Smitten with simplicity
Deb Perelman whips up fresh batch of unfussy recipes
I have been a devoted fan of Deb Perelman’s food blog, SmittenKitchen.com, which she has been writing since 2006, almost from the getgo. The girl is sassy and smart and doesn’t take herself too seriously, which is nice; she has a delightfully unfussy approach to cooking and food; her recipes are usually simple and always easy to follow — and they work — also nice.
Plus, she has a knack for taking pictures. The photographs of the dishes she prepares in the tiny kitchen of her New York City home are lovely to look at — and there’s something about the way she illustrates whatever she has prepared that makes you want to head straight for your own kitchen and prepare your own version. I have done this more times than I can remember.
Perelman, a self-taught home cook, writes “like a good friend who just happens to be a whiz in the kitchen,” as one writer observed recently in the New York City-based newspaper the Jewish Daily Forward.
What good news, then, that The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Wisdom from an Obsessive Home Cook (Random House, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, $35) is finally available. It’s a lovely book to hold, to read — and to cook from.
Perelman devotes an entire section to breakfast, which cookbooks often neglect, and includes recipes for everything from French toast baked in a casserole to baked ranchero eggs with blistered jack cheese and lime crema.
Most recipes begin with a little story: Her recipe for potato frittata with feta and scallions, for instance, begins with a tale of a diner in the East Village that served an all-youcan-drink brunch and a version of that frittata.
Perelman has no problem being outspoken: “I have spent a good part of the last few years believing that the world would be a better place if we could all stop pretending that kale tastes good,” she writes in the preface to, of all things, a recipe for raw kale salad that works, she says, because it includes pecans, dried cherries, soft goat cheese and a honey-Dijon dressing.
She comes across as a real person — and that’s part of her appeal: followers leave fawning comments at the bottom of her posts. Smitten Kitchen has more than 96,000 “likes” on Facebook.
Here is one of the more than 100 recipes in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.
Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
Yields 1 hearty 12-inch galette, serving 8. This recipe makes a nice weeknight dinner or a stepped-up appetizer for a holiday dinner, Perelman writes in introducing it. It can also be divided to make two nineinch galettes.
For the pastry
21/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour, including 1/2 cup (125 mL) whole-wheat flour if you like, plus more for work surface 1/2 teaspoon table salt 16 tbsp, or 2 sticks, unsalted butter 1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, strained 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 1/3 cup (75 mL) ice water
For the filling
2 small or 1 large butternut squash, about 21/2 pounds 3 tbsp oil 11/2 tsp table salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 tbsp butter 2 large sweet onions, such as Spanish or Vidalia, halved, thinly sliced in half-moons 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
2 cups (500 mL) grated Italian fontina cheese
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for glaze (optional, but makes for a croissant-looking finish)
To make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the whole sticks of butter and, using a pastry blender, break up the bits of butter until the texture is like cornmeal, with the biggest pieces the size of pebbles. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, vinegar and water, and pour this over the butter-flour mixture. Stir with a spoon or a rubber spatula until a dough forms, kneading it once or twice on the counter if needed to bring it together. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or up to two days.
To prepare squash: Peel the squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch to ¾-inch chunks. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into one or two smaller baking sheets, spreading it to an even slick. Lay the squash chunks on the baking sheet in single layer, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and freshly ground black pepper, and roast in a 400 F oven for 30 minutes, or until squash is tender, turning the pieces occasionally so that they brown evenly. Set aside to cool slightly. Leave the oven on.
While the squash is roasting, melt the butter and remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy frying pan, and cook the onions over medium-low heat with the sugar and remaining teaspoon of salt, stirring occasionally, until soft and tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cayenne pepper, if using.
Mix the squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.
To assemble the galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 16- to 17-inch round. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread the squash-and-cheese mixture over the dough, leaving a 2- to 21/2-inch border.
Fold the border over the squash and cheese, pleating the edge to make it fit. The centre will be open. Brush the outside of the crust with the egg-yolk wash, if using.
Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the galette from the oven, let stand for five minutes, then slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.