Monday, July 12, 2010

Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette

Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette [photo]

Have you ever donned a beret, smudged your eyeliner, put on a some red lipstick and pretended to be French? Strolling along the imaginary river Seine while nibbling at a baguette topped with some stinky cheese. Or perhaps your fantasies veer more towards the cheeky Italian type - your Vespa snaking through the streets on your way to meet your Italian Stallion.

After the last World Cup game I'd be willing to bet that quite a few people have abandoned their French and Italian flights of fantasy in favour of cracking open a bottle of rioja to celebrate Spain's World Cup win. And, even though I backed the Netherlands (my backup team since Germany was cheated out of the World Cup by that octo-douche octopus), after seeing the overjoyed Spanish crowd a part of me wished I was one of them.

Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette [photo]

But, in the grand scheme of things, Spain still only took second place in the World Cup of Awesomeness. The crown sits squarely on the heads of all South Africans, who not only hosted the games with great aplomb (to the astonishment of all the nay-sayers - booyah!) but banded together to display a national pride that quite honestly blew my mind. And left me feeling warm and fuzzy, if you'll permit me an extra helping of cheese. For one month, all our differences were forgotten amidst the paaaarp of the vuvuzelas and the numerous "so wave your flag" choruses. And I sincerely hope that now that it is officially no longer here, we will still wave our proverbial flags, clutched firmly to our hearts.

(All this if course has absolutely nothing to do with this buttery crispy pastry shell encasing an assortment of mushrooms and stinky cheese, but hell, I think this is one of the only times I'll be able to get away with such a gloriously off-topic patriotic moment. Make this galette tough - it'll make your heart swell with pride too).

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging #242, which will be hosted by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook this week.

Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette [photo]


Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 8 slices

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups white bread flour
1/4 tsp salt
125g (1 stick) cold butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
30g (1 oz) dried wild mushrooms (I used oyster)
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic
250g (approx 1/2 lb) white button mushrooms, sliced
250g (approx 1/2 lb) brown mushrooms, sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
4 spring onions, sliced into rings
pinch black pepper
pinch of salt
125 g blue cheese

1. Place flour, salt and butter in a bowl and, using your fingertips, work butter into flour, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Mix sour cream, lemon juice and ice water together. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the liquid into the formed hole. Carefully mix, until just combined (do not overwork the dough), then form into a rough ball, cover and refrigerate for an hour.
3. To make the filling: Cover dried mushrooms with boiling water and allow to rehydrate - this will take approximately 30 minutes. Drain and chop finely.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium  heat, then add garlic, button mushrooms, brown mushrooms and rosemary. Saute until the mushrooms start to soften, then add spring onions, salt and pepper. Increase heat and cook until all the liquid coming off the mushrooms have evaporated.
5. Add the re-hydrated mushrooms and mix to combine. Set aside to cool slightly.
6. Meanwhile, roll dough out onto a floured surface into a rough circle. about 30 cm (12 inch) in diameter. Transfer to a baking sheet (or you can just use heavy duty foil as I do - less washing up!).
7. Crumble the blue cheese into the cooled mushrooms, stir to combine, then spread onto the dough, leaving a 5 cm (1 1/2 inch) border. Fold the edges of the dough in over the filling, pleating to make it fit (the center should be open).
8. Place in the oven and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until golden brown. If necessary, brush with milk about 5 minutes before you take the galette out of the oven to ensure browning of the pastry. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for about 5 minutes (this allows the pastry to harden and firm up), then serve.

22 comments:

Joanne on July 12, 2010 1:29 am said...

Yes! Congrats to the South Africans for pulling off such a fabulous event! The galette looks absolutely lovely. Although is anything better than blue cheese? Hmmm. No.

Anonymous said...

we had galette's in Brittany - the regional food of the Bretons, and they are buckwheat pancakes - was quite interested to see this version. PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN Tandy

Marisa on July 12, 2010 8:30 am said...

Joanne - Cheese in any form wins me over every time..

Tandy - Interesting, have not heard of the buckwheat pancake version. Off to google it!

nina on July 12, 2010 9:01 am said...

I have been toiling with the idea of a galette for some time now.....clearly we are foodie sistas!!! Looks really really flaky and delicious!!

Claudz on July 12, 2010 1:55 pm said...

Looks delicious! Great photos

PinkPolkaDot on July 12, 2010 4:01 pm said...

This looks and sounds wonderful - I love the styling - very pretty!!! PinkPolkaDot

Valerie Gamine on July 12, 2010 4:14 pm said...

I agree 100%, South Africa proved that the beauty of it's landscape, extends into all of it's people as well. Brilliant show!
This galette looks fantastic, I love blue cheese!

Anonymous said...

I am way too hungry to look at this. Yum!

Marisa on July 12, 2010 4:34 pm said...

Nina - sistahs forever! :-) I'm sure you'll make a mean galette.

Claudz - Thank you!

PinkPolkaDot - Thanks, I played around a bit with the styling, got a bit bored with straight pics.

Valerie - Proud to call myself South-African! Oh and blue cheese FTW of course.

Love and Stuff - Shall I send you some over, stat?

Dewi on July 12, 2010 4:41 pm said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes marissa, you are so sweet.

Lovely galette, I really like the combination of mushroom and cheese. Delicious.

test it comm on July 13, 2010 2:31 am said...

Mushrooms, blue cheese and flaky butter pastry is a magical flavour combination!

Cindy on July 13, 2010 7:54 am said...

This is perfect to serve with my roast chicken tonight; will blog it tomorrow, thanks!

polkadotcupcake on July 13, 2010 11:31 am said...

Crikey. This has mushrooms and blue cheese. Are you trying to kill me? or just impress me with your magnificence? Cos it's working. I'm inviting myself around for dinner STAT. I have a large bottle of wine that needs drinking.

Jamie on July 13, 2010 2:25 pm said...

Congratulations to the South Africans and the Spanish who so deserved to win this cup! Was all very exciting! And yes, thank you, I'll have a slice of this fabulous mushroom & blue cheese galette! A fantastic combo all wrapped up in a crust. Yum!

Marisa on July 13, 2010 3:27 pm said...

Elra - Thanks for dropping by; lovely to have you!

Kevin - Isn't it just? Already thinking of a repeat performance...

Cindy - Should be super with roast chicken yes.

Polkadot - Yes, I haven't forgotten about that bottle of Magnum young lady. I'm watching you.

Jamie - Virtual slice on its way to you. :-)

Prerna on July 13, 2010 6:04 pm said...

Hey Marisa,
Thanks a lot for visiting my space and also introducing me to yours. I'm loving every bit of what I'm seeing here. You are doing a very good job making it pretty and informative.
I would love to share the recipe for barfi with you. Will try and do that soon sometime.
Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Susan on July 14, 2010 8:45 pm said...

Great rustic pie, Marisa. I'm sure Paul would pick it as a winner. ; )

Thanks for sharing your recipe for WHB!

Lori on July 15, 2010 2:25 pm said...

I never think of doing savory galettes. This one looks amazing. I am such a fan of blue cheese this would be my kind of meal!

cindy on July 15, 2010 4:39 pm said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anh on July 20, 2010 1:24 am said...

I really like the look and the sound of this galette! Will make it very soon. Thanks for the inspiration.

napier said...

Looks, sounds and I am sure tastes fantastic. Have printed the recipe and will try and wow the friends. Thanks for sharing

spice racks on July 31, 2010 3:58 pm said...

Those are lovely galette! I wanna try those..

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