Now that I’m feeling better (I’m better, but not yet well, let’s put it that way) and back in the kitchen, I decided I’d make something totally different. A more-or-less vegetarian entree. So I leafed through the vegetarian goddess’ book – Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
As you readers of my blog know, I’m not a vegetarian, but sometimes eating a meatless meal appeals to me. My DH is always open to whatever I make. He never complains. And very rarely asks for anything – whatever I’m in the mood for is okay in his book. He makes it so easy to cook for. I searched through bean stews (no), steamed veggies (no), eggs and cheese concoctions (no), salads (no to that too). Then I spied the chapter on savory tarts, pies, turnovers and pizzas and settled on making a galette. And a mushroom one at that. Mushrooms are almost meat-like in their consistency and taste. I do like them a lot. This one contains shiitake and button varieties. Shiitake because you need their heightened flavor, and button for their filling-nature.
Pictured at left is the mushroom filling. Have you ever made a galette? It’s SO easy. SO forgiving. It’s a rough kind of pastry – not rough tasting – but rough in the presentation, I suppose you could say. It’s merely a buttery pastry dough rolled out in a ROUGH sort of round shape, it’s moved to a baking pan/sheet, the filling is piled in the middle and the edges are turned gently up over the filling. Then it’s baked, of course. You don’t have to glaze it, but it’s more attractive that way – this one was brushed with some melted butter. Usually there’s some of the filling visible in the center. There’s nothing prissy about making a galette, if you get my drift. This mushroom filling has some added flavor enhancers (tomato paste, a little bit of Dijon, some sherry vinegar, red pepper flakes and rosemary). You could add cheese, I suppose, but not having made Madison’s galette before I made it mostly her way. The recipe calls for a mushroom stock (home made, and way too much trouble), but I 
used Penzey’s chicken concentrate (diluted with water) instead. I also used less stock than Madison called for – I couldn’t imagine using over 2 cups of the sauce, so I made it with only a cup of stock instead. So my recipe here includes the few changes I made. Once the mushroom filling is made, it’s strained of all its juices (so the crust won’t become soggy, I’m sure), then you pour or drizzle any of the sauce over the baked galette. Pictured above is the pastry with the mushroom filling before you wrap the edges. You just gently roll the edges up and over, partially covering the filling and brush the pastry with melted butter. You can also make these in individual servings, like turnovers or as smaller galettes. No change to the recipe, just prepare 6 of them, folding the edges in as shown above or completely sealing them in a turnover.
The bottom line? Delicious. The mushrooms are meaty textured, satisfying and very tasty. The pastry was so tender and flaky. Because the mushroom filling was drained well before the filling was put into the pastry, the bottom pastry was perfectly cooked (and not soggy at all). I had to patch the outside edges in a couple of places, but moistening my finger with water and pressing the patched pieces in was successful. We both enjoyed the galette very much, and I’d make it again. Only change I’d make is to add some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to the filling (and that’s not in the recipe below). The leftovers were also delish – I placed the pieces on a square of aluminum foil, and that on a baking sheet, heated it at 350 for about 20 minutes. The pastry was still tender, flaky and not a bit soggy.
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Mushroom Galette
Recipe By: Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Serving Size: 6
FILLING:
1 cup stock — chicken, turkey or mushroom
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion — 1/2″ dice
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary — chopped (or 1 t dried)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1/2 pound shiitake mushroom — roughly chopped
1 pound button mushroom — roughly chopped
2 whole garlic cloves — minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup Italian parsley — chopped
FOR GLAZE:
1 tablespoon melted butter
GALETTE DOUGH:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter — cold, cut into small bits
1/3 cup ice water — or up to 1/2 cup
Filling:
1. In a 1-cup measure, mix the stock with Dijon and some sherry vinegar or aged red wine vinegar. Taste it so it has a sharp edge. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and rosemary and cook over medium heat until the onion is lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Season with 1/2 tsp salt a little pepper and the red pepper flakes. Remove to a bowl.
3. Heat 3 T oil in the same skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until browned, then season with salt and pepper. Add the onions to the pot, add the garlic and tomato paste that you’ve diluted with a little bit of the stock, and a teaspoon of sherry vinegar. Add the remaining stock, bring to a boil, then stir in the butter and parsley.
4. Cook for 5 minutes, then drain, reserving the juices.
Galette:
1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut in the butter by hand or using a mixer with a paddle attachment, 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 flat disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes if the butter feels soft.
2. Roll it out on a lightly floured counter into a 14-inch irregular circle about 1/8 inch thick. Fold it into quarters and transfer it to the back of a sheet pan or a cookie sheet without sides. Unfold it. It will be larger than the pan.
3. Add the filling, leaving a border 2-4 inches wide. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling, overlapping them as you go. Make certain there are no cracks at the base level or the filling will ooze through any holes. Depending on how much of an edge you have left, the galette will be partially or completely covered, almost like a two-crust pie. Brush the top with melted butter.
Per Serving: 529 Calories; 37g Fat (60.9% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 72mg Cholesterol; 324mg Sodium.
Two years ago: Mulligatawny Soup
What you end up with is a pie. Yes, a veggie pie. With a kind of pudding or custard or batter around it. Because the zucchini contains so much water, it’s vital that you salt it and let it sit so you lose some of the fluid before you begin assembling this dish. Because of the salt on the zucchini, I eliminated the salt in the batter. Taste it, though, to see if it’s salty enough for your tastes. If you like Parmesan, add more. Eliminate the asparagus if you don’t have it. Don’t like thyme? Change it to marjoram or oregano. Want it more puffy? Add another egg. This is the kind of dish that’s quite forgiving, I think. Have yellow squash instead? That’s a no-brainer. Of course you could substitute. My DH enjoyed this immensely, as did the group of friends we had over for a potluck dinner. And the leftovers are almost better than when they’re fresh out of the oven. I heated pieces for 60 seconds in the microwave and they were just perfect.
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