With two months to go in our apartment, this weekend I started the process of a pantry purge. I’ve been taking stock of what is in my cabinets and, in all honesty, discovering a few things I completely forgot about. For example, my search brought me to a huge can of peaches which we received as a gift back in December.
At this point I’m sure you are wondering why we would receive canned peaches as a gift. What? You don’t give and receive canned foods in heavy syrup? Just kidding. Every Christmas the company my husband works for (the branch here in Brazil) gives holiday boxes to employees. These huge boxes are filled with all kinds of goodies and really serve two purposes. First they often contain holiday foods such as panettone, wine and nuts. Second, they also tend to have shelf stable, commodity-like goods for those on limited funds; things like pickles, lentils, prunes and…canned peaches.
While I’m not one to buy those peaches in all that thick syrup I did want to use them up. Like most foodies these days I turned to Twitter to seek out a good recipe for them. Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod caught my attention with a Peach Galette she made several months ago. Considering I just made bread last week, I was looking for some type of pie-like creation so this fit with my vision perfectly. In addition, I had never made a Galette before so it was a new challenge.
I substituted a few of the ingredients I had on hand. For example I used mascavo sugar instead of white sugar, and I used whole wheat flour and just a little white flour for the crust. In place of the corn meal I used fubá flour which is a corn flour here, yet much finer than corn meal. (I’m planning to post more about fubá in the next week or so.) I drained the peaches and rinsed them well to get the syrup off. Since they were canned I also used very little sugar. I added walnuts for a little crunch.
I was so happy with the results and my husband was a big fan as well! I will definitely be making this again and next time I will be using fresh peaches!
Peach Walnut Galette 
Adapted from Cooking Light and Two Peas And Their Pod
Crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup mascavo sugar
1/4 cup fubá flour (corn meal or corn flour works as well)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup mascavo sugar
1/4 cup fubá flour (corn meal or corn flour works as well)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup whole milk
Filling:
4 cups diced peaches
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup mascavo sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg white
1 tbsp fat-free milk
1 tbsp mascavo sugar
Feel free to use a food processor for the dough. I don’t have one so I mixed the ingredients with a hand dough mixer. Combine the flours, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter and mix/process until it is evenly distributed about the size of peas. Pour in the milk and mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the peaches, nuts, sugar, cinnamon vanilla and cornstarch. Stir to mix well ensuring the peaches are well coated with sugar and cornstarch. In a separate small bowl whisk together the egg white and milk.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out into a circle about 14 to 15 inches wide. You can bake the galette on parchment paper. I baked mine on a pizza pan covered in foil because that is all I had. It worked fine. Once the dough has been transferred to your baking pan, pour the peach mixture in the center leaving a border of dough around the outside at least two inches wide.
Gently fold the edges of the dough over to the filling ensuring it all comes out shaped like a circle. Brush the crust with the egg white and milk and then sprinkle the galette with mascavo sugar. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The crust should be browned and the filling bubbling slightly. Remove from the oven and cool the galette (still on the baking pan) on a wire rack. Let rest at least 20 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
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I also need to extend some thank yous today for an award I recently received. The One Lovely Blog Award came from Alison at Live Listen Cook and Rebecca from Chow and Chatter, two blogs I really enjoy reading. Alison shares a lot about her workouts, eating and daily health practices while throwing in some great recipes and product reviews. Rebecca is a RD who offers great cultural recipes and healthy nutrition news and advice.Thanks for the awards! I read a lot of great blogs, but for this award I’ll narrow it down to three.
