Paula Shoyer’s Fruit Galette

Want to lose weight? Or at least not gain any?

People give you all sorts of advice. And there are zillions of diet plans and books out there. And after a day like yesterday, eating awful, salty, fattening foods while watching the Superbowl, I could sure use some help in this area, as I am sure zillions of others can.

So I think I will follow some advice I heard a few days ago that made such good sense I have to pass it on.

The advice was from, of all people, a professional baker: cookbook author, Paula Shoyer, who wrote “The Kosher Baker: Over 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy.” She was talking about desserts but the philosophy applies universally. Here’s what she said:

"Desserts need to be so good that you’re satisfied."

Food, anything you eat, needs to be so good that you’re satisfied. If it isn’t good you keep eating, even if you’re not hungry, because your mouth, tongue, brain are waiting for something the food isn’t giving you.

Food has to have the right balance of ingredients, the right taste and texture, it has to taste natural and satisfy all your senses and if it does, it is good and you feel fulfilled, gratified, content and without need for more because what you have already eaten is enough. It’s like a good book whose plot and characters keep you interested and the story moves along as it should until at last there’s a plausible and appropriate way to finish things and it’s time for The End and you don’t need more than the memory of the good read you just had.

Paula mentioned this fabulous bit of wisdom in the context of her children scoffing down an entire package of store-bought cookies. They would never have eaten as many of their Mom’s well-made, tasty, additive-free, home-made cookies. 

"They were still looking for that buzz," she said. Which they never got from the packaged cookies, which lacked that balance, that goodness, that special quality that would have satisfied.

So friends, eat well. Follow Paula’s advice. Don’t eat an entire bag of chips or cookies looking for the buzz. Make something homemade, judiciously seasoned, gently sugared, light on the fat and salt. Real stuff — butter and sugar but less of it, with just enough salt to bring out the best in the other ingredients, not to mask flavor of inferior goods. 

Like this fruit galette (btw, Shoyer uses margarine to keep her desserts pareve for use with meat meals, but you can use butter for dairy or vegetarian meals or if you aren’t kosher):

Paula Shoyer’s Fruit Galette

dough:

1-1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold pareve margarine, (frozen for at least 30 minutes) cut into 6 pieces

1 large egg, separated

3 tablespoons ice water, divided

Filling:

3 cups fresh fruit (berries, plums, peaches or apricots cut into 1/2-inch pieces)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar for top of galette

To make the dough: place the flour, salt and margarine into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse 10 times or cut the margarine into the flour and salt by hand using two knives or a pastry cutter. Add the egg yolk and one tablespoon ice water. Pulse 5 times or mix gently by hand. Add another tablespoon ice water and pulse 5 times or mix again. Add the last tablespoon of water, a little at a time, pulsing or lightly mixing the dough for 10 to 15 seconds until it looks like clumps of couscous. The dough does not have to come completely together. Gather the dough into a ball. Take a large piece of plastic wrap and sprinkle some flour on top. Place the dough on the floured plastic, wrap the plastic around it and then flatten. Place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the rack on the lowest shelf of your oven.

Take a large piece of parchment and sprinkle it with some flour. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and place it on top of the parchment. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and place a second piece of parchment on top. Roll out the dough until it is 12-13 inches wide, trying your best to keep the shape round. Peel back the top parchment and sprinkle some more flour once or twice while you are rolling. Place the dough round on a baking sheet.

To make the filling: place the fruit in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle on top of the fruit and mix gently. Place the fruit in the center of the circle and spread it outward, leaving a 2 or 3 inch border on the outside. Take one small section of the dough border, about 2 inches and fold it over the fruit, leaving the fruit-filled center open. Pick up another 2 inch section of the border and repeat, pressing one section into the next to seal it, so you end up with dough pleats.

Beat the reserved egg white and brush it all over the dough. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Move the galette to the middle rack in the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes. Makes 8 servings

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Notice all the blueberries in the market? Boxes and boxes of them! The bins are overflowing.

That’s probably because more blueberries are being grown these days, according to this article in the Fruit Growers News. And that’s because blueberries are more popular than ever, probably because of their reputation as a healthy food.

That’s good. That blueberries are healthy. Because they are so good, especially when they’re slightly tart. Mmmm, I remember many a summer night when my Mom served me blueberries and sour cream (sprinkled with sugar) for dinner. Haven’t had that in years. These days it’s more like blueberries and plain, non-fat Greek style yogurt. No fat. And surely no sugar. 

But during winter it’s more likely that I’ll use blueberries in pancakes. Or even better, muffins, which I can freeze and then have one whenever I want.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole or 2% milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 10-12 muffin tin cups. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon peel, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine ingredients thoroughly. In a second bowl mix the milk, egg, egg yolk and melted butter and stir to combine ingredients throughly. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and mix just to combine ingredients (it will be very thick). Fold in the blueberries. Spoon into the muffin tins, about 2/3 the way up. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until browned and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 10-12

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Can you eat just one piece of chocolate? My brother Jeff can. He eats one piece every day. He says it satisfies his craving, that he doesn’t need more than his little daily nibble.

This is quite a statement coming from someone who can’t hold back at all when it comes to bread. 

But I am sure Jeff will be thrilled to know about this article, which speaks to the benefits of chocolate, specifically dark, bittersweet chocolate. 

It sounds almost too good to be true. But, at least according to what I read here, there’s evidence that dark chocolate fights cancer, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. It has antioxidants and flavanoids that fight free radicals and may protect us from aging too quickly and from Alzheimer’s disease. And it also may help improve your vision.

Holy cow! Get me some of this stuff now!

My mother always said my brother Jeff was smart.

Of course the article does say not to overdo the chocolate thing. Be more like Jeff. Just a small portion each day.

So maybe just one piece of these brownies every day? (Freeze the leftovers)

Btw, these would be nice for Valentine’s Day. Or anytime, really.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

8 ounces unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts or semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir, remove the top part of the pan from the heat and let cool. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a mixer at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add to the batter and blend thoroughly. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging. Let cool and cut.

Makes 16-20 pieces

What School Lunches Look Like In 20 Countries Around The World: Pics, Videos, Links, News

feedemright:

So interesting, ans a good reason to pack a healthy lunch for your child!

Unfortunately, school lunch has become a political issue. Which means that instead of actually trying to figure out how to provide our children with healthy food we are busy yelling at each other about a “Nanny State.” 

So sad. Because it is our own children who are the victims of this nonsense.

No matter what your political party, if any, wouldn’t you prefer that your children eat better than pizza, fries, hot dogs, pasta and fried everything?

No, no, for all of you who may be yelling at me right now. I did NOT say your kids should never eat a candy bar or a bag of chips. I am merely suggesting that if we feed the kids right maybe they will grow up healthier. 

They will feel better, look better and won’t be a burden on the health care system.

Isn’t that a worthy goal?

When I was a kid, I went home for lunch. The kids who stayed in school had a half American cheese sandwich plus a bowl of soup. I remember feeling sorry for them because they weren’t getting the good stuff my mother had waiting. By the time I got to high school, school lunch offerings were things like chow mein (tasted like La Choy canned) and spaghetti (tasted like Franco-American canned). Today it’s fries, fried, processed, carbs and more fries.

We can do better, can’t we?