Spinach & Goat Cheese Turnovers

I have been sitting on this cookbook review for a long, long time now. The nice people over at Sterling Publishing sent me a copy of The Green Market Baking Book by Laura C. Martin, and asked if I would like to cook something out of it, or do a review of the book itself. I read a summary and quickly said yes. Well that was a couple months ago, and I am just now getting around to this post.

It wasn't for lack of interest, that is for sure. Things like school and work, vacations and appointments, weddings and funerals, cake orders and homework got in the way. The cookbook is wonderful, separated into seasons, providing a guide of produce that is ripe for the picking for that season, and corresponding recipes to use that produce. It has a lovely little canning guide in the back, for when you get a little too grabby at the farmers market and buy 20 pounds of peaches. It has beautiful illustrations and most importantly, delicious recipes. It is not necessarily a 'healthy' cookbook, but it is geared towards using fresh food in your baking, and finding natural ways to use natural sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup.

Since one of my goals this summer is to get my butt to the farmer's market more often, I think this book will come in handy when looking for things to do with my bounty. There were quite a few recipes that I was wanting to try right off the bat, but I could not resist spinach and goat cheese wrapped in crispy filo dough. I am glad I picked it first, they were a delicious little treat, and would make a great appetizer, or a main course when paired with a nice green salad.

Completely out of character, I followed the instructions exactly from the book, and the results were great. Me being me, however, I couldn't just leave it at that. I had to make my own version. I nixed the spinach, and instead made some turnovers with brussels sprouts, shallots, bacon, thyme, lemon, and goat cheese. I won't say which version I liked better, they were both outstanding, you can decide for yourself. You can find the recipe for my version here at Honest Cooking.

Spinach & Goat Cheese Turnovers
recipe by Laura C Martin from The Green Market Baking Book

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 green onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large bunches spinach, stemmed and chopped
2 ounces softened goat cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
4 frozen phyllo sheets, thawed
1/2 cup, 1 stick, unsalted butter, melted

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to high, and add the spinach. Saute until spinach has wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain the spinach mixture by pressing it with a wooden spoon to get rid of as much excess moisture as possible.

Transfer spinach mixture to a bowl and let cool. Add the goat cheese, pine nuts, parmesan, herbs, and zest. Mix to combine, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place one phyllo sheet on your work surface. Cut the phyllo lengthwise into 3 equal strips. Brush one of the strips with melted butter and place 1 heading tablespoon of filling at one end of the strip. Starting with the corned, fold the dough over the filling to form a triangle. Repeat folding the triangle over itself the entire length of the strip. Brush top with butter and place on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F and bake for about 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Serve hot, or at room temperature.

Pre and Post

Recently I enjoyed a fabulous meal with my wonderful friends up in Minnesota. There were appetizers by Heather, an amazing salad by Jen, mustard-coated pork tenderloin, caramelized onions and green beans, and roasted potatoes by Stefanie, and a gluten-free white peach galette by yours truly. Oh yes, and lots of wine. It was a definite group effort for this dinner but somehow I only managed to get pictures of the pre-dinner and post dinner eats, and I blame it on all that wine. I did get one picture of the beautiful potatoes, but only because one of the strawberries jumped ship while under the broiler.

Heather provided a simple and tasty appetizer that included french bread, brie cheese, and fresh strawberries. These tidy little stacks were slid under the broiler for a few minutes, where they turned into hot and molten morsels.

Dessert was my job, and yes once again I went for a gluten free adaptation for Miss Jeni. After a lovely trip to the Minneapolis farmer's market, I found myself with some gorgeous white peaches, and a bag of golden raspberries. I wanted something simple that would showcase these late summer beauties. I opted for a galette, with is simply a free-form tart. You roll out a big circle of what is essentially pie dough, put your fillings in, and fold up the edges to hold it all in.

The galette was tasty, but it didn't hold together very well at all, and I am sure that was do to my improvised crust. I found a pie dough recipe and substituted gluten-free baking mix and almond flour in for all purpose flour. Next time I think I would eliminate the almond flour from the dough, and just use more almond flavor in the filling.

For the filling, I sliced the peaches really thin and laid them in concentric circles on the disk of dough. I cooked the golden raspberries down with some sugar, gelatin, and some limoncello to make a sort of jam. It was a bit of a random combination, but that's what's great about relying on my parents well stocked pantry instead of using a recipe. You never know what fun things you will find in there. I brushed this mixture over the peaches, folded up the dough and sprinkled with white sugar and sliced almonds.

Served with fresh whipped cream, it was a good ending to a sublime evening (okay that's a lie, the evening ended with us drinking beer at Williams Pub, but it was the ending to a great meal anyway).

Crust

3/4 cup gluten-free baking mix

1/2 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

3 to 4 tablespoons ice-cold water

Add baking mix, almond flour, sugar, and salt to food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until butter has been cut into pea-sized chunks. Add water one tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough forms a rough ball. Turn out dough onto floured surface, gently form into a disc, cover it with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Golden Raspberry "Jam"

1 cup golden raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon gelatin, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

a few tablespoons of Limoncello, or other citrus liqueur

Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan, and simmer over very low heat for about 20-30 minutes, until berries break down, and sauce thickens.

Galette

1 chilled pie dough

golden raspberry 'jam'

2-3 white peaches, skin and pits removed, halved and thinly sliced

1 egg, beaten

sugar and sliced almonds to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to form a large circle about 13 inches in diameter. Place dough on a parchment paper or sil-pat lined baking sheet. Arrange peach slices in concentric circles, leaving at least a 3 inch border of dough. Brush 'jam' on top of the peaches. Fold the edges of the dough up over the filling. The great thing about this kind of tart, is that it is supposed to look rustic. So don't worry if it looks bad now, it will most likely look beautiful when it comes out of the oven.

Lightly brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg, and while it is still wet, sprinkle crust with sugar and almonds.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

There are definitely more riffs on this classic tart in my future. I can't wait to try it with regular pie crust, and all kinds of fillings, and oh yes, there WILL be ice cream involved.