Apple Cranberry Galette Food

APPLE-CRANBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll the pie crust out into a 12-inch circle. Place the crust on a large baking sheet. Top the crust with apple slices and cranberries. Drizzle lemon juice over top. Sprinkle sugar over top. Pull up the sides of the crust slightly and roll over, covering the filling by about 1 inch.
• Bake 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender.

APPLE AND CRANBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• To make the pastry, in a food processor, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt. Scatter the chunks of butter over the top and pulse for a few seconds until the butter pieces are the size of small peas. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and ice water. Drizzle the mixture over the dough and pulse for a few seconds until the dough is smooth and clings together. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• In a large fry pan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon and heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the apple slices and simmer until opaque, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apple slices to a bowl and let cool slightly.
• Add the cranberries to the juices in the fry pan and simmer until they start to pop, about 2 minutes. Transfer the cranberries to the bowl with the apples. Increase the heat to medium-high, boil the juices until reduced slightly and spoon over the fruit.
• Position 2 racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F
• Divide the ball of chilled pastry dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each half into a round about 12 inches in diameter. Fold each pastry round in half, transfer to separate baking sheets or pizza pans and unfold. Divide the fruit filling equally between the pastry rounds and spread it in an even layer, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border uncovered. Fold the border over the fruit, pleating the edges to form a broad rim. Lay thin slices of butter over the exposed fruit.
• Bake the galettes, switching the pans between the racks and rotating them 180 degrees at the midway point, until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the galettes cool completely on the pans. Cover and store at room temperature until ready to serve. Sprinkle with sugar just before serving. Makes two 9-inch galettes; serves 10 to 12.

APPLE-BLACKBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse into pea-size pieces. Add 1 egg, the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough clumps together but has not yet formed a ball, gradually adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water as needed. Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap; press into a disk and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Make the filling: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, 2 tablespoons sugar and the ginger. Cook, stirring, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Toss the blackberries with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the cornstarch, vanilla and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add the cooled apples and gently toss to combine.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate 10 minutes.
• Spoon the fruit mixture onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edge of the dough over the fruit by about 2 inches, pleating as needed.
• Lightly beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water. Brush the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 40 minutes. Microwave the jelly in a small heatproof bowl until melted, about 45 seconds. Brush over the fruit. Let cool on the baking sheet.

APPLE-CRANBERRY CROSTADA

Steps:

• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples, 1/2 cup sugar and cranberries; cover and cook until apples release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until soft apples fall apart and juices thicken to a thin-syrup consistency, about 5 minutes longer. Pour onto a large-lipped cookie sheet or jellyroll pan and cool to room temperature. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 5 days.)
• Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Open puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a rectangle, about 10 by 16 inches. Transfer to a large cookie sheet. (I suggest lining the sheet with parchment paper; this ensures the crostada doesn't stick and allows easy cleanup.)
• Spread cooked apples over pastry, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold up pastry borders over apples. Unfold corners and form ruffled creases to keep dough from overlapping. Brush pastry border with egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tb. sugar. Bake until pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with optional ice cream or whipped cream.

PEAR CRANBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Lightly coat baking sheet with non stick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour and salt.
• While stirring flour mixture briskly with fork, drizzle in oil a little at a time, stirring until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Add almond extract and water a tablespoon at a time, adding just enough water for tough to come together.
• Shape dough into a disc.
• Wrap in in waxed paper or plastic; refrigerate one hour or until firm.
• While dough chills, peel pears and slice in half lengthwise.
• Core pears by cutting a V-shaped wedge lengthwise from the center of the cut side of each pear.
• Place the pear halves in a bowl of water mixed with a little lemon juice.
• On baking sheet, roll out dough int a rectangle.
• Drain pears and and slice thinly.
• Insert knife blade under the slices and lift onto dough.
• Repeat with remaining slices.
• Fold dough edges up and over pears about a 1/2 inch or so to form a border.
• You can leave the edge plain or notch or flute it like you would a pie crust if you choose to make it look fancy.
• This is an open fruit cake so Pears will not be entirely covered by dough.
• Sprinkle pears with Splenda.
• Brush pears with melted preserves.
• Sprinkle pears with cranberries and slivered almonds if using.
• Bake at 350ºF 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Slice into squares to serve.
• Can be served warm or room temperature.

CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Make the dough for the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust with modifications as noted above.
• Macerate the Cranberries:
• A minimum of 1 1/2 hours and a maximum of 24 hours ahead of baking, in a medium bowl, place the superfine sugar (reserve 1 teaspoon for the border) and the light brown sugar and use your fingertips to combine them and rub out any lumps of brown sugar. Cut each cranberry in half and add them to the sugar mixture. Stir the mixture well and set it aside for 1 hour at room temperature or, preferably, overnight in the refrigerator.
• Stir the cranberry mixture well, then stir in the walnuts.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. If not using a black pan, plan to bake the galette directly on the oven floor; alternatively, set an oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or cookie sheet on it before preheating.
• Using a floured pastry cloth and rolling pin sleeve rubbed with flour, or two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap,*** roll the pastry to a circle roughly 18 inches in diameter. Using an expandable flan ring or a cardboard template and a sharp knife as a guide, cut out a 16-inch circle. If the dough softens, slip it (still on the cloth or plastic wrap) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, covered, until firm before lining the pan. The pastry is too large to slip your hands under and support adequately. To transfer it to the pan, roll it loosely over the rolling pin or dust it lightly with flour and fold in quarters. Leave the overhang.
• Scatter the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough, covering a 13-inch area and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the overhanging border of dough over the outer edge of the cranberries, using your fingers to pleat it loosely at even intervals. Brush this border with a little milk or water and sprinkle on the reserved sugar. (This will give the border a crunchy texture.)
• Cut a 10-inch round of foil and place it gently over the cranberries, leaving the crust uncovered. Bake the galette for 30 minutes.
• Place a second round of foil large enough to cover the filling and the crust border loosely over the tart and continue baking for about 10 minutes more or until the bottom crust is golden brown. (Slip a small angled metal spatula or flexible knife under the edge of the tart, lifting it slightly, to check doneness.) Cool the tart on the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes or until warm. Dust with powdered sugar.
• Store:
• Room temperature, up to 2 days.
• Note:
• A half-size galette can be made using a 9-inch pan. Roll the dough less than 1/8 inch thick and large enough to cut an 11-inch circle.
• Understanding:
• The challenge with this particular berry tart is to keep the cut cranberries from drying out without underbaking the crust, which would make it soggy. The solution is to make a temporary top "crust" from foil and to bake the tart on a baking stone or directly on the floor of the oven.
• Cutting the cranberries in half and allowing them to sit with the sugar allows them to absorb the sugar. With their tough outer peel, whole cranberries would retain most of their juices, so they would not dissolve the sugar fully. This would cause the bitterness of the cranberry to stand apart from the sugar, rendering the final effect too bitter and too sweet simultaneously.
• The crust must be prepared without baking powder, as the weight of the cranberrry/nut mixture would not be sufficient to keep it from puffing.
• ***You may have to overlap sheets of plastic wrap to roll the dough large enough.