The fruit bowl is overflowing - something needed to be done to use up all these apricots. Even all my neighbors coming to the door Halloween-style, hands cupped for more of these soft, ripe, sweet goodies isn’t making a dent. In doing a frantic search for apricot recipes online, I ran across way more information than I’d bargained for. Ever wonder how to say the word apricot in Arabic? Just ask for mishmish! I don’t think I’ll ever call them apricots again.
As always, my favorite cookbook comes through. Even though I’m not a vegetarian, Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is the cookbook that I reach for most often. It’s huge, with 742 pages of delicious recipes. I’ve cooked from this book for about two years, and have yet to find a dud. Looks like the streak is still alive today, because her Apricot Galette is terrific. The beautiful thing about a galette versus a pie is that, with galettes, the more rustic-looking (read: messy) a galette, the better.
First, for the dough - if you’re scared of butter, this might be a good time to look away.
Galette Dough
This dough can be used for both savory and sweet galettes - in the winter, I fill this dough with butternut squash and sage, and it’s better than a winter dish at any gourmet restaurant.
2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (See? It’s a little scary.)
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water, as needed
Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut in the butter by hand (I used a pastry blender), leaving some pea-sized chunks. Sprinkle the ice water over the top by the tablespoon and toss it with the flour mixture until you can bring the dough together into a ball. Press it into a disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes if the butter feels soft. I actually left this covered in the fridge for a couple of days before getting around to the filling, and it fared just fine.
Apricot Galette
Galette Dough
1/3 cup crushed amaretti, biscotti, or dry bread crumbs
12 large ripe apricots, sliced in half
3 Tbsp butter, melted (you can probably get away with 2 Tbsp here)
3 Tbsp sugar or more to taste (again - 2 Tbsp did it for me)
Preheat the oven to 425°. Roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Leaving a border of 2 inches or so, cover the center of the dough with the crumbs. Arrange the apricots over the crumbs, cut side down, making a single layer or overlapping them if they’re very large or if you have extra fruit (Ahem… Extra fruit, you say? I’ll be overlapping). Fold the edges or the dough over the fruit, overlapping it to make wide pleats. Brush the dough with butter and drizzle any remaining butter over the fruit. Sprinkle both the crust and apricots generously with sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375° and continue baking until the fruit is tender and the crust is browned, 20-25 minutes more. Remove and let cool to lukewarm before serving. If you have the self discipline of a monk. Otherwise, promptly top a slice of this bad boy with some fresh lemon ice cream and prepare to burn your mouth.
To give some perspective of what we’re dealing with here - the small bowl pictured below? That’s the amount that I used in this dish. I’d better keep searching for more recipes.
Blast! I hate it when people recommend cookbooks, because then I have to purchase them. I keep trying to stop, but it’s an addiction. I’ve liked the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks for the vegetarian element. Have you tried those? I’m curious how they compare to VCfE.
Have you thought about dried apricots, or fruit leather? We used to make that when I was a kid. My mom would get the heavy duty cellophane, spread pureed apricots (or cherries, plums, apples, whatever) on to within about 1/2 inch of the edges, then put it on a baking sheet, put a screen over it, and lay it on the roof in the sun.
Nowadays, dehydrators are not expensive, but they are little. Unless you need a project, in which case you can make your own. My dad made me one with particle board, a restaurant warming lamp, a fan, and vinyl screens he stapled to wood frames. I think he got the plans online. He’s made a bunch of them and sold them. And when the pears come ripe… Or the tomatoes…
Ooh, I forgot about my neighbor’s dehydrator, and fruit leather is such a good idea!
I’d definitely spring for this book - I prefer it to Moosewood, because it’s more comprehensive and accessible. I’ll be curious to hear what you think!