All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013
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Wow. Last night I was just not myself. I blame the overpowering stench of the decomposing rat in my walls somewhere – somewhere near my kitchen. I am not sure how many of you have had this experience but it is wildly unpleasant & sometimes can linger for a week or more. Once that smell is in your olfactory memory bank, you never forget it. In fact, if you are in the early days of said decomposition – you feel like that smell is on your upper lip & you start smelling it everywhere. I got in my car yesterday & swore I smelled it. I took my car to to the car wash as a concession to my paranoia. They found no dead rats. I swore I smelled it as I strolled the aisles at my glorious Super King. I wondered how super markets are NOT overrun with rats. All that food & produce. How are rats not all over it at night? Why do I have to store my flour etc in my fridge & freezer to avoid those little bugs that get in them – but stores can have stuff on the shelves forever & nothing invades? I’m not a dirty girl. My house isn’t dirty. Anyway – I digress.
I decided that, rather than concede defeat & eat out last night, I would cook a lot of aromatic foods & try to combat the vile stench that way. And I am happy to say, I was largely successful. Today, I baked some sweet potatoes & now I smell autumn & holidays more than – you know what.
So – I made this galette last night. It is basically an open-faced pie without the benefit of a pie plate to shape it. They can be made sweet or savory. This one is, obviously, savory. I used a mix of crimini, portobello & oyster. You can use any mix you like or use all white mushrooms. It doesn’t matter. I used blue cheese. You can use goat cheese or feta or gorgonzola – your call. I made the crust from scratch. You can use a pre-made crust – or even a filo pastry. Don’t get intimidated. Just do whatever works for you.
I also made a faux bacon from eggplant slices. It doesn’t taste like bacon AT ALL but it is smoky and oddly satisfying. And the eggplant I used looked like a gorgeous leopard. Not sure why. I ate a bunch just standing there at the stove – trying to fill my head with other sensory experiences than dead rat. Then – perhaps all doped up on the toxic fumes that had filled my house all day – I FORGOT to use it in the galette recipe! So – I just took bites of it as I ate my slice of galette & it was very yummy. So – I will include the faux bacon as a potential ingredient but it certainly is not necessary. If you are a whore for real bacon – feel free to fry some up & crumble it into the mushrooms when they are done.
Finally – I want to note that photographing cooked mushrooms is a tricky business. They tend to get very dark & photograph as inky muck – so – be kind.
Mixed Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette in Sour Cream Pastry with Smoky Eggplant Faux Bacon (Vegetarian)
INGREDIENTS
For the Sour Cream Pastry Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1/4 pound) of butter – cut into small cubes & then FROZEN
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 ice water
For the Mixed Mushroom & Blue Cheese filling
Between 1-1.5 lbs mixed mushrooms (I used crimini, portobello & oyster) – sliced thin or coarsely chopped
4 TBS butter
4 garlic cloves – minced
3 scallions – sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 cup sherry (or dry white wine)
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
4 ounces blue cheese (or goat cheese or feta or gorgonzola or other) – crumbled
S&P
For the Smoky Eggplant Faux Bacon
1/2 large eggplant – sliced 1/8 thick
2 TBS soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
DIRECTIONS
For the Sour Cream Pastry Crust
Combine salt & flour in a bowl (I did all this in my food processor but it can be done in a bowl, too). Add the butter & mix or pulse until just combined & it resembles a coarse meal.
Whisk the sour cream, ice water & lemon juice together.
With a wooden spoon (or pulsing in the food processor), slowly add the sour cream mixture until you get large lumps. Collect into a large ball of dough & wrap in plastic wrap & refrigerate for at least an hour.
For the Mixed Mushroom & Blue Cheese filling
In a large saute pan, melt 2 TBS of the butter (half the butter) over high heat. Add the mushrooms and a scant pinch of salt & fry them over high heat until they release their liquid & then most of it has evaporated off. Add the garlic & scallions & saute until the mushrooms begin to brown & sear a bit. Add the sherry & cook it off then lower the heat to medium. Add the second 2 TBS butter & the herbs & saute until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat & allow to cool.
Crumble the cheese & set aside.
Parsley – chopped – as garnish
For the Smoky Eggplant Faux Bacon
Heat the oven to 425 & prepare a cooking sheet with cooking spray. Place the eggplant in a single layer & bake 8 minutes on one side & flip & cook another 3-5 – until it begins to brown. You might need to do this in several shifts to cook all your eggplant. Remove from the oven & allow to cool a bit. Lower the oven temperature to 350.
Mix the soy sauce & liquid smoke in a bowl. Dunk each slice of cooked eggplant in the liquid & put back on the cooking sheet. Cook another 3-5 minutes.
Eat it like it is – or layer it into your galette.
To assemble the galette
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
On a floured surface – roll your sour cream pastry out to about a 12 inch circle.
Place the crust on a cooking sheet treated with cooking spray or topped with parchment paper or foil treated with cooking spray.
If you are using the faux bacon – layer it on the crust leaving 1.5 inch border (to be folded over later).
Drop 2/3 of the cheese onto the crust leaving that 1.5 inch border (to be folded over later). Top with the mushroom mixture (leaving that border) & then fold the edges over the top – pleating if you can – leaving the center uncovered.
Bake for 30 minutes or so & then top with the remaining cheese crumbles. Bake another 5-10 minutes or until your crust is golden.
Remove from the oven & allow it to rest 5 minutes or so before cutting into it.
Garnish with chopped parsley & indulge!!!
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