Caramelized Onion, Apple, and Cheddar Sourdough Galette

At the end of the summer I made a DELICIOUS savory sourdough crust tomato, cheddar, and caramelized onion galette for dinner. While eating it I fast-forwarded in my mind to when local apples would be in season because if you swap out those tomatoes for apples, all of the rest of the flavors still go together really well.

With Thanksgiving upon us, I’m thinking a galette makes more sense than a traditional pie this year. It especially makes more sense if you want the taste of a pie but don’t want to make a whole pie just for two or three people. With a galette, you can have a sloppy crust and make a smaller size, a win-win for someone like me who is not particularly good at making a decorative crust and who is having Thanksgiving at home for just the two of us. The galette in this post was meant to be savory, but you can take this idea and fill it with traditional sweet apple pie, cherry pie, etc.

Just like with my tomato “pie” I followed the recipe for the crust and baking instructions from The Perfect Loaf.

First I caramelized some onions in butter. I had an unrolled ball of crust in my freezer from my previous galette that I pulled out and put in my fridge the night before. While the onions caramelized, I brought the dough up to temp and then rolled it out on parchment paper and put it back in the fridge to chill again. I can’t recall which apples I used, but they were local to Colorado. I sliced them really thinly because my intention was not to make a syrupy sweet cinnamon-sugar pie filling that requires cooking down the apples and chilling them before filling your pie. For this dish I wanted the apples to just cook through while the galette cooked.

When it was about time to make dinner, I pulled the crust from the fridge and smeared the caramelized onions in a circle in the center, leaving about 4 inch edges from when you fold that on top. I layered apples and cheddar cheese with a little salt, pepper, and thyme from the garden. Bacon would actually go really well with this I’m just thinking now as I’m typing. Fold the edges up and press them a little to form one solid crust. The Perfect Loaf suggests an egg wash which I did as well as sprinkle a little salt since it was savory.

I served my apple onion cheddar galette with arugula from the garden.

I’m not sure if I’ll make a savory “pie” like this that will taste divine with my caramelized onion gravy that I’ve been making for more than a decade now, or a sweet version for Thanksgiving this year. In one form or another though a galette will be on our small menu.

Apple Pie Filling & Cabbage Stew

Everyone has their favorite fruit, or at least should. Some people go gaga for watermelon. Others say bananas are the best. Oranges may rank at the top for just about anyone. Me, I really can’t say I have a favorite. I know which ones I don’t care to consume unless they are presented in a interesting way, which would be melons and figs. Something about the mustiness flavor of both throws me off. But a few slices of watermelon with ricotta, cracked pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil is divine. A fig compote topped on a nicely grilled pork chop is a party in your mouth. Having the diverse palate that I have I swing from the strange, exotic stuff like say horned melon to the more basic items like strawberries. Oh wait that’s not a fruit technically.

Which leads me to this post. I don’t know if it’s being born and raised in New England or the fact that there are so many culinary ways of using them but apples place at the top of my favorites. I can’t even begin to to list how this humble group can transform an ordinary dish to something stellar. Not to mention if you find yourself at a farmers market they should have heirloom varieties that will fit any which way your mouth desires. Of course, an American tradition, especially this time of year, is Apple Pie. Now the recipe that follows is for canning the filling, saving that fall flavor for later in the winter. If you’re in dire need of a recipe for a pie that needs to go in the oven ASAP, message me and I’ll be happy to give you one. Otherwise, get out there, pick your own from a local farm, stop buy a booth at a farmer’s market, which may be ending this time of year, or head to grocery store to snag some. Just remember, don’t buy “Red Delicious” as they are never delicious and they are definitely not the apple of my eye.

APPLE PIE FILLING

• 5 #’s Apples
• 6 C water
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 3 sticks Cinnamon
• 1 T freshly ground Nutmeg
• 3 T Corn Starch
• 3 T Citric Acid
• 1 t Salt
• juice of 1/2 Lemon

You’re going to want to start the “brine” before you start peeling the apples. Apples will brown quickly due to oxidation so peeling and slicing them should be the last step. Combine the water, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. This will really help the aromatics infuse into the liquid. Mix the corn starch into just enough water to make it pourable. When the timer goes off, pour the slurry into the pot, whisk and bring back to a boil. Cook for a minute or two whisking to make sure there is no clumps and remove from heat.

Next up is peeling and cutting the apples. Firstly, combine the citric acid with the salt and lemon juice, if you can’t find citric acid, increase the amount of lemon juice to a whole lemon. If you feel good about using a paring knife to peel the apples, you should as the ribbon of skin will come in handy for the next recipe. If not, a regular peeler will work but save the skins of either! Don’t peel all the apples at once, do it in several batches to avoid them turning brown before being cut. In my experience, most everyone who’s eating apple pie is just happy to be eating apple pie and not looking to see how pretty it is between shoveling it down their throat. Add the apple to the citric and lemon, give them a gentle toss and repeat until apples are gone.

