Heirloom tomato and herb galette

Heirloom tomato and herb galette, originally uploaded by *April*.

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
generous pinch (around 1/4 teaspoon) grey fleur-de-sel (sea salt - you can use regular table salt or plain sea salt if you don't have the grey variety available)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces (very cold)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup very cold water

For the filling:
1/2 pint yellow pear tomatoes
2 or 3 black krim tomatoes
3 tablespoons soft goat cheese (you can use any variety)
1/2 teaspoon grey fleur-de-sel
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh variegated basil, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1. First you need to make the pastry. Using a high speed mixer combine all of the pastry ingredients except for the water and sour cream. Once the mixture makes large clumps, slowly mix in the sour cream and cold water. The dough will resemble peas in size. Be very careful not to overwork the dough. Don't be afraid to leave fairly large (sugar cube size) chunks of butter in the dough as they will give the finished galette a flakier crust. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Slice tomatoes thinly.

3. Place the dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and roll out to around a 12 inch circle.

4. Take sliced tomatoes and arrange in neat rows or another design of your choosing on top of the dough, leaving about a 2 inch gap around the edge. Obviously this is just an aesthetic step - all that matters is that the tomatoes are very thinly sliced. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and sea salt. Fold the border over the tomatoes, pleating it gently with your fingers as you go. Gently crumble goat cheese on top of the tomatoes. A galette is intended to be rustic looking, so perfection is not necessary. Leave the center of the galette open and uncovered by the dough.

5. Bake until the edges of the crust are flaky and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges with a pizza cutter.

The galette can be served hot, warm or at room temperature. The dough can alternatively be used with a wide variety of fruit fillings, and you can freeze the dough for up to two months if well wrapped. If you freeze the dough, defrost the frozen dough in the refrigerator for a day before using.

Smooth, tangy and cold.

Smooth, tangy and cold., originally uploaded by *April*.

When I was in graduate school, I dated a guy who was from Shreveport, Louisiana. Every once in a while, we'd drive from Waco all the way to Shreveport for this amazing frozen yogurt from a little hole in the wall called "counter culture" that was perfect. It was tangy, and they paired it with fresh berries and fruit. This reminded me somewhat of that perfect marriage of sweet and tartness.

Ingredients:

1 tub of greek style yogurt. I used Trader Joe's Mango Apricot, but any flavor, or just plain would be fine.
1 tsp. poppyseeds
1/2 scant cup of fresh red currants, washed and left whole
1/2 scant cup of small fresh blueberries, washed and left whole
1 tsp. agave syrup (you could also use sugar)
2 tbsp. water

Mix the yogurt, poppyseeds, syrup and water and gently fold in the berries and currants. Spoon into two ramekins and freeze for approximately 3 hours. You can either eat them directly out of the ramekins or unmold them and serve inverted on a plate with a berry coulis.

Greenwheat Freekeh

Greenwheat Freekeh, originally uploaded by *April*.

Picked up a package of Trader Joe's Greenwheat Freekeh last week and found that it was a perfect accompaniment to a mix of freshly grilled herbed summer squash.

Ingredients (two hearty portions):

olive oil (just a splash or two)
red pepper flakes
sea salt
1 large zucchini
1 yellow summer squash
cherry tomatoes, halved
goat cheese (1 oz. per portion)
fresh rosemary, greek oregano and basil
splash of balsamic vinegar

Slice the zucchini and summer squash into cubes or quartered thick slices and out into a shallow skillet with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt, a tsp. or so of red pepper flakes (more or less to taste), oregano and rosemary. Saute until tender.

Cook greenwheat freekeh according to package directions, plate. Top freekeh with grilled vegetables, goat cheese and halved cherry tomatoes. Splash vegetables and goat cheese with balsamic vinegar and a pinch of fresh basil.

You can use dried herbs, but the end result will not have the same fresh taste.

The dish could easily be made vegan minus the goat cheese.