Sweet Blueberries Top A July Fourth Fete

This simple and rustic galette is a quick and delicious alternative to a classic Fouth of July cake with strawberry stripes and and a blueberry square for the stars!

I miss the six blueberry bushes I inherited when I bought my 1927 craftsman/classic stucco home in New Haven, CT.  I hope they’re still there and the new owners are enjoying fighting off the preying avian and wild deer to enjoy an early summer crop of the delicious berry.  I may be exaggerating a bit.  The berries weren’t that sweet and you had to pick A LOT of them to yield one little pie, but cooking with the fruit was definitely worth it.

Now, I make my way to the corner bodega or the farmer’s market for my bounty, this time coming up with a gem of a blueberry and nectarine tart with just a slight hint of basil.  The blueberry-basil jam is super easy to make and you can freeze it or can it for your sweet or savory pleasure.  Try it with grilled or roasted pork, as a dipping sauce for shrimp cocktail or as a topping for lemon, vanilla or lavender ice cream.

If you’re not great with pie crust, like me, you’ll love this simple galette dough.  Galette is a generic French term used to describe various types of flat, free-form crusts.  In many French creperies, a Breton galette is a savory buckwheat flour pancake.  It is frequently garnished with egg, meat, fish, cheese, cut vegetables, apple slices, berries, or similar ingredients. One of the most popular varieties is a galette  covered with grated Emmenthal cheese, a slice of ham and an egg, cooked on the galette.  In France, this is  a galette complète. A hot sausage wrapped in a galette (called galette saucisse) and eaten like a hot dog is becoming increasingly popular as well. Go USA!!

Recipe:  Blueberry-Basil and Nectarie Galette

Serves:  8

Ingredients

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (or more) sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

7 cups fresh blueberries (32 ounces) or 32 ounces frozen wild or regular blueberries (do not thaw)

1/2 cup basil, chpped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/3 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbl. sugar

8 tbl. butter (1/2 lb. or 1 stick)

1 egg, separated

2 tbl. ice water

2 tbl. turbinado or raw sugar

Prepare

For filling:
Whisk 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch in heavy large saucepan to blend. Stir in blueberries, basil and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens, frequently stirring gently, about 13 minutes. Chill filling until cool, about 1 hour. If more sweetness is desired, stir in sugar by tablespoonfuls. 

For Dough:
Mix flour salt and sugar in a medium bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until the size of peas.  Stir in the yolk and add enough water to dough to form a ball.  Flatten into a dis, wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate for 1/2 hour or until needed.  Can be made up to 2 days ahead.

Preheat oven to 425°.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into large circle (about 14”).drape over a sheet pan.  Spread blueberry filling over top leaving a 2” border around the edge.  Fold edges over the filling overlapping dough, making wide pleats.  Brush with egg white and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Bake until top is golden brown and sugar has begun to carmelize (about 25 minutes)  Slice into wedges and with with creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

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