Heirloom Tomato and Eggplant Galette

Here's a dinner from last weekend that made us feel super fancy, but surprisingly, came together really easily! Before we started our CSA this season I had never even heard of a galette. And now, two months later, I've made two different kinds: a sweet galette with rhubarb and this smart dinner version full of cheese and vegetables (and butter - oh my word THE BUTTER). And aren't they gorgeous?

Heirloom Tomato and Eggplant Galette on Fork Knife Swoon

Used From Our CSA 
heirloom tomatoes (1 from our box and 1 from the store)
eggplant

Thoughts on the Recipe
- My best advice for working with pastry dough remains some variation of: work quickly and remain calm/confident. A thin metal spatula is a great helper, too. I think our stone counter top must help a lot because it seems to always be a nice cool temperature. But even without that, this was a great dough recipe and was relatively easy to use. I rolled mine out directly on the counter and Steve used parchment paper and we were both successful on the first try!
- Since the price of Gruyere at our grocery store gave me a mild heart attack (about $9 for a tiny wedge that I don't think would have even been enough), I swiftly googled a substitute and landed on Swiss. And we thought it worked out great. Maybe next time with the fancy cheese.
- We split one of these for dinner the night we made them (which basically means we consumed heart-stopping amounts of butter), but the second one lasted us a solid three days as leftovers. And it was delicious reheated. I am such a fan of food that is leftover-friendly.

Sigh ... this is such a beautiful sight to me - is that weird?

So there you have it - a lovely savory galette. Is trying two different recipes of this pastry enough to qualify me as an expert? How about a gal-expert? (Ugh, sorry, that was terrible...)

Rhubarb Galette

Yep, I'm back with more rhubarb!

This galette (like a pie without a pan - it's French and therefore classy) was pretty delicious, and almost entirely consumed within about 3 hours of it's conception (thank you, girls' night). I have to say, Martha really knows her stuff. The cornmeal in the crust did me in and gave it a great rustic texture. It took some time, but wasn't too work intensive. If you think of this as apple pie's springy counterpart, and you love a homemade crust like I do, it took far less effort overall. 

Rhubarb Galette on martha stewart

Used From Our CSA
rhubarb (a little from both Weeks 2 and 3)

Thoughts on the Recipe
- Making the dough a day early could help break up the work and clean-up for this recipe
- If you're smarter than me, you'll use a rimmed baking sheet. My crust had one tiny little hole in it (see above), so the juices ran everywhere (luckily I saw what was happening, so I constructed a little aluminum foil trough to put on the lower rack before the puddle went overboard).
- I get a little better & more consistent every time I make a crust. I use a lot of flour to prevent sticking. I honestly think that pie/pastry crust can sense fear. So my best advice is to remain confident and calm, but try to work quickly. Once I start to fall apart, so does the crust. Seriously. I rolled it out right on the counter top, and then sort of scraped and folded it over bit by bit onto the parchment paper, until it was upside-down and completely on the paper in one piece.
- If you have the time (I did not), let it cool completely before transferring it onto a platter, or heck: just eat it hot. Steve & I tried the 3-spatula teamwork approach to move it over, and it completely broke apart. I was pretty ticked, but he did a good job of discreetly piecing it back together while I stood there and said bad words.

Things that make my heart happy, right here.

Two rhubarb recipes under my belt now! I wonder if we'll get any more this season, or if it has run its course? Either way, our fruit share officially starts this Thursday, which I am super pumped for. Rhubarb or no, there are more weekend desserts in our future!