Vegetable Galettes and Herbal Infusions

 

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
As my summer garden's harvest dwindles down to the stuff the rabbits and squirrels didn't think was good enough, it's time to access the usable bits and try to make them last through the winter. I have a few tomatoes, some eggplant, lemongrass, shiso, basil and lots of green herbs. So here is a recipe for a veggie galette, a whole wheat crust folded over a bed of vegetables cheese and fresh herbs — perfect vegetarian main dish with a salad. The other fun thing to do to save summer is infuse vinegars and make herbal simple syrup.

Vegetable Galette

Ingredients for whole wheat crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ice water

Procedure for crust
Pulse all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Dump mixture to a large bowl; drizzle with vinegar and ¼ cup ice water. Mix with a fork, adding more ice water by the tablespoonful if needed, just until a shaggy dough comes together; lightly knead until no dry spots remain (do not overwork). Form a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Ingredients for galette filling
1 cup cheese (Ricotta, Gruyere, Asiago, or whatever)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 ounces sautéed mushrooms, thinly sliced (maitake, crimini, shitake, etc.)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 bunch large Swiss chard, or spinach ribs and stems removed, leaves cut into bite-size pieces
1 large egg, beaten to blend to brush crust
1 cup mixed fresh tender herbs (such as flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, dill, and/or chives)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Sea salt

Procedure for galette
Preheat oven to 400°. Shred up your cheese and set aside. Sauté your greens or vegetables and season with fresh herbs. Squeeze out extra liquid from greens, and set aside. Roll out dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment to a 14” round about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer on parchment to a baking sheet. Brush crust with egg wash leaving a 2 inch border dry and sprinkle with Panko to help absorb extra moisture. Then layer in your ingredients. Bring edges of dough up and over filling, overlapping as needed, to create a 1 1/2-inch border; brush with egg and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh herbs. Bake galette, rotating once, until crust is golden brown and cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 

Infused vinegars

To make flavored vinegars, start with good quality organic apple cider vinegar and some clean glass bottles with tops. Stuff bottles with an assortment of herbs then fill with vinegar. I made four bottles of Salad Burnett infused vinegar (which tastes like celery) and one bottle of lemongrass vinegar using the long beautiful leaves. You just need to store it in a dark, cool place for 3 weeks, shaking it up occasionally. Then you can remove herbs or leave them in place.

Herbal simple syrups

As you all know, a simple syrup is made of equal parts of sugar and water boiled for 3 to 5 minutes until it is clear. Then you remove the syrup from the heat, add the herb and let it sit in syrup 30 minutes, strain out, and refrigerate. Great with seltzer, or in a cocktail. Some of my favorites syrups are bay leaf, rosemary, lemon verbena, tarragon (great in limeade).

Guest Monica Meehan: Fromage Fort

Leftovers! Here's Monica's "recipe" for all those bits of leftover cheese you have. It means "strong cheese" in French!

This recipe appeared last year around this time on Smitten Kitchen, and Monica says it was great on those hard leftover bits of French bread (lets's just call them crostini, okay?), toasted under the broiler.

Ingredients
up to 1 pound mixed leftover cheeses, grate the hard cheeses, cut soft cheese into chunks
1 to 2 pats of butter, if you have mostly hard cheese
1 small clove garlic, minced, or more to taste
1/2 to 1 cup leftover white wine
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs, like parsley, thyme, rosemary or chives
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure
In your food processor, fitted with the steel blade, whiz cheese, butter (if using) and garlic until combined. With the motor running, add wine until you reach your desired consistency. Add herbs, pulsing the machine until just combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

You can eat it right away, or refrigerate (assuming you can wait that long). It will thicken in the fridge and the flavors will meld.

Getting the most from my herb garden

This year's fine herbage! Now that we are on the edge of winter and have already had our first frost, I am starting to plan my all homemade Christmas gifts. A few years ago, my circle of creative food friends decided we would only exchange gifts we made ourselves. What a relief! No shopping with the cranky hordes of humanity!

This is something anyone can do. It doesn't have to be labor intensive fussy baking, though that is always appreciated if that's your thing. Sometimes it's just a matter of planning and gathering. One of my best projects is my "Fine Herbage" mix. I cut and dry large bunches of herbs from the garden by tying them up with jute and hanging them in the garage to dry (which in this part of the country takes about a week). Then I start the "schmooching" process of rubbing them in my hands to release all the leaves and remove the stems. I do this a few times getting a finer mix each time. Then I put the mixture through a series of strainers to remove the small bits of stem which sneak in. Then into clean jars, print up some labels and you will have a great mixture to use all year!



