Broccoli and Feta Galette

We got a new cookbook! It is called Frame by Frame Baking. What makes this book awesome is that it gives you photos of each step of each recipe. It is pretty cool. The first recipe we chose to try was the Broccoli, Pancetta, and Bleu Cheese Galette. It says that it serves four and I think it could easily serve four people. If you were using it as an appetizer, it might even serve six. As you will see, I modified it a little bit from the original recipe.

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry dough (Half a box)
3 cups of broccoli florets – halved (I used frozen broccoli florets so I didn’t bother steaming them)
4.5oz/125g Pancetta, diced
1 small red onion (I substituted half a white onion because I already had it)
3.5oz Bleu cheese, chopped (I used crumbled feta cheese instead)
ground black pepper
toasted pine nuts, for garnishing (I left this out)
(I added 2 cloves of garlic as well)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Place the puff pastry – defrosted – on a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper (Or foil). Lightly score a line around the square only cutting halfway through the pastry to 1/2in(1cm) of the edge of the pastry square.

Steam or boil the broccoli for 4-5 minutes. If you use frozen broccoli, the cooking time in the saute pan is enough to warm it through.

Fry the pancetta with the onions and garlic, if you add it until everything is golden brown. Add in the broccoli and black pepper and stir.

Spread the filling over the puff pastry square, making sure to stay within the scored lines.

Scatter the pieces of cheese over the top evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and has risen up. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts and serve it warm.

The finished product:

It was very delicious. Ratalon said that it would be much better with the Bleu Cheese so next time, we will use that. I am just not a big fan of that type of cheese so I thought Feta would be a good replacement. This is looking good for our new cookbook. I always love when I get a new cookbook and the first recipe I choose to try is amazing like this one was. It gives me lots of faith that the rest of the recipes will be awesometastic as well! 😀

This one is simple and certainly worth trying!

 

Solstice’s Grandmother’s Pierogies!

Solstice’s lovely grandmother, Oma, took the time to type out her recipe for Pierogis for me. I fixed it to make it more readable but it is her recipe I used and it was worth the 7 hours it took me to make these. I have enough leftover to feed a small army tho. ;D

Ingredients:
Potato Filling —
* 1 c grated cheddar cheese
* salt and pepper
* 4-6 medium potatoes
* 1 tbsp finely diced onions
* 2 tbsp butter

Dough —
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 egg
* 1 tbsp butter, melted
* 1/2 cup water

Directions

* Step #1 Make the Potato Filling.
* Step #2 Cook the onion in 2 Tbsp butter until tender.
* Step #3 Add onions and the cheese to hot cooked potatoes and mash thoroughly. (I used a ricer.)
* Step #4 Spice up to taste with salt and pepper.
* Step #5 Set aside. Let cool to about room temperature before using.
* Step #6 Make the dough.
* Step #7 Mix 2 cups flour 1 tsp salt in a deep bowl.
* Step #8 Add egg, 1 Tbsp melted butter and enough water to make medium soft dough. (start with 1/4 cup)
* Step #9 Knead on floured board until smooth.
* Step #10 Divide dough into two parts – Cover up and let this stand for at least ten minutes.
* Step #11 Roll dough thin on floured board – about 1/16th of an inch
* Step #12 Cut dough into 2-1/2 inch squares. (I cut mine with a 2in round biscuit cutter)
* Step #13 Place a spoonful of filling on each square – fold over to form triangle.
* Step #14 Press edges together with fingers – wet one half of the edges to help the dough stick.
* Step #15 Place pierogi on floured board and cover with a damp tea towel to prevent drying.
* Step #16 Drop a few pierogies at a time into large quantity of rapidly boiling salted water – do not cook too many at a time. (I did about 6-8 of them at a time in a large pot)
* Step #17 Stir carefully with wooden spoon to separate and prevent from sticking to bottom of pot.
* Step #18 Continue to cook for 3 – 4 mins — Pierogi is ready when it begins to float or is well puffed.
* Step #19 Remove with perforated spoon to colander and drain thoroughly.
* Step #21 Place in deep dish, sprinkle and toss generously with melted butter and lightly browned onions in butter. (I sauteed them for another 2-3 minutes until they got a good, light golden crust on the outside)
* Step #22 Serve with sour cream and/or sliced crisp bacon.

I love these. I made entirely too much filling and had to make the dough recipe 4 times over before I ran out of filling tho. That was my fault because I also did another filling that Bean had given to me to do. Apparently, he was using me as a guinea pig however because he told me to record what I did. Here it is.

1/2 a cantaloupe, finely diced
3 1/4 inch slices of proscuitto, finely diced then fried til crisp
7 sun-dried figs, rehydrated in honey water, finely diced
1/2 the container of crumbled bleu cheese

I just mixed all those things together and stuffed the pierogies the same way that Oma does the potato ones. With this filling plus the potato filling (1/4 of which I set aside and added half a jalapeno to) I had way too much filling and not enough dough so I ended up making the same dough 4 times. By the last time though, I was really good at it and I also was lucky enough to have Carter’s help rolling it out.

Photos here:
Prosciutto – diced and sauteeing

Cantaloupe:

Figs rehydrating:

Potatoes with jalapeno:

Dough rounds:

Dough + pierogies:

Prosciutto/Melon mixture:

Potato and cheese:

Kielbasa sausage (served with it):

Completed Prosciutto Melon:

Completed Potato Jalapeno:

Completed Potato Pierogies:

Time for the frying pan!

I am so exhausted. I hope this post came out ok. Much love to Solstice and his Oma for the recipe!! It tasted just like it did when I was a kid! 😀