Strawberry Pretzel Salad: Two Ways

Today I bring you two recipes, the last ones of the summer. They’re reiterations of a dish I ate in church basements and birthday parties. At a beach in New Jersey once and at a middle school graduation. The strawberry pretzel salad.  My mother made it the night my sister said she was pregnant; it’s always been her favorite. It’s a dish that’s as economical as it is regional, as chimeric as it is delicious. A hodgepodge of flavors, strawberry Jell-O and crushed pretzels, a layer of sweetened cream cheese and set in a casserole dish. Salad in the loosest sense of the word. And here it is as a galette and as a handpie. For a different take on the dessert I ate by the bowlful, the taste of chlorine still on my lips from the three lazy months I could sit by the pool with no responsibility to keep me up at night.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad: as Handpies and Galettes

If you are unfamiliar with this dish, here is a pretty good version of it. The below two recipes are two sides of the same coin and can be made for any time of year. Frozen strawberries, while a good substitute, seem to yield a slightly thinner filling. 

For the Crust: Use this recipe for either of the below recipes

Ingredients:

• 4 TB unsalted butter, very cold
• 3 TB shortening, very cold
• 1 ½ cup AP flour
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ TB pure vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 TB ice water

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse together butter, shortening, flour, almond meal, and white sugar until fats are pea-sized
2. Add vanilla extract and pulse once or twice
3. With motor running, pour water into feeding tube in a gradual stream until a dough forms. You may need additional couple teaspoon or two of ice water until dough clumps and begins to pull away from edges of the bowl
4. Turn out onto a floured work surface and divide into two discs
5. Wrap both discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest

Ingredients for the Handpie/Galette filling: Use this recipe for either of the below recipes

• 3 cups strawberries, roughly chopped and hulled
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1/8 cup dark beer (I used Yuengling)
• 2 TB water
• Pinch of salt
• 1 TB orange juice
• A slurry of cornstarch (1 TB cornstarch whisked in 1 TB water) – do not make until cherries are reduced by half

Directions for the Handpie/Galette filling:

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine strawberries, sugar, beer, salt, water, and juice, stir with a spoon to ensure liquid is covering everything
2. On medium heat, allow for strawberries to release their juices and for sugar to dissolve
3. Continue heating until juices simmer and reduce by half (during this time, whisk together your slurry)
4. Reduce heat to low and vigorously whisk in the slurry
5. Mixture will begin to thicken and continue thickening as it coo

Assembly of Handpies:

1. Preheat your oven to 400*F
2. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Take one disc of dough out of the fridge and roll out onto a heavily-floured work surface into a rough rectangle that is about 8” by 10” (this will vary slightly, so don’t stress it too much)
4. Using a sharp knife, cut your dough into rectangles. For a guide, I used a 3”x4” index card, but you can measure with a ruler if you so choose
5. With each rectangle, carefully place onto your prepared baking sheets. You should have 9 rectangles total (if using the very scientific Index Card Method)
6. Now, re-flour your board and roll out your second disc of dough
7. Measure and cut your rectangles out again, but do not immediately place on your sheets
8. At this point, you will have to do three things in succession: make an egg wash to brush edges of the dough, spoon in some of your strawberry filling onto each rectangle (I’d say about 2 TB per pie, but this is based on preference mostly), and place second top dough layer on top
9. Do this for each pie
10. Crimp the edges of each pie with a fork, pressing slightly to seal
11. Brush tops of pies with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar
12. Using a paring knife, cut a couple small nicks in the top crust to vent dough
13. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and tops
14. Allow to cool completely before adding your topping
15. Make a glaze of 4 oz softened cream cheese, 1 ½ cup confectioner’s sugar, and 3 TB milk – whisk until pourable but viscous. Pour over your handpies. Top each pie with crushed pretzel chunks
16. Enjoy within 2 days for best taste and qualit

Assembly of Galette:

1. Preheat your oven to 400*F
2. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Take disc of dough out of fridge and roll onto a heavily-floured work surface into a large circle about ¼ inch in thickness
4. Spoon half of your strawberry into center and spread around the surface of your dough, leaving about a two-inch margin
5. Make an egg wash and brush along your margin, crimp edges inward
6. Repeat with second disc of dough
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until edges are golden brown
8. Allow to cool completely before topping with your glaze (4 oz softened cream cheese, 1 ½ cup confectioner’s sugar, and 3 TB milk) and crushed pretzels
9. Cut and serve immediately. Leftovers can be saved for up to two days. 

"Peaches and Cream" Cornmeal Galette

The stunted peaches make for a good pie. Bruised and small, they drop like stones. I catch them before the birds have a chance. They’re more stone than flesh. They’re more figment than statue. They’ll be gobbled up when the cicadas come; so I made a couple pies now to enjoy with coffee in the morning.