Split the apples between 3 quart jars, packing them in but not mushing the fruit. Any remaining pieces set aside for later. Pour the spiced liquid over the apples, remembering to leave enough head space. If you like, save any leftover liquid to make an alcoholic beverage with later. It would be an excellent mixer for a warmed whiskey drink but would also be fantastic thinned out with some hot water for a relaxing drink on a cold Autumn night.

Follow the general guidelines for canning for your altitude.

Now if you’re still reading this, thank you firstly and secondly, you deserve a bonus recipe. “Cabbage Stew” may not sound that sexy but it’s a really tasty dish. Not to mention it’s hearty, quick to make and freezes well for future use. So let’s get to it!

CABBAGE STEW

• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 3 Carrots, diced
• 2 stalks Celery, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 1 medium to large head of Green Cabbage
• 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 T dried Oregano
• 2 T dried Parsley
• 2 Bay Leaves
• leftover apple pieces and skins
• 3 T olive oil
• water
• salt to taste

If you’re using leftover apple pieces, give a quick rinse to get off the citric acid & lemon juice. Over medium high heat in a large pot warm the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and stir frequently for a few minutes. Add in a about a cup of water and bring mixture down to a simmer. Now I should say that if you’d like to use stock instead of water, feel free to but I would stay away from anything except vegetable stock as the flavors of others may not work with this stew. While your mirepoix is softening, cut your cabbage into quarters, removing only the thickest part of the stem. Using the slicer blade on the food processor, add each quarter. If your cabbage is especially large, there may need to be some more downsizing done to fit in the chute. In between each segment, shred a handful of apple peels and mix with the cabbage. Once this part is done add in the cabbage/apple mixture, apple pieces, tomatoes and herbs to the pot. Follow that with enough water (or stock) to cover the stew. You don’t want too much liquid as the cabbage is going to kick out some juice as it cooks and you can always add in more during the cooking process. Turn heat up and depending on how much time you have, or really how hungry you are, simmer or low boil until the cabbage is al dente. Serve with a nice piece of crusty bread and maybe a little bit of grated parmesan on top.

Pumpkin Peanut Curry Soup

Every autumn I have a craving for my pumpkin peanut curry soup.  I make it once or twice and then wait until pumpkins are in season the following year before making it again. Each time it comes out slightly differently depending on how much of this or that goes in it. Here’s what I did this time-

I roasted a locally grown pumpkin the size of a soccer ball at 375 for 30 minutes or so… I must admit, I totally lost track of time. I have NO idea how long that pumpkin was in there.  I’d say 30-40 minutes. I do know, however, that I cut it in half, seeded it (and saved the seeds to make Mexican Mole Roasted Pumpkin Seeds), covered the flesh in butter, and placed it cut side down into a pyrex baking dish with a cup or so of brandy.  I am sure of that part.

While the oven was preheating for the pumpkin, I toasted a cup or so of unsalted peanuts. Watch them! It’s really easy to over-toast (burn) nuts. Keep an eye on them and get them out of the oven when they’re starting to brown and smell like roasted peanuts.

But, before I even put the peanuts in the pre-heating oven, I had a thinly sliced sweet yellow onion sautéing on medium-low in some of the coconut fat skimmed from the top of an undisturbed can of coconut milk.  I let this start to caramelize while roasting the pumpkin. In the last 15 minutes or so I added a peeled, sliced apple.

So, when the peanuts were done, I put them in the Vita-Mix and made a little peanut butter.  Let’s all cheer for the power of that Vita-Mix. What a rockstar appliance. The next step is to blend all of the soft pumpkin flesh, onion, and apple with a can of coconut milk and a cup or so of water into the peanut butter.  Start on low, slowly turn it up to 10, then high, and then you’re ready to pour it into a pot and get it on the stove.

This is where the fun seasoning starts. I added a few tablespoons of soy sauce, Kecap Manis (called sweet soy sauce- it is palm sugar syrup, like molasses, but from palm), Vietnamese Sweet Lemongrass Curry (available at Savory Spice Shop), and some cayenne.  I let the soup simmer on medium for a while and added some thinly sliced kale that cooked down to be nice and tender after 20 minutes.

Just blogging about this now makes me want to eat another bowl. The creamy peanut-coconut combination is a nice compliment to pumpkin.  It brings me back to a small kitchen in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where I had my first pumpkin peanut curry soup.  Enjoy!

Apple Pie

• 3 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3.5 sticks chilled, unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1/3 cup iced water (ice cubes removed) mixed with 1/3 cup cold vodka