Galette, My Love

Last night's recipe of choice: Braised Salmon, Potato and Parmasan Galettes; Spinach Salad

Let me preface this post by saying we were REALLY hungry when deciding on dinner last night, so I merged two different recipes from the Salad as a Meal Cookbook. Well actually, three. This meal was all over the place, yet turned out delicious. 

I've had my eye on the Salmon Gravlax with Potato Parmesan Galettes and a simple cucumber salad from the moment I received the Salad as a Meal cookbook. My husband isn't a fan of raw fish, so we opted for the Braised Salmon from the preceeding recipe, the potato galette from the original recipe, and instead of the simple cucumber salad, I wanted to use up some of the leftover ingredients from a previous attempt at the bacon-wrapped goat-cheese- which by the way, turned out wonderful (I will eventually blog about that recipe). The salmon, braised in white wine and herbs, turned out moist with a mild flavor- thoroughly enjoyed. Thankfully, the fish was not overcooked, which I have a tendency to do. Unfortunately, I saved the overcooking for the galettes. 

"What's a galette?" you ask?  Good question. While living in Nice, I'd eaten all sorts of various-shaped, savory-filled shells referred to as galettes, including the popular buckwheat crepes. A galette is simply a free form cake/ shell/ crepe/ tart with 'stuff' in it.  Not fussy in form (or in definition).  Let's just say I've eaten plenty of galettes, but have never made one like this. I was rather curious about the recipe, but did not fret and remained ever-trusting of Patricia Wells's guidance and fabulous descriptions of "how to."  I jumped right in shredding and blending and packing my potato mixture into what looked like hamburger patties. Unsure of how it would all pan out, they cooked beautifully!  ...and kept cooking, and cooking, and cooking. My distraction with part three of dinner (the spinach salad) resulted in a rather tough galette. The recipe calls for 3 minutes cooking per side. Next time, I shall obey. 

Note to self: Stick with merging two recipes. Not three. Or at least remove galettes from heat.

Oh well. They were edible. The problem here was the pilot and not the plane, but that's not to say we didn't eat every last bite. I LOVE this recipe and am giddy to try it again this weekend. For some reason, my mind is associating this particular potato galette with breakfast; serving it at brunch with a selections of meats and fruit. It's way thicker than a potato pancake and denser than a quiche. Also, I envision variations on the cheese and herbs used in the recipe. I have a feeling this is going to become a standard at Chez Foy.

As will the third part of our meal-- yes a THIRD salad recipe made it onto the plate. However, it was a loose interpretation of Patricia's Bacon-Wrapped Goat Cheese recipe. I wish we had dandelion greens left over from the first round of making this salad, but they wilted and the store was fresh out. We are very lucky to have a Giant Eagle Market District a mile away with decent produce this time of year. Opting for a spinach replacement (as the recipe permits), I threw the ingredients together into a free form salad, rather than  meticulously recreating the original recipe. It was a different kind of yummy! There's just something about goat cheese and bacon....

This dinner was a friendly reminder about portion control and that the cookbook's recipes are truly well balanced and proportioned for four (or in my case, 2 people). So, let's do the math...

   2 portions of 1 recipe
+ 2 portions of another 
+ 2 portions of another 
+ a few slices of sourdough bread
= an extra trip to the gym. 

While laying exhausted, flat on my back at the end of this morning's yoga class... eyes closed... listening to the hum of the heater... the yogi instructed us to clear our minds. In all the calmness and serenity, all I could think about was Patricia's Rancho Salad... NEXT UP! 

Click here to purchase: 

Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season [Hardcover]