Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette

At the cabin in the woods, we don't have a food processor. But we do have a slightly rusted and bent pastry blade. We don't have a pie plate, but we have some warped cookie sheets. With those tools, I made this galette. And it was not the gummy mess I worried it would be.

In fact, making pie dough with a pastry blade might actually be easier to do than with a food processor. Or at least easier to control. Since you can see it come together as you work, you can add just the right amount of water and you can be sure the pieces of butter don't get too tiny. These are two things I struggle with when food-processing my pie dough. The speed of the machine does help keep everything cool, but you cede some control to that speed. I'm not romanticizing the pastry blade, I just found I liked it. And of course, we already knew a pie plate wasn't requisite for a delicious pie.

Speaking of delicious: strawberry/rhubarb.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
about 4 tablespoons ice water

2 stalks rhubarb
about 8 large strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter to the dry ingredients, then with a pastry blade, begin working the fat into the flour. When the butter is in flour-coated, pea-sized lumps add ice water and continue working everything with the pastry blade until the dough begins to come together. The dough should hold together if you squeeze it in your hand, but still be slightly crumbly.

Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Quickly form it into a disk, wrap tightly with the plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour. If you're short of time, you can freeze this for half an hour, but I find that it's more difficult to work with when I take that route.

Preheat your oven to 375° F.

Slice the rhubarb into 1/2 inch thick slices on the diagonal. Quarter the strawberries. In a mixing bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, and corn starch and let rest for at least 15 minutes.

After the dough has rested, unwrap it on a clean, floured counter. Sprinkle the top of the dough and your rolling pin with flour. Quickly, but carefully, roll out the dough. Give it a quarter turn after each roll. If the dough starts to stick, carefully pick it up (a bench scraper is a great tool for this) and sprinkle more flour beneath it. If it begins to fall apart, get it onto a cookie sheet or similar and into the freezer to firm up for 10 minutes or so.

When the dough is about 12 inches in diameter, carefully place it on an ungreased cookie sheet and pile the strawberry rhubarb mixture in the middle. Fold the edges of the dough over the top of the fruit mixture. If there's some sugary liquid in the bottom of the fruit bowl, paint this onto the dough.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.