Mustard Greens and Apple Galette

Sounds a bit weird perhaps, a savory galette of mustard greens with apple? But the hint of sweet and tart apple is a very nice complement to the slightly bitter bite of mustard greens and comes together nicely with the nutty whole wheat pastry and tang of sharp cheddar cheese. My husband who is generally not a fan of bitter things took note of the bit of bitterness but found the galette to be delicious. He ate a quarter of the galette with gusto. I carried the apple theme to the accompanying simple salad of Red Iceberg and Three Heart Butterhead lettuces tossed with sliced apple, toasted sliced almonds, and a lemony honey-mustard vinaigrette.

1 recipe Whole Wheat Galette Dough

About 1 pound mustard greens
About 2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil or other oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 ounces Pink Beauty apple (half of a large apple), cut into 1/4-inch dice, no need to peel
About 1 tablespoon fermented sweet pepper paste
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated on coarse holes of a box grater
About a tablespoon of creme fraiche or heavy cream or an egg yolk thinned with a bit of water

Prepare the galette dough and refrigerate it while preparing the filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the mustard greens in batches, about 15 seconds per batch, allow to drain and cool in a colander. Gently squeeze some of the moisture out of the greens. Stack the greens so that the fat stems ends can be sliced about 1/4-inch thick and set aside, slice the leafy parts about 1/4 inch thick also. Don't be fussy, some fat stems will be a bit leafy and some leafy parts will be a bit stemmy.

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the diced apple and pepper paste and saute until the pepper paste is incorporated. Add the chopped mustard green stems and continue to saute a few minutes, then stir in the leafy parts and add salt to taste. Continue to saute until any excess moisture cooks off, turn the heat up again if necessary. You don't want the filling to be too wet or the pastry will become soggy but you don't want the filling too be dry either. Set the filling aside to cool as you roll the galette dough.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Cut a piece of parchment paper at least 12 inches wide.

Roll the galette dough out to about a 16-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the parchment paper, it may be larger than the paper but after folding the sides of the dough over the filling it should fit. 

Arrange the filling over the dough leaving about 2 inches uncovered all around. Season the filling with freshly ground black pepper and grated nutmeg. Add more salt if necessary. Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the filling. Fold the edges of the dough up over the filling but don't be fussy about arranging it. Brush the folded over portions of the dough with the creme fraiche. Slide the pastry on the parchment paper onto a large flat baking sheet.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, I use the convection fan so it speeds up the baking and makes for a nice brown crisp crust.

Transfer the baked galette to a cooling rack for a few minutes before slicing and serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 4 main course servings or 6 to 8 appetizer servings.

Brussels Sprouts Galette

Brussels Sprouts Galette

The Brussels Sprouts Challenge, aka What To Do With A Glut of Brussels Sprouts, continues. This time I adapted another favorite basic preparation, a savory galette, to feature the tasty mini cabbagy things. Being a rather lazy cook I decided to try making it without first cooking the Brussels sprouts, an additional advantage to that, to my thinking, would be that the sprouts wouldn't get overcooked. And the decision paid off. The shredded sprouts wilted down but didn't become mushy and strong tasting. I also thought that some apple would add a nice flavor and indeed it did, it added a touch of tangy sweetness that I like with Brussels sprouts but it was not overwhelming. Actually, I didn't tell my husband that I had put apple in the filling and he didn't seem to notice. He did declare the galette a winner.

1 recipe whole wheat pastry dough
4 ounces red onion, sliced about ¼ inch thick
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt
4 ounces or about 1/2 large Pink Lady apple, cored but not peeled
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
8 ounces Brussels sprouts
2 jumiper berries, minced
Freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon pepper flakes
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Comte or Gruyere cheese, grated
1 tablespoon or more heavy cream or 1 egg white lightly beaten

Prepare the pastry dough and chill it while preparing the galette filling.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Saute the onion with a pinch of salt in the olive oil over medium heat until softened, just a few minutes. Set aside to cool.

Dice the apple into 1/4-inch cubes and toss it with the creme fraiche in a large bowl.

Slice the Brussels sprouts 1/8-inch thick on a mandoline. Toss the sprouts with the apple mixture, juniper berries, a few swipes of nutmeg, pepper flakes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. It is easiest to mix it all together with your hands.

Roll the pastry into a 14-inch circle. Don't worry about the edges, it's a rustic galette and the rough edges look nice. Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper set on a rimless baking sheet. Arrange the Brussels sprouts mixture evenly over the dough leaving about 2 inches empty all around. Scatter the onions over the top and then the cheese. Fold the edges up over the filling pleating the dough as you go. Brush the top of the dough with the cream or egg white.

Bake the galette in the middle of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and browned and the filling has settled and browned a bit also. Check the galette after about 20 minutes and if it seems to be browning too quickly turn the heat down to 375ºF.

Transfer the galette on the parchment paper to a cooling rack to cool briefly before slicing. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Whole Wheat Galette Dough

This dough has become my favorite for making free form savory galettes. I like to use either freshly ground Sonora wheat or Jamu Jamu whole wheat flour that a vendor at my local farmer's market sells. Whole wheat pastry flour is available at my local market. You can also just use all-purpose flour, or white pastry flour, or a combination of white pastry flour and whole wheat flour (white whole wheat would be my preference but not necessary).

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and butter together in a bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, leaving pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle the water over the top and toss the mixture together, it will still be quite crumbly and not form a ball. Turn the mixture out onto a surface and gently knead the mixture together until it forms a rough dough, there should be chunks of butter still visible, it helps to use a dough scraper. Press the dough into a disk and wrap it in waxed paper. Refrigerate the dough for an hour before rolling it out. Roll it into a 16-inch circle to make a 12-inch galette.

Beet Greens Galette

1 pound washed and destemmed beet greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound sweet onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup creme fraiche or cream
nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste
2 ounces grated Gruyere
Pastry dough for a single crust

Put the wet beet greens in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cover and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted. Transfer to a colander to drain and cool.

Wipe out the pan and return to the heat. Add the olive oil to the pan and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Turn the heat down to low and continue to cook, stirring occacionally, until the onion just starts to turn golden.

While the onion is cooking, squeeze the moisture out of the beet greens by the fistful. Coarsely chop the greens.

Once the onion has turned slightly golden, add the chopped greens and stir to mix for a couple minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Mix together the creme fraiche, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. When the onion and greens mixture has cooled stir them into the creme fraiche mixture.

Roll the pastry dough into a 14 to 16-inch circle. Put the sheet of dough on a piece of parchment paper or an unrimmed baking sheet. Spread the greens mixture in a 12-inch circle in the middle of the dough. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the greens. Pull the edges of the dough up over the filling letting the dough fall into casual pleats. Lightly beat the egg white and brush the top of the dough with it. Bake the galette in a 400ºF oven for about 30 minutes. I like to bake it for 20 minutes on a pizza stone set on the floor of the oven, and then for another 10 minutes higher in the oven to brown the top.