you can fit alot into a week....

well... no blog post in quite some time, i have been busy soaking up the napier sun, eating christmas food, opening presents, hosting my dad and driving the country :D

we had 6 days in napier including christmas day...

highlights included; getting all my hair cut off into a cute katie holmes esque bob and and managing to sample my favourite crumbed snapper fillets from westshore fish shop more than once! i had put in a special request to my lovely for martha stewarts baking handbook but we couldnt find it anywhere in stock, i then requested the next best thing... nigella lawson's how to be a domestic goddess! i had wanted it for quite some time and its such a well put together book with one easy/great baking recipe after another.

so the book turned up under the christmas tree with other goodies! of course i had to try one of the recipes out straight away! well... on boxing day

it was the blackberry galette on pg 115 although it said you can use any berries so i chose raspberries! it has yummy creme fraiche in it and is super easy! the only alterations i made to it were adding maybe half a tablespoon more of the creme fraiche and some sliced almonds on top, swapping the vegetable shortening (hard to find in nz) for margarine... oh and the berries of course

here is the recipe

Ingredients.....

for the pastry:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons polenta or fine cornmeal
• 1 scant tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• scant ¼ cup cold butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
• 1–3 tablespoons ice water or enough to bind

for the filling:

• 150g blackberries
• approximately 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 heaping tablespoons crème fraîche, plus more to serve

Instructions....
 
In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients, then add the butter and shortening diced into small pieces. Pulse briefly until it resembles coarse bread crumbs, then add enough ice water to form a dough, pulsing gently to mix. Form it into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll the pastry out into a rough circle, transfer to the baking sheet and scatter blackberries on top, leaving a good 3-inch margin round the edge. Sprinkle with 1–2 tablespoons sugar, to taste, then dollop with crème fraîche. Sprinkle a further tablespoonful of sugar over, dampen the edges with water, then wrap them over themselves to form a knobbly, ramshackle rim and put in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through.

here's what mine turned out like.....

 

i served it with custard which was a really delicious combo!

we headed back to auckland for a second christmas celebration on the 27th... more food and another galette! i baked another due to its initial success, this time with blueberries ... certainly a lot cheaper! i forgot the almonds but didnt effect it much haha

 

anyway thats about it although id thought id treat you to some pictures of the culinary delights that we experienced over the past week (in photos ....)

but you will have to wait till tomorrow as im off to watch where the wild things are!