thankful

so very much to be thankful for,

 and so many apples to love! 

idared, aurora, russet, rhode island greening, smoothie, red delicious, 

golden delicious and creston apples are now available to pick. 

you will also find some macs, silkens, royal galas, 

spartans, fuji, jonagolds, and mcgowens. 

we’ll be open saturday, sunday and thanksgiving monday. 

and ohhhh this apple, smoked cheddar and ham galette.. you have to try!

easy, beautiful and most importantly.. delicious!

the combination of sweet and savoury is lovely.

there’s a layer of cheese too, and that absolutely elevates it to a favourite list. 

adapted from shelley adams’ beautiful book 

whitewater cooks.. “together again”. 

you will need..

for the pastry

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup ice water plus a titch more.. 1 teaspoon, or enough to make the dough stick together. 

1 cup flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes

this will make enough for 2 galettes. 

for the filling..

1 tablespoon salted butter 

2 tablespoons flour 

1/2 cup of milk

1/4 cup 35% cream

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

i used a beautiful sweet polish mustard that miro our beekeeper friend introduced us to. 

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.. i used 1 cup of smoked cheddar and 1 cup of old cheddar. 

200 grams black forest ham, sliced thinly

2 or 3 apples.. cored and sliced into 1/8 inch slices..  leave the peels on. 

i used cortland, but spartan, jonagold, fuji, idared, smoothie, golden delicious, empire, and mutsu apples would work well too. 

1 teaspoon lemon zest 

fresh thyme.. about 5 sprigs

1 teaspoon grated frozen butter 

salt and pepper

to make the pastry..

stir the sour cream and ice water together in a small bowl. save that extra titch of water for later. 

place the flour, cornmeal and salt in a big bowl and stir until combined.

add the cold butter and with a pastry blender, cut in the butter until you have a crumbly mixture. 

you can also snap the butter between your fingers to make shards. 

add the sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it forms a loose ball.

this was where i needed a titch more liquid for the dough to stick together.. and sprinkled more ice water on the mixture. 

shape into 2 flat discs, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  

to make the cheese filling.. 

preheat oven to 375°.

make the cheese sauce..

melt butter in a small, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat.

add the flour and whisk until incorporated.

whisk in the milk gradually. when the sauce is smooth, and starting to thicken, add the mustard, nutmeg and cheeses 

and continue stirring until the sauce is thick and smooth. remove from heat. 

 to assemble..

roll the pastry out on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper into a circle about 11 inches in diameter.

placed this in a pie dish. *traditionally, galettes are baked on a flat baking tray.. but when i did this, one side collapsed in the oven, and the cheese sauce spilled out.. hence the pie dish. 

spread the cooled cheese mixture on the bottom.

place the ham slices on the cheese sauce.

arrange the apple slices on top.. starting at the outer edges. 

top with lemon zest, thyme leaves, grated butter, salt and pepper. 

fold the edges over, pressing gently to hold the folds together. 

bake for 40-45 minutes. 

remove from oven, grate a little more butter on the top. this will melt and add a nice shine to the apples.

and julia child would approve!

let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

this is also fabulous cold, or served at room temperature. 

enjoy! 

happy thanksgiving!

thank you for letting us be a part of your family tradition!

thank you to our amazing staff, our other farm family, 

who work or study all week and then help us all weekend.. love you all!

be well, be kind,

hugs, 

laura 

carl laidlaw orchards