Apple and Goat Cheese Galette

Yay for holiday weekends! Jeff and I both have Presidents' Day off and we've made the most of our three days together. On Saturday we hiked two miles up to Sandstone Peak in the Santa Monica Mountains on accident. Neither of us are much for hiking and especially at an incline. We planned on driving to the grotto trail which leads past a waterfall with no uphill walking whatsoever, but parked too soon. Whoops! It was still pretty incredible with the most gorgeous views. I posted a few pictures to Instagram (you can follow me at anylovelything).

Sunday I woke up starving with one thing on my mind, In-N-Out. There is no substitution for the real thing and before we hustled West, we had to stop by Osh to have a key made. Have you ever had your key get stuck in a lock, then have your boyfriend take off your doorknob trying to fix it for two hours on a Friday at 11:00pm? No? Well, I don't recommend it.  We dined and I went from on-edge-of-a-hanger-breakdown to a happy normal person. It was miraculous. With my attitude in check we stopped by the driving range. While Jeff started whacking golf balls right away I studied the other guys swinging their clubs. There was one guy in particular probably in his 70's who hit the ball so gracefully and effortlessly and his ball would sail for forever. I practiced his stance and I'll be darned if I didn't hit better than ever before, actually launching the ball in the air AND going straight!

 

Today when I woke up at 7:00, because I forgot to turn off my alarm, I was in the mood for something simple, and beautiful, and rustic. This galette (like a free form pie) was exactly it. I wanted a bit of savory with the sweet so I added goat cheese. The apples are sweet, the cheese tangy, and the crust buttery and flaky.

I hope your week is scrumptious,
Ashley

 

Apple and Goat Cheese Galette
*loosely adapted from this recipe by the inimitable Jacques Pepin

For the crust

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsps sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick plus 2 tbsp cold butter cut into pieces 
• 1/3 cup ice water

For the filling

• 2 to 3 Braeburn apples (any baking apple will do, this is just what Trader Joe's had in stock)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey plus more for drizzling
• 1 tbsp butter cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsps goat cheese

In a bowl, combine the flour with the sugar, salt, and butter and pinch with your fingers until a sand like dough forms. It should take about three minutes. You want to break up the butter into the flour, but not combine completely. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and combine until the pastry just begins to come together, you should still be able to see small pieces of butter in it. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, gather it together and pat into a disk. Wrap the pastry in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate until chilled while you work on the apples.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, halve, and core the apples and slice them crosswise 1/8 inch thick. I used nearly two full apples so it's a good idea to have a third apple on hand in case you need a few more slices. Set aside the larger center slices and coarsely chop the end slices and any broken ones; about half of the slices should be chopped. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. 

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a 12-by-12-inch circle, the dough should be about 1/4 inch thick, and transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Drizzle the honey over the chopped apples. Decoratively arrange the apple slices on top in concentric circles or in slightly overlapping rows. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the apples and dot with the pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples to create a 1-inch border.

Bake the galette for about 45 minutes, until the pastry is nicely browned and crisp and all of the apples are tender. Once out of the oven break up pieces of goat's cheese and sprinkle on top. Drizzle the whole galette with honey. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.