Out of Town & Strawberry Rye Galettes

About a week ago I hopped in a car with two fine ladies and one fine pooch (also a lady) to head upstate to pick strawberries and search for a bit of summer adventure. We fortified ourselves with giant iced coffees and drove about two hours north to a little no-frills farm in the Hudson Valley where we picked berries to our hearts' content, then headed down the road to grab lunch from a burrito trailer. On the drive home we took a detour to pick wildflowers which unexpectedly led us to Bear Mountain where Mazie the dog had her first experience with open water (mixed reviews) and we saw some goslings taking a swim (thumbs up all around). All in all, a banner day.

I rode home in the front seat with a half-flat of warm fragrant berries on my lap and I dreamt up all of the ways I wanted to use them, which only took a few days once I got home. I made a few frozen treats (the first one was posted earlier this week), preserved some, and then baked the last pound of them into these little galettes. I usually don't really like strawberries in baked goods because I think they get a bit soggy, but because these tarts were baked without a lid in a nice hot oven the strawberries roasted and caramelized in such a lovely way. And this pastry, this pastry! I used it last year for a few rhubarb treats and I have no idea why I forgot about it until just now because it is such a perfect (and easy to work with) dough to wrap up all kinds of fruit. 

And in case anyone was wondering, Mazie the dog was an excellent road trip companion and hung out patiently in the shade chewing on sticks while we picked berries to our hearts' content.

Strawberry Galettes

1 large rustic tart or 4-6 small ones

1 recipe rye pastry (below)

1 lb strawberries, whole if they are tiny, cut in half if they are small, quarters if they are large

2 Tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
6 Tablespoons strawberry, rhubarb, or apricot jam

1 Tablespoon flour

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 egg

4 Tablespoons coarse sugar, for sprinkling

To assemble

1. Divide dough into 4-6 equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a round, 1/8'' thick. Transfer the rounds to two large, lined sheet pans, a few inches apart. Store in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
2. In a large bowl combine the strawberries, flour, sugar, and lemon zest and juice. Prepare an egg wash by beating an egg in a bowl with a tablespoon of water.
3. Remove the pastry from the fridge and spread each one with about a tablespoon of jam, then divide the fruit evenly between the disks, leaving a 1'' border around the edges. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling and gently brush the egg wash between the folds to seal. Chill the formed tarts until they are firm, 30-40min.
4. While the tarts are chilling, preheat your oven to 375º. When the tarts are nice and cold, remove them from the fridge, gently brush the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
5. Bake until the crusts are golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake until the juices bubble and ooze and the pastry is a deep golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Rye Rough Puff Pastry
adapted from Kim Boyce's, Good to the Grain
yield, pastry for 1 large rustic tart 4-6 small ones

I won't lie, the rye pastry takes a bit of work to put together but man is it good. It's my new favorite base for fruit desserts that I plan on using all summer long. Kim Boyce recommends "turing the dough"twice for this recipe, but I wanted a few more flakey layers so I gave it an extra turn. If you are going to use this dough to make a traditional pie, I suggest just doing the two turns.  Once you get the hang of making the dough, I suggest making a double or triple batch so you can have it at the ready for all of your summer pies, tarts, and galettes like these guys.

4.25 ounces rye flour
4.25 ounces all purpose flour
1/8 ounce salt
1/2 ounce sugar
6 ounces cold butter cut into chunks
4 ounces ice water (may need a little less or more than this)
1t apple cider vinegar

1. In a large bowl, mix the flours, salt and sugar together. Add in the butter and quickly rub it into the flour mixture with your fingers. You want the butter to break up into small pieces the size of peas to lima beans.
2. Combine the water and apple cider vinegar in a measuring sup. Make a well in the flour/butter mixture and slowly stream the water into the dough while mixing gently. Mix until the water is evenly distributed and the dough holds together when you squeeze it. It will look dry, and that's okay, just as long as it holds together when you squeeze it. If it is too dry, add a bit more water.
3. Dump the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, gather the wrap tightly around the dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour or overnight.
4. After it has chilled, unwrap the dough and place it onto a lightly floured board. Pat the dough into a rough square, then roll it into an 8'' x 11'' rectangle. The dough will be a bit rough and crumbly and that's okay! With the long side of the dough facing you, gently fold the dough into thirds. Then turn the dough so the seam is at the top and parallel to your body. Repeat this process 3 more times then wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before using.
If the rolling/turning sounds confusing, here is a great photo tutorial for making rough puff pastry on Food52.  Their method utilizes 6 "turns" of the dough, which isn't necessary for this recipe but it will give you a great idea of what the rolling process looks like.

Strawberry Lime Tart with Apricot Glaze

Last Friday morning, news hit the wire that strawberries and rhubarb had been spotted at the Union Square Greenmarket. New Yorkers swooped in and scooped up those sweet signs of Spring with the kind of fan fervor usually reserved for pop musicians and I think they were all gone by noon. I have to admit, I didn't drop everything to get to the market that day, but I cheered from the sidelines and hearing about it sure got my wheels turning about all of the good things to come.



I have a bit of a ritual when it comes to enjoying my first local berries. I will eat the first of them fresh and unadorned, probably before I even get home. Then, I'll slice them up for a simple tart like this one, maybe with vanilla bean pastry cream in lieu of the lime, and slowly I'll start baking them into scones and churning them into ice cream. When they are at their peak I am going to convince someone to drive upstate with me to pick strawberries for my favorite jam. Who wants to come with?

Creamy Lime Tart with Strawberries

I have to admit, I made this tart a couple of weeks ago and the strawberries I used for were from California, patience is not one of my virtues. In my defense,  they were organic and still pretty flavorful after their trip across the country. The addition of a light coating of apricot jam made them all the better.

For the Crust

1 cup almond meal
1 cup spelt flour
5 Tablespoon melted butter
4 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325º

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Press the crust into a 9'' or 10'' removable bottom tart pan, making sure it goes all of the way up the sides of the pan.
2. Slide into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 15min. While the crust is baking, prepare the lime filling

For the Lime Filling
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

4 egg yolks
4 teaspoon lime zest

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (from 3-4 limes)

1, 14 oz can evaporated milk

1. Whisk zest and egg yolks together until the yolks are light in color and the zest has tinted the mixture light green, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the juice and evaporated milk and set aside to thicken while the crust bakes and cools, about 20 min.
2. Pour the thickened mixture into the baked and cooled tart shell, slide back into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the filling is set, but still wiggly in the center. Note: If you use a 10'' tart pan the lime cream won't fill the shell all of the way, no big deal, you'll just have more room for the strawberries.
3. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool to room temperature then place it in the fridge for a few hours to chill completely before finishing with the strawberries.

To Finish the Tart

1 pint of the sweetest strawberries you can find, sliced in 1/8'' slices (these don't have to be perfect)
4T of apricot or any other light colored fruit preserves, warmed and blended until smooth. This will become a glaze for the top of the tart. I used the last of my Apricot Jam with Saffron and Rose and it was superb.
1c heavy cream whipped to soft peaks to serve (optional)

When the tart has chilled completely, layer the sliced strawberries on top of the tart in a decorative pattern, I like concentric circles. Then gently brush the top of the strawberries with the warmed jam.
Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve, then slice it up and top it with a snowy white dollop of whipped cream.