Every Girl Crazy
Dec. 21st, 2025 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Autumn Galette.
"This recipe is a real celebration of autumn. It's a sweet-savoury combination of apples, shallots, and cheese. Serve with a sharply dressed salad." (Which I assume is made by ZZ Top.)
Pastry:
250 gspelt wheat flour
175 g butter, cold and sliced into cubes
pinch of salt
50 g sugar
1/2 tsp thyme
cold water as needed
Filling:
50 g butter
3-4 small shallots, quartered
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
250 ml dry cider (that's alcoholic cider for USians)
1 tsp English mustard
200 g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
3 apples, cored and finely sliced
1 egg yolk, beaten
thyme, salt, and pepper
Make the pastry: blitz the flour, butter, salt, sugar, and thyme in a fud processor, then carefully add a little cold water until everything comes together into a dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for an hour.
For the filling, melt the butter in a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Season the shallots with salt and pepper, and place them face-down in the pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes, until they have caramelized on one side. Turn the heat up and pour in the cider, allowing it to bubble up. Simmer and reduce by half, then turn the heat right down and cover with a lid. Leave the shallots to steep and cook gently in the buttery cider for a further 5-6 minutes.
Once the shallots are tender, gently lift them out of the pan and set to one side. Add the mustard to the pan and simmer until you have a thick, glossy reduction. Heat the oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment. (I used a Silpat.)
Unwrap the pastry dough, roll it out into a large circle, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Leaving a border roughly 3cm, scatter most of the cheese over the pastry. Add the apple slices, arranging them evenly around the galette. Arrange the shallots on top, fanning them out from the centre. Pour over the cider sauce. Fold the edges of the pastry up around the filling to partially cover, then brush the exposed pastry with the beaten egg yolk. Scatter over the thyme leaves and remaining cheese, then bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let the galette cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Slice and serve with a sharply dressed salad.
What worked: Everybody liked it and wanted seconds. The crust was quite soft, even when fully baked, so it was comforting. I don't have spelt flour so I used wheat, which is a bit less sandy in texture... but also not nutty.
What didn't: I was unsure if the mustard was supposed to be prepared or dry. I used dry because otherwise it would be Dijon, aka very much not English. The apples were a bit too big -- there was only room for two, maybe two and a half on the pastry.
The wife carefully arranged the apples, and then I covered everything with cheese so no one could tell. I didn't bother brushing the pastry with egg; it would have been browner/prettier if I had.
Will I make it again? Yes, during apple season. I wouldn't mind adding a few things - like a layer of proscuitto, and/or some walnuts or hazelnuts. But it doesn't need those to be good.
"This recipe is a real celebration of autumn. It's a sweet-savoury combination of apples, shallots, and cheese. Serve with a sharply dressed salad." (Which I assume is made by ZZ Top.)
Pastry:
250 g
175 g butter, cold and sliced into cubes
pinch of salt
50 g sugar
1/2 tsp thyme
cold water as needed
Filling:
50 g butter
3-4 small shallots, quartered
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
250 ml dry cider (that's alcoholic cider for USians)
1 tsp English mustard
200 g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
3 apples, cored and finely sliced
1 egg yolk, beaten
thyme, salt, and pepper
Make the pastry: blitz the flour, butter, salt, sugar, and thyme in a fud processor, then carefully add a little cold water until everything comes together into a dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for an hour.
For the filling, melt the butter in a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Season the shallots with salt and pepper, and place them face-down in the pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes, until they have caramelized on one side. Turn the heat up and pour in the cider, allowing it to bubble up. Simmer and reduce by half, then turn the heat right down and cover with a lid. Leave the shallots to steep and cook gently in the buttery cider for a further 5-6 minutes.
Once the shallots are tender, gently lift them out of the pan and set to one side. Add the mustard to the pan and simmer until you have a thick, glossy reduction. Heat the oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment. (I used a Silpat.)
Unwrap the pastry dough, roll it out into a large circle, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Leaving a border roughly 3cm, scatter most of the cheese over the pastry. Add the apple slices, arranging them evenly around the galette. Arrange the shallots on top, fanning them out from the centre. Pour over the cider sauce. Fold the edges of the pastry up around the filling to partially cover, then brush the exposed pastry with the beaten egg yolk. Scatter over the thyme leaves and remaining cheese, then bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let the galette cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Slice and serve with a sharply dressed salad.
What worked: Everybody liked it and wanted seconds. The crust was quite soft, even when fully baked, so it was comforting. I don't have spelt flour so I used wheat, which is a bit less sandy in texture... but also not nutty.
What didn't: I was unsure if the mustard was supposed to be prepared or dry. I used dry because otherwise it would be Dijon, aka very much not English. The apples were a bit too big -- there was only room for two, maybe two and a half on the pastry.
The wife carefully arranged the apples, and then I covered everything with cheese so no one could tell. I didn't bother brushing the pastry with egg; it would have been browner/prettier if I had.
Will I make it again? Yes, during apple season. I wouldn't mind adding a few things - like a layer of proscuitto, and/or some walnuts or hazelnuts. But it doesn't need those to be good.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-21 11:09 pm (UTC)