Leap Year! and gnomes

Hello hello!

Bonus – two recipes for the price of one today, since I am behind and have been too busy to actually keep to anything resembling a regular blogging schedule.

Today’s primary recipe is an asian pear & miso cardamom galette (hey hey hey asian pear season!) – so delicious with the slightly savory miso hanging out in the crust, not to mention a little cardamom somethin’ somethin’.

The bonus recipe is these red bean & almond bars that I made last weekend to use up the last of my red bean paste. I’d frozen it, but I didn’t want to relegate it to the unrecoverable depths of the freezer, so into bars it went. Such a happy experiment in throwing things into a bowl and seeing what happened – the bars turned out dense and nutty with swirly pockets of red bean.

In life news, there have been some fun finds on walks lately, as well as some beautiful sunsets – see following photo story! It’s currently super windy here in SF, and I’m sitting in my apartment listening to the wind howling all over the place – one of the many reasons I named my fourth/top floor apartment the Eryie (NO, not from game of thrones, but from 15th century Latin, thanks very much).

Every home needs a gnome, a wise friend told me once… and he’s NOT wrong. Inherited this little guy from my gram – he used to sit in her planter and now he hangs out in my little succulent forest.

I really, really, really love my rooftop & the fact that I’m the only apartment that has access… sneaky sneaky through a window. Not sorry.

I highly recommend either or both of these desserts for your Leap Day weekend! Happy Leaping, and happy birthday to Frederic, for all of my fellow g&s nerdloves out there <3

Asian Pear, Miso and Cardamom Galette

Grain and gluten free, refined sugar free. A Wait are those Cookies original. Yield: 1 galette, serves several.

For the galette dough:

1.5 c almond flour (not meal; you want the finer flour variety)
1/2 c tapioca flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
6 tbsp salted butter, chopped (or ghee)
1 egg*
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp dark miso

*alternately you can use a flax egg with very similar results (3tbsp water + 1 tbsp ground flaxseed)

In a food processor or high-power blender (I used a food processor), pulse almond flour, tapioca starch, salt, and butter to combine until it looks like coarse meal. Add in egg, vanilla extract and miso and pulse just until combined. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

For the filling:
3 asian pears, sliced
1 tsp cardamom + 1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp butter, chopped

This might be the easiest thing ever. Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, keeping the circle to about 1/4″ thickness. Peel off the top piece of parchment, and slide the rolled out dough on its parchment onto a baking sheet. Top with sliced asian pears, and dust them with cardamom and coconut sugar. Begin folding up the sides, creasing them together as you go – if the dough rips, that’s okay (you can crimp the cracks back together; remember: galettes are forgiving and rustic!); you can use the bottom piece of parchment to help fold up the sides.

Dot the pears with butter. Bake for 35-40 minutes until edges are golden brown — mine came out just fine at 35 minutes, so check accordingly.

Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully slide the whole galette onto a cooling rack to let it cool completely. Serve with your fave ice cream or whatever of choice! Keeps well covered in foil on the counter or in the fridge.

Red Bean and Almond Bar Cookies

Gluten free, refined sugar free and dairy free. A Wait are those Cookies original. Yield: 1 8″ or 9″ pan; serves a few or two, your choice ;)

For the bars:

1 c almond flour
1 c oats
1/2 c shredded coconut
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 c maple
1/3 c coconut oil, melted
1 egg
1 c red bean paste (recipe below)
black sesame and coconut flakes for topping

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with coconut oil (alternatively, you can use an 8″ or 9″ round pan, this recipe is totally forgiving).

In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Add in maple, melted coconut oil and egg, and stir until combined. Spread the dough into the prepared pan, then drop spoonfuls of red bean paste onto it. Swirl red bean with a spoon or a knife until it’s mostly sorta evenly distributed through the dough. Top with black sesame and coconut flakes, and bake for ~15-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Bake time will depend on the depth of your pan, so check early and often (psssh nobody has time for dry bars, ew).

Keep leftovers covered on the counter for a day or so; after that I’d store them in the fridge.

For the red bean paste:

1 c dried adzuki beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed
1/4 c maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp miso (I used brown rice – medium)
1 tsp vanilla

Bring the soaked adzuki beans and 3 cups of water to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, until you can easily mash beans with a fork – about 1 hour. Once the beans are cooked, drain off any residual water, and stir in maple, salt, miso, and vanilla. Let cool completely. Once cool, take it for a spin in a food processor or high powered blender until smooth (you can leave some chunky too if you like – it’s good either way!). You won’t use all of it for this recipe, so either refrigerate the rest and use within 3-4 days, or freeze it; it keeps for about 3 months in the freezer.