Hi, it’s me again.

It’s been a while, (2 years if we’re really counting), and when I left you, I was just about to head to Cape Town, South Africa to embark on a summer program that well and truly changed my life. Since then, I’ve hardly been idle, I’ve been horse-riding in the south of France, doing service work in Argentina and questioning my competence as an engineer in Philadelphia. More on that later, but for now, please accept these mini galettes as a peace offering, my way of saying ‘I’m sorry, I won’t neglect you ever again’. 

Life update: I spent the fall semester of 2019 studying abroad in Lyon, France and that’s where the inspiration for today’s recipe comes from. Lyon is known as the gastronomic capital of France so naturally, I found myself eating my way through the 9 arrondissements of Lyon. 

I’ll save all the details for a laterpost as I’d hate to bore you by recounting every detail of the last 2 years on your long weekend, so let’s talk about this recipe. As it’s Memorial Day in the US tomorrow (but Africa Day in Zimbabwe), I opted for blueberries and raspberries to embody the red, white and blue. You can substitute with any other kind of berry: blackberry, strawberry, gooseberry; the world she is your oyster. I used fresh herbs to really maximise the flavour in each galette, thyme and rosemary generally work well with any kind of berry but depending on what you have on hand, other good flavour combos include: strawberry + basil, mint + blueberry, ginger + raspberry. This recipe from BBC Good Food by Gordon Ramsay is my go-to for quick pastry and it hasn’t failed me yet. The only thing you can’t do here is buy frozen pastry. Absolute no go, I forbid it.

Absolute must: the ice-cream on the warm galette, it is HEAVENLY. 

Anyways, enough about me, what have you been up to since I’ve been gone? I’d love to hear about your kitchen adventures and mishaps, big life changes and all that, feel free to leave a comment below, connect with me on social media through the links at the bottom of the page or email me!

Peace Offering Mini Berry Galettes

Ingredients: 

for the galette crust (recipe from Bon Appetit): 

• 1 tsp salt
• 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 250g cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cubed
• 130ml ice water 

for the filling:

• 1 punnet raspberries (250g)
• 1 punnet blueberries (250g)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (split in half)
• Juice of 2 lemons
• A handful of fresh rosemary, minced
• A handful of fresh thyme, minced 
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Start by making the puff pastry. Add the flour and salt to large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have loose crumbly bits. Don’t rub the butter all the way in as you’ll still want to see some bits of butter. Pour two-thirds of the ice water into the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a firm, rough dough, adding more water if necessary. Cover the bowl with cling film and allow to rest for 20 minutes in the fridge. 
2. Dust a clean countertop with some flour and dump the dough mixture onto the countertop. Roll in a singular direction until you have a rectangle about 8in×20in. Fold the top third of the dough onto the centre and the bottom third of the dough over the centre. You have now completed one turn. Rotate the dough by 90° (clockwise or anti-clockwise, your pick) and repeat the process by doing another turn. Wrap in cling film and leave to chill for 20 minutes before using. 
3. Whilst the pastry is chilling, add the blueberries and raspberries separately to 2 large bowls. Add to each bowl, half of the granulated sugar and half of the lemon juice. Add the rosemary to the bowl with the blueberries and the thyme to the bowl with the raspberries. Stir until the sugar is dissolved in the lemon juice and the berries are completely covered in the sugary herby mixture. Allow to macerate for at least 20 minutes, draining any excess liquid when ready to move to the next step. 
4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and adjust the oven rack so that it is in the centre of the oven. Roll the puff pastry on to a sheet of parchment paper until the pastry is about 10in×24in. Cut into 6 equal rectangles. Spoon the raspberry mixture into the middle of 3 of the pastry squares and do the same for the blueberry mixture with the other 3 squares. Lift the ends of each rectangle over the middle of the fruit to create a barrier. In a small cup, whisk the egg and brush over the pastry, dusting with brown sugar if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is light golden-brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream if desired or keep stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Enjoy!