One Fine Day & An Apple Galette

Step 1: Pick apples at Belkin Family Lookout Farm, South Natick

Step 2: A few hours later, in a Boston kitchen...

It's okay if it's messy. Apples you pick yourself always taste the best. And this pie crust is a winner.

Apple Galette
(Adapted from the Galette of Rhubarb recipe in The New Basics Cookbook)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold water
6 tablespoons brown sugar
2 + 1/4 cups apples, peeled, cored, cut into chunks, and tossed with lemon juice (to taste)

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir well with a fork. Add the butter pieces and cut the butter into the flour mixture, pressing well with your fingers and tossing until the mixture resembles large crumbs.

Sprinkle the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over the flour mixture and mix it with a fork until it's incorporated and you can easily gather the flour into a ball. Knead briefly, then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly flour a baking sheet and roll out the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin to form an 11 inch circle. Mark off a 9 inch circle in the middle. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the brown sugar evenly over the 9 inch circle and add the apple chunks. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon on top of the apples. Fold over the edge of the dough to form a crust.

Bake for 40 minutes. The crust should be a very light golden brown and the apple chunks should be soft. Cool slightly and serve. Serves four people.