There is something about home that is indescribable. We haven’t finished purchasing all the things we need for our new apartment yet, like shoe racks and lamps and soap dispensers. But still, this place feels more like home than any place I’ve lived in a long time. We picked the curtains and the plants, our art is hanging on all the walls, and I have all of my kitchen appliances in one place – no boxes, no storage, no knowing that one day I’m going to have to go through all these cookbooks to figure out what belongs to whom. Nope – it’s all ours.
And now that we have a table and enough chairs for a few extra bums to sit in, all I want is to have people over all the time. We’ve been pretty successful so far – having people over almost twice a week since we’ve moved in. It has reinforced my love of cooking for people, of making an excuse to get together. But why should we need an excuse? Isn’t good company enough? Add to that a home cooked meal and a bottle of wine and how could anyone turn you down? I feel lucky that we’ve gathered a little community who feels the same way, that there’s no better reason to be together other than it’s been a few days since we’ve last seen each other.
It helps that it’s spring – dusk drags its feet a little more each day, the tulips on our walkway have come and mostly gone at this point, and they’ve put up the annual rosé wine display at the local grocery store. It’s the time of year when people come out of hibernation, itching to wear their short sleeves and dig out their sunglasses, ready to get their hands dirty in the garden (we’re hoping to plant ours this weekend), antsy to go on evening strolls. For me spring means always having a pound of rhubarb in the fridge, ready to roast into a compote for topping ice cream or simmer into a syrup for mixing into cocktails or slice and bake into a galette. I would do the same if I were you.
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 3/4 cup granulated sugar In a glass or measuring cup or bowl, combine apple cider vinegar and ice water, set aside. In a food processor, combine the flower and salt and pulse a few times. Cut the butter into chunks, add to flour and salt. Pulse until the pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of a pea. Drizzle 3 Tbsp of the water-vinegar mixture over the dough and pulse to combine. If the dough doesn’t come together yet, add more of the water-vinegar mixture, a tablespoon at a time. When you can squeeze together a handful of dough without it crumbling apart, dump it out onto a cutting board. Make a ball, split it in two, and pat the two balls of dough into discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at last one hour. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cardamom, ginger, and flour, set aside. Trim the top and bottom of the rhubarb, then slice in half lengthwise. Cut into two inch segments. Add the rhubarb to the sugar mixture, stirring to combine well until the rhubarb is coated. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to a rectangle roughly 12×17 inches. Transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet. Arrange the rhubarb and sugar on the dough, leaving about a two-inch border around all sides. Fold up the edges of the dough over the fruit. Brush with heavy cream, if you like. Bake for roughly 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is soft and the juices are bubbling. Allow to cool before eating, and top with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.Rhubarb Galette with Ginger and Cardamom
Ingredients
8 Tbsp ice water
2 2/3 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbs cold unsalted butter
1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 lbs rhubarb
Optional: heavy cream for brushing the pastryInstructions