Balsamic Strawberries and Brie Galette

This was both my first time making balsamic strawberries and my first attempt at a galette. Between those two factors, I was a bit nervous that this dish wouldn't turn out well. Last week I made a BLT with fried green tomatoes...It was an epic fail that ended with me teary eyed in a messy kitchen and a dish that got dumped in the garbage. (Yes, this happens sometimes. It's almost always followed by a call for Chinese take out.) I half expected the same thing to happen today, but thankfully it didn't.

By the way, galette is just another way of saying rustic pie. Those French...they have to make everything sound so fancy. Stu called it a "strawberry volcano." That oughta' take the pretentiousness down a notch!

The idea for this recipe came on a recent getaway. Stu's aunt and uncle invited us to spend a weekend with them in Arkansas. We had a great time hiking, antique shopping, and catching up. On Saturday we found this beautiful little farm where we picked strawberries right from the patch.  It took about two minutes for us to start singing The Beatles, but Stu changed the lyrics to "...Strawberry fields for Heather". We walked away with a huge portion for only $6, and I kept myself busy on the three hour road trip home coming up with ways to use our bucket o' berries.

If you're a fan of brie, then you really need to make this galette. The berries and balsamic work so well with the cheese. If you've tried to like brie because you're "supposed to" but actually think it tastes terrible, you could easily substitute mascarpone cheese for a sweeter filling, which would be delicious.

*I forgot to add cornstarch to the shopping list.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Wash and slice about 1 pound of strawberries. Add 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of balsamic and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. (The cornstarch soaks up some of the liquid of the berries.) Mix together and set in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the rind off of the brie and set aside.

3. Combine and roll out two pie crusts on a floured surface.

4. Place brie in the center of the dough and sprinkle with almonds.

5. Drain the strawberries, reserving the juice for later.

6. Add the strawberries to the dough, leaving about 4 inches of crust around the perimeter of the ingredients.

7. Fold the edges of dough over in small sections, overlapping as you go.

8. I brushed mine with an egg wash (1 egg yolk and a splash of water), but this is just optional.

7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. The cheese will be bubbling and the crust will be golden brown when it's done.

8. While the galette is baking, combine the juice from the strawberries, 1/2 cup of balsamic and 2 tablespoons of honey in a sauce pan. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Continue simmering to reduce to a thickness of your liking.

9. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the finished galette and serve.

  

In other news, the blog redesign is almost ready to roll out, and I am SO excited to introduce you to some very talented ladies who are going to be helping out here on The Lovely Cupboard. More on that coming Wednesday!


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