Gluten what?

I have to admit that the gluten-free "thing" is a complete mystery to me.  But since my sister has asked that we have some gluten-free options on the menu I figured it was time to solve the mystery.  

I have never made a galette aka a free form pie.  This may not be exactly what others know a galette to be but it is what I know it to be so bear with me.  First thing to do is find a well rated recipe for a g-f pastry crust.  For that I hopped over to King Arthur Flour, which kind of made sense because I had their g-f flour sitting on my shelf.  Now peruse some recipes for galettes and yep I think I got what to do in my brain.

First make the crust.  This is pretty straight forward - just like making a regular crust except the KA recipe has an egg in it.  You can find the recipe I am using here.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Then using a pastry cutter blend in the butter.  You want to have small pea sized bit of butter through your crust mixture.

Mix together the egg and vinegar then incorporate it into your dry ingredients.  Mixing only enough to get the crust to hold together.  Squish it together and place it in plastic wrap.  Let it chill for an hour in the fridge.

Roll out your dough between two pieces of plastic wrap.  You use less flour and it is easy to move around.  I rolled it out to about 8 inches in diameter, maybe a bit bigger than that.

At this point I should have put the crust back into the fridge to chill while I worked on preparing my apples but I didn't and it will be a slight issue later... lesson learned.

Peel, core and slice your apples nice and thin.  I used my mandolin set at 1/8" and am happy with the end result.  You want your slices thin so that they will bake rather quickly.  Placed the slices in a bowl then tossed them with the cinnamon and sugar.

Transfer your crust to a piece of parchment paper.  Lay out your apples in the center of your crust leaving about an inch to an inch and a half of crust all the way around.  You can lay out your apples how ever you like - try different patterns to see what you like but don't take too long because the butter in your crust is softening minute by minute.  Yes another lesson learned. 

You want even layers so that the apples will bake evenly.

Break up your butter and put small pieces all over the top of the apples.

Now using the parchment fold the edge up and over the apples.  Do a small section at a time.

This is where I got into trouble with the time my pastry sat out - the butter had softened too much and the dough was rather sticky and very stuck to the parchment.  This made folding it over rather difficult.  I think had I put it in the fridge while working on the apples it would have been easier to work with.

Don't worry about the folds being perfect - this is a rustic dessert.  Free form is great tasting!

Sprinkled the top of the crust with a bit more of the cinnamon sugar.  Moved it to a sheet pan and popped it into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Turned the oven down to 375 degrees, loosely covered it with foil and baked for 25 minutes more. I like a bit of a texture to my apples so next time I would probably only cook it for about 15 to 20 minutes at the turned down temperature.  It really does depend on how you like your apples to be done.

Took it out of the oven and cooled it on a rack for about 15 minutes.  Then sliced and served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We all thought it quite tasty!  But the crust did seem a bit grainy compared to a typical pastry crust.  I have read that this usual (or if too much, a problem).  I realized I have nothing to compare it to!  Since I have never had a gluten-free pastry crust before.  I also realized that I had no one to test it.  The only person I know that eats gluten-free lives four states away ha!  Guess I only surround myself with a bunch of gluteneaters!

I will be trying more items with gluten-free in mind to find some good things to offer on the menu.  If you give this a try let me know what you think.

Apple Galette
by My Sister's Table

Ingredients

1 pie crust, ready to roll ~ I used KA's gluten-free recipe found here.
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mix*
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Roll out your pie crust to about 8 -9 inches round.  Lay the rolled out dough onto parchment paper.
Toss your sliced apples with the cinnamon sugar.  Arrange the slices in the center of the dough leaving about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of dough around the edge.  Try to layer the apples evenly.  Break up the butter into small pieces and place the all over the apples.
Fold the edge of the dough up and over the apples.  Fold up small sections to get a nice pleated look.  Don't worry about it being perfect - this is a rustic dessert.  Free form is great tasting!  Once all the edges are folded up you will still have an open center showing off your apple slices.  If you wish, sprinkle a bit more cinnamon sugar on top of the crust.
Move the galette on the parchment to a baking sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 375 degrees.  Cover the galette loosely with foil and continue baking for 15 to 25 minutes depending on how done you like your apples.
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 large servings.
*A good cinnamon sugar mixture is 1 teaspoon cinnamon to each tablespoon sugar.  If you like it cinnamonier add a bit more to the mixture.

Printable recipe here.

Enjoy!

:)