The Fruits Of My (non) Labor...

Now that I am unemployed I have lots of time to try new recipes. This week's theme? Fruit.

Cherry Apricot Galette
I bought a lot of cherries on sale this week. After washing, de-stemming and pitting enough fruit to make this galette + chef's snacks, I found I had enough leftover to dehydrate an entire tray of cherries as well.

My mom used to make this super easy and very tasty dessert during the summer because it's so light and infinitely adaptable to whatever fruits you have on hand, but cherry apricot is particularly tasty.
I made pie crust from scratch for the first time using Alton Brown's recipe but I used all butter. I think my kitchen was too hot and that I should have used an additional alternate fat because the pastry tasted more like a butter cookie than flaky pastry.
(as an alternative, nothing wrong with frozen pastry dough!)

Ingredients:

nota bene: the amount of fruit, nuts, preserves etc all depends on how big your want your galette and how think a layer of fruit you'd like. I don't recommend too thick or much wider than 10" final diameter, or else your crust gets soggy.

Pie crust/pastry dough (fresh or frozen)
Fruit preserves (I used apricot)
Dried fruit is best, but fresh fruit that isn't too watery is alright too (I used cherries)
Chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans, something with a sweet, soft meat)
Milk
White sugar

1. Roll out your dough to make a rough circle, approximately 1/8"-1/4" thick.
2. Spread your preserves of choice on the dough, leaving approximately 1" of crust around the edge.
3. Sprinkle a moderate layer of dried fruits and an accent of chopped nuts into the center. Leave about 2" of crust around the outside.
4. Fold the edge of the crust into the center. You want to show off the fruits in the middle and the edges do not have to be pretty; think "rustic" style...
5. Brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with a few teaspoons of white sugar (brown sugar has too much moisture but will work in a pinch)
6. Bake in a 400 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until your crust is pretty.



Cherry Pie with Coconut Crumb Topping


Did I mention I had a LOT of cherries? I had to get rid of a bunch- fast. Cherry pie was the obvious pick here. I snagged the recipe from epicurious and had so much leftover filling that I made four mini crumbles, one of which is seen here.

After reading reviews I added extra vanilla and a splash of almond extract to the cherry filling. I probably would have done way more oats to the topping because I love oatmeal and maybe would have added sliced or slivered almonds for extra substance. I didn't have quick cooking tapioca, just small tapioca pearls, which I threw in nonetheless.

Now, I haven't tried the actual pie with the crust bottom and crumble top, only a little ramekin which has just filling and some crumble. But based on that: The filling was really well flavored. The lemon juice adds just enough tart to keep it interesting and accent the sweet of the cherries The coconut in the topping was an excellent addition in both texture and flavor. My only complaint? My mouth was very, very sticky afterwards. This definitely required milk or ice cream or whipped topping to go with it. Or maybe if you added cranberries or raspberries to the mix to lighten it up a little... that would probably be delicious.

For asthetic (spelling?) reasons, I would use cornstarch in future. The little dots of uncooked tapioca pearls looked like pomegranate seeds, with much the same texture.


Orange Pecan Ice Box Cookies
(adapted from Sunset's Orange Refrigerator cookie recipe)

I was up late one night with a lack of ingredients, an urge to bake, and an old orange. Alas! What to do? Zest the orange, and find a recipe.
I found a Sunset magazine's "Best-Ever Cookies" issue hiding on my bookshelves from christmas and got the basic idea from the following recipe, then changed a few minor things to my liking.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
3 cups flour
1/2 cup minced walnuts (in this case, pecans)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
(and a splash of vanilla)

1. In a bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, orange peel and vanilla until well blended.
2. Add all dry ingredients and nuts, mix well.
3. Spoon the dough onto a sheet of wax paper or saran wrap and form a 2.5" thick log. Wrap the logs in the paper or plastic wrap and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
   
4. Slice the logs into 1/8" inch slices and place on greased cookie sheet.
   
5. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes until edges are barely browned.

I actually halved this recipe and made thicker slices. If you like cripy cookies, go for thin. Otherwise they stay a little softer the thicker they are.

I'm usually kind of hesitant on the orange + baking combo, but wow these were delightful. And they made my kitchen smell fantastic while baking. They remind me of tea cookies, thin and crispy, light flavor and not heavy at all. A nice buttery cookie with a more elegant twist.

Dehydrator-dried Cherry Tomatoes

Definitely doesn't sound as romantic as "sun dried", but remember these guys? Well, about 36 hours on the dehydrator turned them into red raisins. I tried one straight up and I think I actually overdid it or cherry tomators are just not good candidates for drying, it wasn't fantastic. It might be an ingredient that can only be used in combination with other flavors, but we'll see how it goes.