Apples bring inspiration each fall
Hello everyone! I’m back after a lengthy sabbatical. I have been feeling the urge to start recipe creating and writing again, so here I am.
While our annual leaf looking expeditions have not yet started, it won’t be long before the fall colours are out in full display. September is the month local apples start to appear on trees and in the market stalls.
In the past, I have written about Giffen’s Country Market in Glen Huron, where I always go for my apples, especially their delicious Honey Crisps. I still miss seeing Eileen Giffen in the kitchen overseeing pie and tart production. I also miss Bob Giffen’spresence, mainly on weekends when he would greet me with a smile and advise when the Honey Crisps would be ready, as they seem to ripen later than others. Their legacy lives on, and I will be heading out this week for a good supply of my favourite fruit.
In honour of Mrs. Giffen and the upcoming pie contest at the Creemore Harvest Festival, this week’s recipe is a different take on your usual apple pie. Even though I have made pies for years, I too have had my moments where crusts fail, the fruit stays hard as a rock, or I forgot to set the timer and served up a burnt offering for dessert!
If you suffer from “soggy bottom” when you bake a pie or struggle with two crust pieces, a galette may be the perfect answer for you. A galette is simply a one crust pie where you don’t have to use a pie plate. You take one pastry crust rolled out, pour a sweet or savoury filling onto it, leaving an inch or two free around the edge, and then you bring up the edge of the crust (about 1 to 2 inches) to partially cover the contents, folding over the crust where necessary. Recipe writers will often call this “rustic” because of its free form appearance. A French chef thought this up many years ago, probably when he/she/they were running out of pie crusts!
You can make a galette with just about any cut up fruit, but for this recipe we are going to use apples. After all, we are now in full autumn mode and apples are all around us. Let’s enjoy our beautiful local bounty!
Until next time, eat well, live well…
Elaine’s Apple Galette
1 pastry crust (you can either make your own or use pre-made where you roll out yourself)
1.5 pounds of apples, peeled, cored and chopped into thin slices 1⁄4 inch wide – you want pie apples that will soften up when baking, like Northern Spy
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon water
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
3 teaspoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
Demerara or Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Heat your oven to 400°F. Use a rimmed cookie sheet and line with parchment paper. Roll your dough out to at least 12 inches in diameter and place on parchment lined pan.
Toss the apples with lemon juice and water. Then toss the mixture with flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. Place the fruit mixture in the centre of the dough and spread out evenly, leaving a 2 inch border.
Bring 2 inches of free pie crust up over the apples, folding the crust over where necessary as you move around in a circle. You want a large opening – so do not try and cover up the apples completely. Dot the apples with butter.
Beat one egg and brush the crust with the egg wash. I like to sprinkle a bit of Demerara or Turbinado sugar on the crust. These types of sugars have a larger grain than white sugar and give the galette a bit of a crunch. You can also use regular white sugar or omit entirely.
Bake the galette on the middle rack of your oven, for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown, and the fruit is cooked through. Remove from oven, leave to cool and then carefully transfer to a serving plate for everyone to enjoy.