"Peaches and Cream" Corneal Galette

Ingredients for the crust

• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¾ cup flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cornmeal
• 4 TB butter, cold
• 3 ½ TB shortening, cold
• 1 egg
• 2 TB vanilla
• 6-8 TB ice water

Ingredients for the filling

• 2-3 peaches, sliced
• Juice and zest from half a lemon
• 2 TB sugar
• 1 TB flour (can exclude if your fruit isn't that juicy)
• 1 cup crème fraîche (highest quality you can get. I am in love with Vermont Creamery’s)
• 2 TB butter, softened
• 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 TB honey
• 1 TB vanilla extract
• Egg wash, one egg mixed with 1 TB of water, for sealing and browning
• Extra granulated sugar, for sprinklin

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine salt, flour, sugar, and cornmeal
2. Add fats and pulse until the size of peas
3. Add egg and vanilla, pulse to combine
4. With motor running, add water, one tablespoon at a time, through feeding tube
5. When dough begins to form, turn food processor off
6. Turn out onto a floured work surface and pat into a disc
7. Halve, shape into two smaller discs
8. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour
9. Preheat oven to 400*F and prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper
10. While dough is resting, slice your peaches and add zest and juice of your lemon
11. Put in bowl with sugar and flour, set aside
12. Whisk together crème fraîche, confectioner’s sugar, butter, honey, and vanilla until well-combined, set aside
13. After the 30 minutes has lapsed, remove one disc from refrigerator and put on your floured work surface
14. Roll out into an 8-inch disc and transfer to your prepared parchment to continue work
15. Leaving a one-inch margin on all sides, spoon half of your crème fraîche into the center of the disc and spread thinly around
16. Add peach slices
17. Using a pastry brush, dip into egg wash and run along the perimeter of your one-inch margin
18. Fold crust toward center, crimping and pressing to seal
19. Repeat with second disc
20. Add egg wash to crust and sprinkle with sugar
21. Bake for 28-35 minutes, checking at the 25 minute mark for any burning
22. Eat immediately, if possible, but can stay in a sealed container for two day

This post was inspired by Vermont Creamery, who excel at making quality dairy products. Check out their website, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for more information. Thank you!

Springtime...and a Tart

My mother has given up trying to plant anything beautiful in the yard of hers. Too much bad dirt, she says. Stunted apple trees and peaches that never seem to ripen in any hurry. Grapevines that choke the chickenwire fencing. The ground is shale, the rocks are jagged. The dirt is bad. The earth is worn down by the creekbed.

My mother gave up on making a garden, so she buys her produce from the dollar store. She buys flowers to hang from the porch rafters. She waters them with a soda cup she got at the gas station in town.  A bird’s nest pops up one afternoon and then baby birds pop up the next. One fell out of the nest and my dad threw it out behind the fence so the dogs wouldn’t get it. He didn’t tell my mom, kept it a secret from her I guess you could say.

There isn’t anything beautiful in that yard of hers.

Not that it’s promised, it never has been. The shale is rough and cuts up the hands. Grass grows in patches until late June, when it springs all at once. Then the dandelions, then the peach trees, then the snow. It’s a cycle I forgot. One I witness from my bedroom window. I’m staying here for a while, until my sister has her baby and I know what the hell it is I want out of life.

But it rained for three weeks straight and I drove the turnpike with my sunglasses on until eight at night. The mountaintops in the distance have steam on their fingertips and the bees that built their hive by the mailbox are plump and greedy. Lazy, tired. They don’t move when I draw the red mailbox arm up. They don’t move when my father comes home with a pizza for dinner. They dance along the mulch and draw cuneiforms in response to rainclouds. They know tomorrow it might rain. They know tomorrow their queen may be washed away. They know that the bird behind the fence might still be there and there’s nothing to do about it but wait for the grass to grow and the peach trees to twist their thirsty branches up, up, upwards.

It’s springtime in Pennsylvania. And I forgot how its reality comes in waves of dreams and pigment. In flashes of thunderstorms and screen doors slamming shut. It’s springtime and I wear a sweater on the porchswing. I avoid the baby birds, the beestings, and mailman. I sit and squint my eyes, wondering if it’s just as beautiful down the road as it is right here in this moment.

Pear and Strawberry Tart

Ingredients for Fruit Filling

• 2 pears (preferably Bosc), cored and sliced thinly
• 8-10 medium-sized strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon Gran Marnier (option, but I had some leftover from this post, so I said why not)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions for Fruit Filling

1. In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients together to macerate strawberries and infuse the pears
2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour
3. While waiting, work on crust

Ingredients for Crust

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1¾ cup AP flour
• ¼ cup almond meal
• ½ tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoon ice water (fill a small glass of ice water and scoop out from it as you go instead of measuring beforehand)

Directions for Crust

1. In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients except the ice water 5-8 times or until the fat is processed to the size of a pea
2. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in ice water, one tablespoon at a time. When dough begins to come together, stop motor
3. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and pat into a disc
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour

Ingredients for Ricotta Topping

• ½ cup ricotta, full-fat
• 2 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions for Ricotta Topping

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl until combined

Assembly and baking instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil
2. Take rested dough out of the oven and roll into a round that is roughly ¼ inch thick (will be about 14” in diameter)
3. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet
4. Spoon fruit filling into center of round and allow for a one or two inch edge around the circumference
5. Fold edges inwards to keep the filling in
6. Dot the fruit filling with ricotta mixture
7. Mix one egg with a little water and brush the dough with your egg wash
8. Sprinkle with a little more white sugar
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden and brown
10. Serve immediately, but can keep for about 4 days

A Collaboration with Dulcet Creative

I was lucky enough to work with Dulcet Creative to make these fig galettes.  Head over to their blog to see the recipe!  Tomorrow, I'll have a follow-up recipe involving some of the leftover peach jam from these guys.