A galette des rois for an epiphany

It's a new year, and I am in search of an epiphany (is that asking too much of 2011?). At this point, I have been so busy and hasty that even baking a simple galette des rois becomes problematic! You need to be very careful when sealing the edges of the galette. You need to press every point of the top edge into the bottom edge (with egg wash in between) because if you don't, something bad will happen. Your galette will puke its guts out into the baking pan! Gross!





As I watched in disgust as the pistachio filling of my galette flowed out of it, I was horrified. This felt like another epic fail to add to the list, and I really wasn't in the mood for it! I plopped my butt in front of my oven, on my kitchen floor (which clearly needs a good vacuuming), exhausted. I had made the puff pastry and the pistachio filling from scratch. I had carefully used an eggwash to seal the two layers of pastry together so that there would be no leakage.



Clearly, I missed a spot with that eggwash.



Officially, I need a break.



When my contract was up for renewal at the end of December, I chose to walk away. It would have been so easy to agree to whatever they were offering as they praised me and exclaimed that I was one of the better employees that they had hired that year (no offense to the others). Apparently, I was the perfect fit for that job, but then why did it feel like a bad fit to me?



I learned a ton at my job. I gave it my all and I am glad that I took the initial contract. But the work simply did not spark my interest. I could do the job, and apparently, I could do the job very well, but the job didn't make me happy.



I have been left with a lot of emotions, ranging from failure to the feeling that I am a quitter (I have never quit anything in my life!). Maybe I gave up too soon. I still feel like I may be acting like a spoiled princess because I should have been happy and appreciated that I had a job, given the current economic crisis in North America.



Needless to say, December hurt a lot. While I was busy working hard to finish all my projects, I realized that I really, really need to find time to think, and some time off. I need to figure out what my goals are because I'm not sure that I have goals anymore. I have always followed the most logical path, pursuing my studies to the highest degree. It was logical. It was encouraged. At no point did I find/take the time to think about what I want to do.





So, on Wednesday night, I am going to stop the clock (or rather, I am going to change time zones), and I am going to think. I am going to travel far away so that I can actually find a few moments to think (like during a few 21-hour flights!). Yes, I know I am not Elizabeth Gilbert, and my life is not Eat, Pray, Love. It is not my intention to imitate or re-enact Elizabeth Gilbert's trek in Europe and Asia. Clearly, a woman's journey to discover herself has been written about and published/publicized over and over again. I am having a moment, so bear with me.



I will be spending time in South-East Asia visiting and traveling with a close friend. And sometime in the middle, I will spend 5 days traveling by myself. I will find time to think! Maybe I'll have an epiphany in Thailand while eating an authentic, spicy pad thai. Maybe I will discover myself while slurping the rice noodles of a pho soup in Vietnam. Maybe I'll just eat lots of yummy food and ride elephants.







Eventually, I scraped myself off the floor, and I scraped the puke filling away from the galette. And, when I angled the camera just right, you wouldn't even know that there had ever been a problem!





It turns out the galette did not loose all its filling, just some. The galette tasted really good actually!







Next time, assuming my galette doesn't loose its filling like this again, I'd bake it for an extra 10 minutes to crisp up the bottom a little more. I baked the galette for 40 minutes, but I think 50 would have been better (but I had the small issue of the overflow of pistachio filling burning...).

Here's my recipe for the galette, adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini. For the pastry, I made Nick Malgieri's quick puff pastry, which I made by hand since I don't have a big enough food processor. The recipe yields about 750 grams of pastry. I just weighed what I needed and froze the rest.



Galette des rois

Yields 1 12-inch galette

130 grams shelled pistachios, ground in a mini KitchenAid food processor 
8 grams (1 tablespoon) corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
125 grams butter, room temperature
125 grams granulated sugar 
2 large eggs 
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon spiced rhum
500 grams all-butter puff pastry
1 dried black-eyed pea (or any other dried bean)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 crown
Whisk together the ground pistachios, corn starch, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar.
Add the dry ingredients, then add the eggs, one at a time.
Add the vanilla and rhum.
Transfer to a small container, and refrigerate overnight (or until cold).
Divide the puff pastry in 2.
Roll one half to a 12-inch circle (or a little bigger, and trim to a 12-inch circle).
Spoon the filling into the center of the disc, leaving the outer edge free for egg wash. 
Place the black-eyed pea in the filling, close to the edge, and in the direction that you would cut the galette (to avoid slicing it in half).
Prepare the egg wash by mixing the egg yolk, icing sugar, and a sprinkling of water.
Coat the edges with egg wash.
Roll the other half to a slightly larger disc. And place on top.
Press down the edges really, really well!
Trim the edges to make them pretty, if you'd like.
Generously coat the top pastry with egg wash. Let stand 1 minute to dry a little, then coat it again.
Draw pretty patterns with a knife (don't pierce the pastry!) on the top pastry..
Pierce the pastry to allow for venting.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Bake the galette at 350°F for about 50 minutes.
Let cool completely before serving.
The person that gets the slice with the bean gets to wear the crown!