late summer berries.

 

 The  wild blackberries had another good season on our side of the mountain this year. We are on a north facing slope where the berries seem to thrive. Every year the tangle of brambles takes over more land on the slope.

I wasn't able to pick too many berries this year, summer was far too hectic and I found myself in the last hours of upstate time frantically gathering berries before heading back to the reality of the city. I am trying to embrace "small batch" or very "small batch" to be more specific. I don't need to pick every last berry in Delaware County! Last year's larder is still full of jam and pickles... what more do I need?.  This year, I picked just enough for a couple tarts and a few jars of jam.With an apple and blackberry tart in mind, I gathered a few fallen apples from our old but giving trees and headed south.

 

 wild blackberry and apple galette.

 

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved 

goodbye summer. it has been sweet.

 

Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved 

last week's plums.

Last night I whipped up two galettes (a free form pie or tart). They are my fallback desert as they are always tasty, beautiful and super easy. I needed to use up last week's plums and the donut peaches I bought at the green market. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the finished galettes as they were demolished in about two seconds by Dusty and Odette and other hungry little hands.

Here is the basic method... 

Galette crust. I generally stick to my standard method of 1 stick of unsalted butter 1 cup flour plus a little more (sometimes even a 1/2 cup), a little bit of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a tiny bit of ice water.

The way I make a pie or tart crust depends a bit on the weather and how many I am making. I know it sounds crazy but I don't really stick to a recipe. I add a little more flour or butter or water depending on the feel of the dough. Yesterday as it was unseasonably hot in the Catskill's and I wanted to have extra dough on hand, I used 3 sticks of butter, 4 cups of flour, a pinch of salt, 1/4 cup sugar and a few tablespoons of ice water. This made 4 rounds of dough which I wrapped and chilled for 1/2 hour before rolling out. Ths was enough to make 4 small galettes or two whole pies (top and bottom crusts). Pie crust is something so many people seem to be intimidated to make but it is really quite easy. Just experiment and get used to the feel of the dough, before you know it you will have your own recipe and method. I always use butter, never shortening.

To assemble.

After chilling the dough...

Roll out one of the rounds on a lightly floured surface. once it has been rolled out place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spoon the fruit into the center of the round of dough. I used plums and peaces cut into small slices and tossed with a 1/4 cup of muscavado sugar, but you can you use any fruit you want and add sugar depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

Once the fruit is in the center of the dough, fold the excess dough in towards the center of the galette, this  will seal the fruit in and will give you a nice rustic free form edge.

As I have two pie crusts left, I will make another once I get back to the city. Post a finished one soon.

Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved