I love those lazy, hazy,
crazy days of summer. When the heat
keeps you from moving too fast, watermelon is eaten at every meal and chocolate
ice cream is considered a main course.
April and May were a
blur,
June was gone in a
blink,
and as I roll into August I
see summer slowly slipping behind me.
May 9th we
returned home from a 2 ½ week vacation in southern California with temps. consistently in the
90’s . I came home truly believing we had just lived summer and was surprised
when I walked in to my office, looked at my calendar and saw it was the middle
of May. How can that be?
In the midst of traveling,
and gardening, picnicing at the beach, making time for friends, more temps. in
the mid 90’s and back yard parties, I’m rereading “A Day In Tuscany” by Francis
Mayes. As I turn the pages I’m right back in Italy standing at her iron gate
just out of Cortona and picking lavender from her rock wall to tuck in my
journal. She talks about neighbors
frequently gathering at their outdoor tables and bringing whatever it might be
that they’re cooking that night. For Italians it’s all about the gathering. And layers and layers of food.
I keep dreaming of creating little Italy in our
neighborhood.
Summer fun. . .
One of our friends is recuperating
from neck surgery. We gave him 2 weeks
to move past the initial pain of healing until we would show up for a
visit. Yesterday morning I made crepes,
cut up fresh strawberries, and whipped “real” cream, packed it in a cooler and
my hubby and I headed to our friends. We
sat on their patio sharing stories and eating strawberry crepes, while one of
those warm balmy summer breezes swirled around us, squirrels scampered up and
down trees and the resident birds performed
a symphony.
sigh. . .
Is there such a thing as a
dessert without chocolate?
Say it isn’t so. . .
Standing in line at the
grocery store last week my eyes fell upon the latest copy of bon
appétit and
gracing its cover was a picture of
“Blueberry-Pecan Galette”. The book was
added to my cart and later that week as we entertained friends for
dinner it was served
for dessert with vanilla ice cream.
I know. . .
Yum!
So easy and fun to make. And dare I say, pretty close to healthy. Now, if they could
just put “butter” on the healthy food list.
I think it’s close.
. .
Until then, I’m living - as if.
. .
Dough
½ c. pecans
1 cup plus 2 tblsp.
all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) chilled
unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Filling
12 oz. blueberries (2 cups)
1 tblsp. cornstarch
1 ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ cup sugar, plus more for
sprinkling
All-purpose flour (for
surface)
2 tblsp. milk, half-and-half,
or heavy cream
Dough
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toast almonds on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until
fragrant and
slightly darkened, 10-15 minutes. Let
cool. Pulse pecans in a food processor
until the consistency of course meal. Add flour, sugar, salt, and
cinnamon and pulse just
to combine. Add
butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size
pieces remaining.
Transfer to a large bowl,
drizzle with a Tblsp. of ice water and mix, adding another
Tblsp. of water if
needed, just until mixture comes together.
Gently pat dough into a
6” -diameter disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at
least one hour.
Dough can be made 2 days
ahead. Keep chilled, or freeze up to 1
month.
Filling & Assembly
Preheat oven to 375
degrees. Toss blueberries, cornstarch,
lemon juice and ¼ c. sugar
in a large bowl.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to
a 12” round. Carefully
transfer to a
parchment-lined baking sheet. ( I rolled the dough out on the parchment
paper. So much easier) Mound blueberries in center of dough, leaving
a 2” border.
Fold edges over,
overlapping slightly. Brush dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake galette until crust is
dark golden brown and filling is bubbling.
45-50 minutes.
Let cool before
serving.