This year's mix includes Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, Tarragon, Mint and Oregano. I saved some Lavender blossoms from earlier in the season which I will mix in.

Do any of you give homemade gifts for the holidays? If so, please share in the comments.

Za'atar

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
Za'atar is a spice blend from the middle east which comes in a variety of combinations. The basic formula is ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt, and sumac. Some commercial varieties also include roasted flour.

Traditionally, people throughout the fertile crescent, Iraq, and the Arabian peninsula made their own variations of za'atar, which was unknown in North Africa. Recipes for such spice mixtures were often kept secret, and not even shared with children or other relatives. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander or fennel seed. One distinctively Palestinian variation of za'atar includes caraway seeds, while a Lebanese variety sometimes contains sumac berries, and has a distinct dark red color. Za'atar, both the herb and the condiment, is popular in Armenia, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. It is commonly eaten with pita, which is dipped in olive oil and then za'atar. Za'atar is used as a seasoning for meats and vegetables or sprinkled onto hummus. There is also something called fresh za'atar, the herb itself, rather than the condiment, is also used in a number of dishes.

So what do I do with it? I do what Nigella Lawson does, I throw it on chicken. This recipe delivers amazing results with virtually no effort.

za'atar chicken

Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces or 8 mixed chicken pieces
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons za'atar spice mix
(you can buy za'atar at Ziggy's or Talin or make your own mix)
salt, to taste

Procedure
In large mixing bowl or resealable plastic bag, combine chicken, oil and za'atar. Rub spices and oil all over chicken pieces. Cover (or close) and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight. Transfer chicken to baking sheet, skin side up. Roast in preheated 425°F oven for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with salt.

Grilled Lemon and Herb Flatbread

Nice New Nibbles
I thought I would do a vehicle for dips. A great bread or cracker is the base of many great snacks. Yes, you can buy some good ones in the store, but homemade flatbread is so much better! With this basic recipe you can do all kinds of variations with herbs, citrus zest, seeds, etc. This makes 6 individual flatbreads.

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon mixed fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and oregano
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for brushing

Procedure
Stir together the yeast, 3/4 cup warm water and sugar and set aside for a few minutes until foamy. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, herbs, fennel seeds, lemon zest, salt, pepper and olive oil. Stir in the yeast mixture and knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and add the dough, turning it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Heat up your cast iron grill. Divide the dough in half and form three equal balls from each (6 balls total). On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 1/4-inch thick round or oval. Brush both sides with olive oil. Place the rounds on the grill, and cook, flipping once with a spatula, until well-marked and cooked through, about 2-5 minutes per side. Be careful not to char the flat-breads. Serve immediately, or wrap in aluminum foil and keep in a warm oven until ready to eat.

Green Goddess dressing and Remoulade sauce

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
You know a good sauce can save a meal. If you start with a basic piece of fresh grilled fish, and don’t over cook it, all you need to do is top it with a great sauce and you will dazzle them every time. The same is true for a simple platter of steamed or raw vegetables. So here are two old school show stoppers to put the finishing touches on your meal.

Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients
1 cup homemade (or not) mayonnaise
1 clove chopped garlic
3 chopped anchovies
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Tarragon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream

Procedure
Combine all ingredients in food processor except sour cream (till nice and green) and then turn into mixing bowl. Fold in sour cream by hand. Serve chilled. This makes 2 cups.

Remoulade Sauce

This is not the mayo kind, it's the French dressing kind!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons scallions
2 tablespoons minced celery
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash of Tabasco
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
Combine everything but the olive oil and seasonings in a blender. Slowly add olive oil through the top of blender in a steady stream. Now season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco. This makes 1 cup.

Onion Herb Batter Bread

The Altitude Adjustment Section
This is a great recipe I found in a Sunset cookbook when I was a child, and have been making it ever since. It's so simple and requires no kneading.

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons butter
1 package dried yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 cups A.P. flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon chopped dill
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

Procedure
Scald milk in a small pot, remove from the heat and add the sugar, salt, and butter. Cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water 10 minutes. Add milk mixture. Stir in flour, onions and herbs. Mix till well-blended, about 2 minutes. Cover and let rise till tripled in bulk, about 30-40 minutes. Stir down vigorously for about 30 seconds. Turn dough into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake in a 350 oven for 50-60 minutes, or until it is golden brown and sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped. Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with some coarse salt. Serve warm.