apple date whiskey nut galette

There’s not much to say about this other than it’s awesome beans!  No, I mean awesome apples~~sure hope you have a ‘mandolin’ for slicing these apples reeeeallly thin because that’s what truly brings the flavors out, plus they just pile high and stack up and almost make a pastry dough in and of themselves.  If you don’t have a mandolin, not to worry, just chop up the apples~~now I leave the skin on because I don’t like to miss one iota of healthful benefit~~

Yes, this is great the next morning with your coffee or tea~~it’s one of those keepers that you can’t get enough of!  If you’ve got some cowboy or cowgirl in ya, then just put this fat baby in a cast iron skillet rather than a baking sheet~~start with your pie crust in the bottom and go from there folding over the dough!

Serves: 6+
Preheat Oven to 350
What you need:
8 tbl butter (divided)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup bourbon whiskey (optional~~you can substitute 1/3 cup of apple juice)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/3 cup DOLE chopped dates
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 refrigerated roll out pie crusts
3 large crispy apples sliced in very thin rounds on a mandolin (Note: You can also cut into bite-size chunks)–to keep the apple slices from turning brown toss in some lemon juice
1 egg white + 1 tbl water mixed1
1 tbl white sugar

What you do:
In a skillet over medium heat melt 4 tbl of the butter.  Add the chopped walnuts and salt and toss and blend.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low  then slowly add the whiskey.  Careful as a flame could shoot up.  Cook about 3 minutes.  Turn off heat.

Combine in a mixing bowl the brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, dates and cranberries.  Toss and blend.  Add the nut mixture and blend.

Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove the pie crusts from the packaging and roll out each.  Overlap the pie crusts about halfway over each other.  Layer in a concentric circle half of the apples leaving the perimeter of about 2″ uncovered. Spread on about half of the nut/date mixture over this layer of apples.  Top with the remaining apples.  Melt the remaining butter and with a pastry brush coat the apples.

Fold up the 2″ dough perimeter pinching and holding together.  Brush this crust with egg wash mixture and sprinkle on the white sugar.  Bake in a preheated 350 oven about 45-55 minutes.  If the outer crust is a golden brown before the galette is done, place a loose foil tent over it.  Let it rest a spell~~say 15 minutes~~then slice with a sharp knife~~then get ready to ***swooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnn***