need to thaw, if frozen

Handful of assorted berries, fresh or frozen -- no need to thaw, if frozen

3/4 c sugar plus more for sprinkling on top

1 T cornstarch

two piecrusts (I like this recipe)

egg white

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position rack in center of oven. Combine all the fruit and berries in a big bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Toss it thoroughly with the fruit. Roll out one pie crust and roll it into the bottom of the pie plate. Add the fruit and berries. Roll out the second pie crust and roll it on top of the fruit. Crimp the edges prettily. Poke the top all over with a fork, then use the fork to beat the egg white a little bit. Brush the top of the pie with the egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and continue baking until it looks done -- lightly browned on top with a little juice bubbling out here and there.

Raspberry Chiffon Pie with Easy Pat-in-the-Pan Pie Crust

Alanna at Kitchen Parade invited me to join in her Pi Day Celebration by making a pie and I thought it sounded like an excellent weekend project and the perfect thing to serve to company coming over for Sunday lunch. This pie was a delicious way to round off a feast that included new potatoes dipped into cheesy fondue and lentil-beef chili (more on those later in the week) and oh, the margaritas, they were a-flowin'.

My mom, who was one of my lunch guests, is really into margaritas right now. She's become quite the master mixologist and last week I even got scolded for calling her on the phone during 'margarita hour.'

She was never that fun when I lived with her.

The official Pi Day website tells me that March 14 is celebrated the world-round by math enthusiasts, singing the praises of that little Greek symbol that stands for the ratio of the circumference of a circle.

Whatever that means.

I never need much prodding to make a pie. Especially a raspberry pie.

I found the recipe in the pages of a recent purchase, The Best of America's Test Kitchen -- the best recipes and reviews for the year. The raspberry chiffon pie with a cream cheese pie crust on pages 48 and 49  was calling to me like crazy. Both were wonderful.

The pie has three layers -- a fruity, jelly layer with frozen berries stirred together with pectin and boiled until they thicken and at the last minute, you stir in some fresh berries. The fresh berries cost me an arm and a leg -- I was hesitant to spend money on berries I can get for free by the bucketful in the summertime but in the end I bit the berry bullet and I wasn't sorry. It wouldn't have been the same without them.

On top of the berry layer is where the chiffon comes in. Raspberry jello gets stirred in with cream cheese and heavy cream. On top of the chiffon layer is a whole lot of fresh whipping cream.

The photo in the magazine, of course, is a work of art. Three distinct layers, cut into the perfect wedge. It's like an architect constructed it. Just as I've always turned my nose up at higher math (sorry Pi Day), I turn my nose up at that picture-of-perfection and look hungrily towards my own sloppy-gloppy-gorgeous concoction:

You should get the magazine for all sorts of tips and tricks on how to get each component perfectly perfect, in that wonderfully-anal way that Cooks Illustrated does things. I'll just give you the basic instructions here. The pie has this intense raspberry flavor, tart and a little sweet. The crust is wonderful -- just as the name suggests, rather than rolling it out, you shape the dough into a disk and pat it into the pie pan using the heel of your hand.

I almost didn't want to share.

Raspberry Chiffon Pie

Fruit layer

12-ounce bag frozen raspberries (2 cups)

3 T Sure-Jell pectin

1 1/2 c sugar

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 9-inch pie shell, baked and cooled (see recipe below)

Chiffon layer

3 T raspberry-flavored jello

3 T boiling water

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c heavy cream, chilled

Whipped cream topping

1 1/4 c heavy cream, chilled

2 T sugar

Prepare, assemble and bake piecrust (see recipe below). Let it cool while you prepare the pie filling.

Fruit layer: Cook frozen berries in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to release their juice, about 3 minutes. Stir in pectin and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and salt and return to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much puree as possible. Scrape puree off underside of sieve too.

Transfer 1/3 cup of raspberry puree to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Gently fold fresh berries into remaining puree. Spread fruit mixture evenly over bottom of pie shell and set aside.

Chiffon layer: Dissolve jello in boiling water in mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Add cream cheese and reserved 1/3 cup of raspberry puree and beat on high until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add cream and beat on medium-low speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread evenly over the fruit in the pie shell. Cover pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least three hours.

Whipped cream topping: when you're ready to serve the pie, beat the cream and sugar on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Spread or pipe over the chilled filling. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Easy Pat-in-the-Pan Pie Dough

Makes one 9-inch pie shell

1 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

2 T sugar

1/4 t salt

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool

2 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool

Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with vegetable oil spray.

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture and beat on medium-low until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and increase speed to medium-high until dough begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds. Reserve 3 T of the dough and set aside.

Turn remaining dough out onto a lightly floured counter, gather into a ball, and flatten into a 6-inch disk. Transfer to pie plate and press the dough evenly over the bottom of the plate towards the sides, using the heel of your hand. With fingertips, work dough up the sides until evenly distributed.

Roll reserved 3 tablespoons into ropes, press onto edges of crust and form a fluted edge. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle posiiton. Lightly prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 - 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Apple Pandowdy

Apple pandowdy -- a name that delighted the crowd I had over for dinner last night. I must have answered the following question two dozen times:

"Wait. What's it called again? An apple huh?...a pandowdy? ahahaha..."

For some reason, my husband's guy friends thought that was just hilarious. The only thing that could muffle their mirth was a big spoonful of said pandowdy and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

I really should have googled it for a description to share with everyone. I've heard of it before but I couldn't quite put my finger on the details. My search this morning tells me that a pandowdy is a member of the same family as cobblers, duffs, grunts, and slumps. There are subtle variations but basically, it's fruit baked with a sweet biscuit or cake dough top. Just like I thought.

Further muddying the water was the fact that this particular recipe has more of a pie crust topping. Oh, and some people call it pandowdy, one word, and other people call it pan dowdy, two words. One source said it's called a dowdy because of it's rather plain appearance, no pretty fluted crust encircling it. You just roll the dough into a big circle and unroll it over the apples, free-style, and bake it as is.

It may look plain but the flavor is something special.

It was really, really good. I was a little doubtful because it calls for cooking the apples a litte bit before building the dowdy. I'm not a huge fan of apple pies where you cook the apples first. I think they're too soft and squishy that way. I prefer to just throw them in the crust in their naturally crisp state so they still have some life in them when they come out of the oven.

But did I mention this was really, really good? You cook the sliced apples on the stovetop in a pan and then stir in some apple cider whisked with lemon juice and maple syrup. I hauled out the big cast iron Lodge dutch oven for this recipe and it worked like a charm.

Mm. Mm. Mm.

Blueberry Pie

For this sixteenth day of November and Nablopomo, here's my favorite blueberry pie recipe.

You might think that one blueberry pie recipe would be just like another but you would be wrong. There's just something about this one that sets it apart. It might be the addition of cornstarch, thickening up the juice just right, no longer runny and yet not sticky and gelatinous like you'd get from a can of blueberry pie filling or a pie from the grocery store.

The last time I made this I took a bunch of photos of a slice and the photos always make my mouth water when I see them... but can I find them when I need them? No.

Remember to dot the filling with butter before you put the top crust on and seal it up. I always forget that step but maybe it's just me. You're probably a much more conscientious pie constructor than I am. I salute you (pay no attention to my blue fingers -- they'll return to their normal color in a day or two).

Blueberry Pie

3/4 c sugar

3 T cornstarch

1/4 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

A pinch of nutmeg

4 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

Crust for a double crust pie (use your own favorite piecrust recipe, or storebought frozen crusts, or try the Never Fail Piecrust recipe I posted here)

1 T butter

You know it's good with ice cream.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle over blueberries.

Line pie plate with one pie crust. Fill it with berry mixture and dot with butter. Top with the second piecrust -- make a lattice top if you'd like. Crimp and flute edges.

Bake pie for about 50 minutes on a baking sheet to catch any oozing, until crust is golden brown.

Rhubarb Raspberry Pie and Never-Fail Piecrust

This rhubarb raspberry pie is number twelve from my collection of favorites. It's tart but not too tart. Sweet but not too sweet.

I'll be honest with you here: it's really best made in the summertime if you happen to have some giant elephant-ear-sized stalks of rhubarb growing in a patch in your yard -- walking outside in the morning, barefoot through the dewy grass, kneeling down to rock the stalks back and forth until they come loose, falling backwards with a scream if any spiders should appear... can you tell I miss summer already and it's only November?

But it's also a good pie for this time of year. I've made it for the Thanksgiving table before -- the tartness of the rhubarb and berries has just the right amount of zing to remind you of cranberries.

raspberries, picked on a much warmer day in mom's backyard

Rhubarb Raspberry Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

1 1/2 lbs rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalks sliced crosswise into half-inch slices, enough to measure 4 cups

1 c plus 2 T sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

3 T cornstarch

3 T fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 c raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 egg

1 T milk

Double pie crust (use your own recipe or a frozen storebought crust or try my favorite piecrust recipe below)

Vanilla ice cream is nice on the side

In a large pot, stir together 3 cups rhubarb (reserve remaining cup for later), 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted, about 6 minutes.

In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and lemon juice. Add cornstarch mixture to rhubarb mixture and boil, stirring constantly, until rhubarb is thickened, about 5 minutes, and transfer mixture to a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature, about 30 minutes. 

Fold raspberries and remaining cup rhubarb into mixture until just combined. Chill rhubarb filling, covered, at least 30 minutes, or until cold.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare piecrust if you're making your own.

In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk to make an egg wash. Put bottom crust in a a 9-inch pie plate and trim edges with scissors, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Spoon rhubarb filling evenly into shell and brush edge of crust with egg wash. Drape remaining pastry round over filling and trim, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Crimp edge decoratively. With a sharp small knife score a decorative pattern on crust and brush crust evenly with some egg wash. Sprinkle crust with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake pie on a baking sheet in middle of oven 35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cooked through. (If pastry gets too brown too quickly, tent pie with foil.) Transfer pie to a rack. Cool pie at least 1 hour to set filling.

Serve with ice cream.

Here's my favorite piecrust recipe -- not because I think it's absolutely the best piecrust out there (it doesn't have butter, after all). But it's very good and it mixes up quickly with an electric mixer -- no cutting in butter. And it freezes well, which is a good thing because this recipe makes four single crusts at once. I'm surprised I haven't posted it till now:

Never-Fail Piecrust

Makes enough pastry for two 9-inch double-crust pies.

4 c all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t sugar

1 3/4 c vegetable shortening

1 egg

1 t cider vinegar

1/2 c cold water

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add shortening and beat until mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl, beat egg well and add the vinegar and water. Pour over flour-shortening mixture and beat until well combined. Form dough into 4 balls, wrap, and refrigerate what you're going to use. Freeze the ones you're saving for later.