Almond and Pear Galette

With a abundance of pears I went looking for a recipe that would use things I already had in the house. This one was a real find. We loved it.
I didn't include the Dulce de Leche which I think from hunting online is a bit like caramelised condensed milk. It might be a nice addition when I make it again.
I think that lots of different fruits could be used...maybe even feijoas when they are in season again.



Almond Pear Galette with Dulce de Leche
Pastry - your favourite recipe or this one or this one.  

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp butter, cold, cut into 1/2" cubes
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp cold water

Cream:
1 large egg white
3 tbsp powdered sugar
4 tbsp finely ground almonds
4 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp almond extract

Filling:
3 firm, ripe pears such as Bosc or Bartlett, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp ground star anise
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt 

1/4 cup sugar (I used coconut sugar, but granulated or cane sugar would work as well) 
4 tsp butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dulce de leche

To make the pastry, combine the flour, butter, and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse until crumbly.  In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with the lemon juice and water.  Add to the flour mixture, with the motor running.  Dough should be soft.  Gather into a disc, wrap in plastic.
Pastry should be chilled in fridge for at least one hour. 

For the cream:  whisk together egg white and powdered sugar in a bowl until frothy, about a minute.  Stir in almonds, butter, almond extract.  Whisk and refrigerate. 

For the filling:  toss pears with lemon juice, zest, spices and salt. 

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Roll pastry out on a lightly floured counter.  You are aiming for about 12 inches diameter.  Line a bakesheet with parchment paper.  Fold your pastry in half and gently lift onto the bakesheet.  Lay it out flat.  Spread the cream evening, leaving a 1-inch border.  Arrange pear slices in concentric circles over the cream.  Sprinkle with sugar and sprinkle bits of butter on top of pears.  Fold edges of pastry over pears.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes until golden and pears tender.  Dollop the dulce de leche on tart and put it back in oven for another 5 minutes, just so it's melted.  Remove from oven and if you like, take your pastry brush and gently brush the dulce so it evenly covers the surface of tart.  Let it stand for 5 minutes, then place on cooling rack to cool completely.  Serve at room temp with a little whipped cream or ice cream.  Serves 6-8. 

Middle Eastern Orange Cake - recipe

I had a friend coming for lunch who was gluten intolerant. After a previous disastrous lunch where I tried to make gluten free bread, I decided to take a different approach today.

Today's lunch was a rotisserie chicken (not based in soy sauce because even that has gluten in it!), salads and a baked layered potato dish (I used sliced fennel in the layers which was nice but not a strong flavour). 

We tried something new with the chicken and soaked it in brine (salty water), lemon on herbs for a day, then dried it out in the fridge overnight. I then just based with olive oil and garlic salt when it was cooking. It turned out beautifully. It looks burned in the picture but it was more smokey charred. It's a really good and easy way to cook it.

This was followed by a Middle Eastern Orange cake that was made using ground almond meal rather than flour. The really interesting part of the cake was that the recipe starts with 2 whole oranges simmered for 2 hours in water. This is not something I had come across before. They came out really soft, but not mushy...almost like cutting through butter.

The cake gets added to the 'make again' list. It was a cross between a cake and a pudding and despite having almond meal instead of flour, still had a reasonably light consistency. It looked quite dry before I cut into it but was wonderfully moist.

I served it with greek yoghurt made in the yoghurt maker and peeled orange segments.

Middle Eastern Orange Cake

Ingredients

Serves: 10

• 5 large oranges
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 2¼ cups ground almonds
• 1¼ cups caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain low-fat yoghurt

Preparation method

Prep: 30 minutes | Cook: 3 hours

1.

Wash 2 of the oranges and place in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Allow the oranges to cool, then cut open, remove the pips and roughly chop the flesh.

2.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Grease and flour a 22-cm springform tin. Process the cooked oranges, eggs, ground almonds, sugar and baking powder in a food processor.

3.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 1 hour or until the centre is firm (note that this is a very moist cake). Cool in the tin before gently turning out.

4.

Peel the remaining oranges with a small paring knife. Separate the orange segments from the membranes. Serve the cake with the fresh orange segments and some yoghurt on the side.