Apple Galette With Goat Cheese Sour Cherry And Almond Topping Food

APPLE GALETTE WITH GOAT CHEESE, SOUR CHERRY, AND ALMOND TOPPING

Steps:

• Tart:
• Position rack in center and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples; sprinkle with salt. Sauté until almost tender, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove skillet from the heat.
• Whisk sugar, spices, and cornstarch in a small bowl until no cornstarch lumps remain. Sprinkle spiced sugar and lemon juice over apples in skillet; toss to blend. Cool to lukewarm.
• Place a large sheet of parchment paper on work surface. Unfold pastry sheet on parchment; sprinkle both sides lightly with flour. Roll out pastry to 12-inch square, lifting, turning, and sprinkling with more flour to keep from sticking. Cut off corners (with a rounded cut), making a 12- inch-diameter pastry round.
• Brush pastry all over with some beaten egg. Starting 2-inches in from edge (to leave wide border), arrange apple wedges close together in a circle on the pastry. Arrange remaining apples in a smaller circle in center (ends may overlap first ring of apples). Fold pastry border partially over filling, pleating pastry in loose folds. Brush folded up pastry border with some beaten egg.
• Slide galette with parchment onto heavy baking sheet. Scrape juices from skillet over apples. Bake galette until pastry edge is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Topping:
• Toss goat cheese, cherries, almonds, and maple syrup in a medium bowl until evenly distributed (cheese should remain in distinct pieces). Chill until ready to use.
• Remove tart from oven. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Return galette to oven. Bake 10 minutes until the topping begins to brown. Cool 20 minutes to serve warm or up to 2 hours to serve at room temperature.

SOUR CHERRY-ALMOND PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like cornmeal. Add the butter and pulse until it is in pea-size pieces. Add the vodka and 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until the dough just comes together but is still crumbly. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap; shape into a disk and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Make the filling: Put the cherries in a medium bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup cherry juice with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Transfer to a small saucepan and add the remaining 1 1/4 cups cherry juice and the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and glossy, about 30 seconds. Pour over the cherries. Add the almond extract and gently fold to combine.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven with a baking sheet on the lower rack; preheat to 425 degrees F. Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease the dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp with your fingers or a fork. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Add the filling to the chilled crust. Transfer the pie to the hot baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and continue baking until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 55 more minutes. (Tent the crust with foil if it browns too quickly.) Transfer to a rack.
• Meanwhile, make the topping: Combine the almonds, sugar and egg white in a medium bowl; stir to coat. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake on the upper oven rack, stirring halfway through, until dry and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely, then break into clusters. Sprinkle around the edge of the warm pie. Let cool completely.