For the next few days I am visiting my good friends in San Diego, Ken and Grant. I also have the pleasure of working with my friend Patrick. This evening we are hosting a party for about 15 people.
Ken and I have decided to serve a beef stew served over homemade egg noodles, spinach, grilled romaine and for dessert pear galette with bourbon and brown sugar.
The galettes are so easy to make and everyone always loves them. You can do what my mother does and buy crust from the grocer or make your own pate brisee, which is so very easy to prepare. I personally like to make the crust on my own, but my mother chooses to purchase her's to save time. Either is good. For the recipe at the link above I use brown sugar instead of regular sugar.
For the galette you will need to prepare one brisee recipe, which will give you enough for two crusts. The nice thing about brisee is that it can be frozen. If you want to make two just double the recipe below.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the filling by removing the skin and seeds from the pear and cutting into thin slices. Place into a mixing bowl and squeeze the juice of one lemon onto the pears. Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar that has been packed, 1/2 cup of bourbon (I use Maker's Mark), 1/2 cup of flour and 1 tsp of salt. Mix very well and set aside.
To prepare your crust roll out the dough onto a large piece of wax paper that has been sprinkled with flour (you may need to use two pieces). Flour your rolling pin as this will make the process much easier.
Flip over the wax paper and transfer the dough to a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Roll up the corners of the dough to form an edge; this will help to keep your pear mixture in. Place the pears into the crust and then brush the edges with egg wash (egg whites and a little bit of water all mixed up - use one egg and a 1/2 tbsp of water).
Place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the curst is golden brown. Serve with fresh whipped cream.
Comments