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).

Lemon Verbena

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
Lemon verbena is a really special flowering perennial herb in season right now. It has a strong lemon flavor, but that doesn't quite cut it as a description. Lemon verbena's flavor is also rounded out by the lack of acidity that comes with lemons, and a distinctly herbal green flavor that comes from the leaves, similar to lemon basil. It's a great addition to the garden.

The oil from lemon verbena have moderate antioxidant and antibacterial properties — you'll often see lemon verbena as a scent ingredient in soaps and perfumes. It also makes a delicious tea when brewed on its own or in a mixture with other herbs. Lemon verbena is an ideal choice for simple syrups you can drizzle over fruit, mix into whipped cream or add to cocktails. A great way to enjoy the flavor is a refreshing herbal & floral ice cream.

5 ways to use fresh lemon verbena:

• Infuse lemon verbena flavor into oil for use in your favorite recipes
• Use your favorite white wine vinegar to extract the flavor of lemon verbena into a flavored vinegar
• Blend lemon verbena leaves into a zingy pesto for dressing grilled vegetables or chicken
• Add the brightness of chiffonaded lemon verbena to an aioli dressing that goes well with greens or over fish
• Use lemon verbena as a flavor agent when brining meats or poultry before cooking

Lemon Custards with Lemon Verbena

Ingredients
1 cup water
14 2- to 2 1/2-inch-long fresh lemon verbena leaves
10 2 x 1/2-inch strips lemon peel (yellow part only)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Procedure
Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine first 3 ingredients in medium saucepan. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 4 minutes. Add sugar; simmer until mixture is reduced to 1/3 cup, about 3 minutes. Stir in cream. Whisk yolks to blend in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture. Whisk in lemon juice.

Strain custard through sieve into 4-cup measuring cup. Divide among six 2-cup ramekins or soufflé dishes. Cover ramekins with foil. Place ramekins in 13 x 9 x 2-inch metal baking pan. Add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake custards until just set, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven; let custard cool and set up over night in the fridge. Garnish with a fresh leaf and some blueberries.