Galette to the rescue

Traveling during a pandemic can be an exercise in anxiety, but sometimes duty calls. Likewise, cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen, difficult in the best of times, is made worse during this stressful time. I have made a cross-country journey due to the untimely passing of someone close to me, and find myself trying to make comforting food in a place with none of the tools, cookware, or ingredients I am accustomed to using. In these circumstances, simple dishes make sense, and for dessert not much could be simpler than a galette, a rustic free-form tart.

Galettes can be made with almost no tools save for a rolling pin (although a tall round bottle can do in a pinch) and a baking sheet or pan. The ingredients list is likewise short: flour and any fat you can use pie crust, including butter, coconut oil, or shortening. I usually add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar if it is a sweet filling. Speaking of filling, the options are nearly limitless, and you can go in either a savory or sweet direction. The EYB Library offers hundreds of online recipes that you can use for inspiration.

I was lucky to find blackberries growing on the property where I am staying and also fortunate to drive past an honor system farm stand on the way that had fresh nectarines, so I riffed off the Blueberry and stone-fruit galette from Edd Kimber’s latest book, One Tin Bakes. While making a galette does not solve any of life’s difficult circumstances, it is some small comfort and creates a project for otherwise idle hands. Even though I was cooking in a spartan kitchen, I was glad that I could contribute something beyond a pie from the freezer case at the grocery store.