Sunday, June 20, 2010

Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette

Dad, wherever you are, I hope you can taste this.
My Dad was lucky he didn’t have to choose between my Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble and this Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette. He passed away four years ago, but I can still hear the zeal in his voice when he spoke of strawberry-rhubarb pie. It was one of his favorites, so in honor of Father’s Day, this is for him.

With no lattice top or formal crust-building requirements, the rustic galette is essentially a lazy man’s pie. And since sometimes I feel like a lazy man (except for the ovaries and all), I chose to make a galette. The recipe makes two crusts, and I had frozen one ball of dough when I made my Seductive Leek and Mushroom Tart, so it was easy to bang out a quickie (hmmm, that didn't sound too Father's Day-like, did it?) fruit-filled dessert. The combination of tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries strike the perfect balance. I knew I would be serving it with ice cream, so I didn’t overdo it with the sugar. If you’re planning to serve it plain, you may want to up the sweetness a bit.

When I hear the words strawberry rhubarb, I’ll forever think of my father. And Dad, if you have wireless where you are, sorry that your daughter can still be nasty sometimes even though she's officially a grown-up. Just know that she's sending her strawberry-rhubarb love out to you and the universe.

Recipe

Pâte Brisée (from Martha Stewart)

Pâte brisee is the French version of classic pie or tart pastry. Pressing the dough into a disc rather than shaping it into a ball allows it to chill faster. This will also make the dough easier to roll out, and if you freeze it, it will thaw more quickly.

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (for Cornmeal Pâte Brisée, replace ½ cup flour with ½ cup cornmeal)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Filling

2 cups rhubarb (more or less), chopped into ½ inch pieces

3 cups strawberries (more or less), cut in quarters or halves, depending on size

½ cup sugar

2/3 of a lemon

3 TBSP corn starch

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate or equivalent-sized oval dish.

Roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Place parchment paper and dough on a baking sheet. Put all of the filling on the dough. Fold dough over in rustic tart fashion. You can add an egg wash for color if you like.

Bake until crust is golden and fruit is bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Serves about 6

9 comments:

  1. One of my and my late father's favorites as well. My grandfather had rhubarb and horseradish planted along his pasture fences and there was always a lot of both. My grandmother used to make just plain rhubarb pies but sometimes with strawberries as well. I can still taste that tart sweetness. One of the things I don't have in my garden is rhubarb which I will rectify asap.

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  2. Like your description as "the lazy man's pie." I think I'm a lazy dessert person anyway. I haven't taken time to make pastry doughs - but, this looks so good it makes me want to try.

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  3. Crumble one day, gallette the next. I am starting to feel like a pastry patsy. No, not really I just could not resist the alliteration! GREG

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  4. Whoa! This looks splendiferous! I love rhubarb. We used to have a big rhubarb plant that grew in our back yard in Minnesota. Brings back memories.

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  5. Since I have yet to find rhubarb (or taste it) I will take your word for it; happy that you did honor your dad this way. I will make your galette, just with peaches instead!

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  6. When I hear the words strawberry rhubarb I think of this Roches song. http://tinyurl.com/2vqwpjl

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  7. Brenda, I really enjoyed the song, but it was strawberry-apricot pie! Anyway, it was nice to hear the Roches. It's been way too long and I didn't know that one. : )

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  8. It's funny, I remembered it as "strawberry rhubarb pie" but listened to the whole thing after I posted it here and realized my mistake. Honestly I think strawberry-apricot pie sounds quite unappealing. I used to pick and eat raw rhubarb as a kid growing up in Iowa and my grandmother made rhubarb pie all of the time. I'm going to try your recipe when I'm off my raw food kick.

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  9. Brenda, strawberry-apricot is a new one, but it couldn't be too bad. But if you're breaking your diet, go for the rhubarb.

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