September was not a productive month in the little kitchen. Other artistic endeavors aside, I've had a hard time getting my kitchen mojo back. Several weeks ago two things occurred somewhat simultaneously that yanked me out of my kitchen and my comfort zone and denying me of my much coveted, sanity restoring, sleep.
When I'm not trashing my kitchen or mixing up margaritas at work, I can be found rummaging through the many vintage, thrift, discount and fabric shops throughout San Francisco and the peninsula, foraging through the costume rental warehouses at A.C.T. or TheatreWorks in a mad dash to acquire all things necessary to costume the occasional stage production.
This past weekend I opened a production of Cabaret, to great reviews. It involved a lot of very long days and very short (on sleep) nights. The stress of pushing toward a deadline seems to have collided in full-force with off-the-chart hormonal imbalances aka menopause, that has separated me from my comfort zone.
I'm attempting to get my toe in the zone here with this Apple Galette. I've been wanting to make a galette for ages. I've always been attracted to the simplicity of this free-form tart. Fortunately I don't have to look too far for inspiration...I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (natch!). She calls it a Simple Apple Tart (she builds hers in a tart pan). She also instructs the galette approach which simply requires you to roll the dough out into a 14" round, transfer it onto a piece of parchement on a baking sheet or slide the parchment onto a pizza stone (that's what I did), tile your sliced apples in a circle starting two inches in from the edge and filling in to the center and then folding the dough over the edge and pinching tucks every couple of inches. The recipe didn't call for any cinnamon so I didn't use any. That was tough 'cuz I really really had to resist grabbing that little jar of Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon I coveted from Penzeys...sigh...so as instructed I sprinked a coarse sugar over the whole thing. She also instructs to save the peel and cores and cook them with water and sugar to make a syrup which gets brushed over the top after the galette is baked.
This really couldn't have been simpler. I love the apple pie comfort. It makes a great dessert with a little vanilla ice cream. I brought some to work for a breakfasty snack. I used golden delicious apples which were recommended and clearly for a reason. I was expecting some sogginess and there was none.
I'm comfortable with this.
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