Themes - Gracious and Good, Next Steps
Food/Tech Tie In – Par-cooking Filling, Galette Production
I wish I had a Nana (Esther) or Ma (Clarissa) story to go along with the Apple Galette recipe just released but alas...as we were a Sweet Potato Pie or Blue Berry Pie lane fam, I don’t. We enjoyed a good Apple Pie here and there, no doubt but...the road that led to the Apple Galette and the focus of this BLOG, the “Spring Form Pan”, emanated elsewhere.
Now the Apple Pie was a Cousin Mattie Thing. She was a grandma-ish, cousin-ish of the older folks, lived close by, sold “for real” soul food dinners out of her home on Saturdays, complete with dessert. ALL of her food along with her 4-6 dessert options, were equally loved by her customers including her Apple pie. Having my turn at working for her, taking orders, wrapping plates of pork chops, collard greens and potato salad in wax paper, placing them in brown grocery bags folded sideways to accommodate the yeast rolls and often, Apple Pie placed on top, I was able to taste everything she made at least once and as a kid I was extra focused on the desserts. Imagine that 🤣
Truth moment - Apple pie wasn’t in my top 20 sweet delights to pursue, and it took years and time in Paris, France checking out Tart Tatins (Apple Tarts) that were on a whole other level to get me there. Tart Tatin apples sliced thin, caramelized in butter in a straight or sloped sided skillet, spices and flavorings added in before putting the crust on top and flipping over when done, was what raised the apple and a crust combo a little higher as a dessert choice.
Higher than cheesecake? Not sure about that. I mean cheesecake was elevated. It required a whole different pan, that graham cracker or cookie crust that had to be pressed into bottom and ever so slightly up the sides. Based on how much butter was in it, incorporating an aluminum foil base first that cleverly covered the outside of the bottom, then snapped into place, locking in for the cheesecake ride via the latch of the spring form pan, the foil too creeping up the sides... seemed part of the level up deal.
My cheesecake making skills were ok when I was just starting out on my own and I have blown through quite a few spring form pans over the years including a heart shape one that I have no idea what happened to. It must be with all of the missing pan bottoms, one foot of a pair of socks and plastic container lids. The good news is, I improved over the years and can flex easily with lemon, almond, sweet potato and wait for it...apple cheesecake
So skip forward a few decades to going apple picking here in North Carolina with the girls. I mean, reaching up in the trees, lifting, twisting and putting in the bucket, apple picking. We all came home with more apples than needed (of course) and that’s after eating apple everything at the orchard. Did I mention having apples already in the fridge. What to do, what to do?
With dough in hand, a spring form pan on the wrist, it was time to bring all the memories to the kitchen and produce something new.
I got right to it, peeling, coring, slicing apples into 1/4” wedges, soaking them in water with lemon juice to deter browning, cooking them down a little to start that natural pectin thing happening. Spices, flavorings and butter bringing it all together before then turning this infused wonder into its vessel. Yesss, that buttered spring form pan that’s been lined with dough waits to put a crust hug on the layers of pommes.
Whats cool about a galette is, you get all the goodness of a pie with one third less guilt, save for all the extra butter used to get that cook down started🤣, and...it looks cool, fancy even, like super-duper extra work went into it, which it did cause getting that dough to stick to the sides of the spring form pan so the apples can be spooned in, takes some stick-to-it-ness but...the end result is worth it.
Using the spring form pan also creates sides and allows them to get a little heat on them, a little crust on the crust as it were, that flakes ever so gently when cut into. HereInMyKitchen...that's exactly how I like it.
So that’s the story of “The Apple Galette, The Spring Form Pan and How I Got There”. Good Ingredients and Good Technique does indeed deliver, Good Food.
