Practically Pear-fect

Much to report on the blogging front: I finally figured out how to send a picture from my cell phone to my computer. Oh, frabjous day! And I'm getting the hang of posting pics on this blog, which hopefully means no more photo filching off the web. (Unless my camera photos are crummy. G-d, now I have to learn how to improve my cell phone camera picture-taking technique. Is there no end to this learning curve?)

Back to food. As you can see on the right, I've posted a pic of my very own "1st Galette"-- pear, because at the moment I'm drowning in pears. Big success with friends, and very little left to nibble the next morning. The recipe was adapted from the following one I found on the the SELF magazine website:

Almond-Pear Galette

(Serves 8)

Pastry
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling and dusting
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
5 tbsp butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cultured buttermilk
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
Cream
1 large egg white
3 tbsp confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp finely ground almonds
2 tsp melted butter
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
Filling
3 firm, ripe pears, such as Anjou or Bartlett
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
3 sheets parchment paper
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp butter, cut into small bits
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Pastry: Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a food processor 30 seconds to combine. Add butter. Pulse until butter pieces are the size of peas. Add buttermilk and almond extract; pulse until dough just comes together. Form dough into a disk, dusting lightly with flour. Cover in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour.
Cream: Whisk egg white and confectioners' sugar in a bowl until frothy, about 1 minute. Add almonds, butter and almond extract. Whisk. Refrigerate.
Filling Peel and core pears, then cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; toss in a bowl with lemon juice and zest.
Galette: Heat oven to 400°. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour; place dough on top and lightly dust with flour; top with another sheet of parchment and roll out dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Peel off top layer of parchment. Invert dough onto a baking sheet lined with third sheet of parchment. Trim around edges of dough. Spread cream over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange pear slices in concentric circles over cream. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Fold edges of dough over pears, crimping dough to enclose ends of pears. Evenly scatter bits of butter over top of filling. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until pears are tender and crust is golden. (Cover top with a sheet of foil if it begins to overbrown.) Remove; cover edges of tart with foil. Heat broiler. Glaze top of pears under broiler, about 6 inches from heat, 1 minute or until pears are golden brown. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer (on parchment) to rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

I didn't have buttermilk, so did the milk-and-lemon-juice trick. Didn't have parchment, either, so I used a super-thin silicone liner. (I bought a few of these at Cost Plus ages ago, and they don't carry them anymore. They were much cheaper than a Silpat, and very convenient, so if you know where to purchase them, please tell me.)

Wanted to tell you more about the pear jam and the gorgeous garden tomatoes. Next time.