Declaring galettes the dessert of the summer 🍓
Also what I ate for MDW in NYC and Connecticut
Hi hangries! 🍓 I hope everyone rang in the official beginning of summer in style over Memorial Day Weekend. I spent mine visiting one of my best friends Hanna in New York where we spent a few days before going to her parents home in Connecticut to be out near the water for the last few days. Amazing weather for most of the weekend meant getting to run around the city going back to all my favorite places and trying out some new ones with the excellent guidance of my foodie hostess. Later on I’ll talk more about where we went and what we ate — it was all incredible. The hustle and bustle made our eventual retreat out to Connecticut all the more lovely, which included going out on her parents boat, being Hanna’s sous chef for cooking dinner, time at the beach, and relaxing mornings-turned afternoons sitting in her backyard with fresh fruit and toasts with homemade jam.
So let’s get into what I talk about in the title of this newsletter which is why I’m declaring galettes the dessert of the summer — or at least of my summer. To quote (other) Hanna: it is galette girl summer. What is a galette? Admittedly I don’t know its technical definition, but I would say that it is somewhere between a pie and a tart, but a little more casual. As many of your probably know, I love all variations of a pie-cobbler-crisp-crumble and will not stop making them anytime soon. A galette is a fun new version for all of my fellow fruit-based dessert lovers.
Galettes are for the girls who don’t want to worry about having a sturdy enough pie crust to worry about leakage. Galettes are for the girls who don’t want to worry about the precision pies sometimes require and can truly embrace the rustic look. There is a more even crust to fruit ratio, but the crust is a little chewier and has wonderful outer crispy layer from sprinkling sugar on it before baking. The galette lends itself to a less syrupy filling in favor of being the perfect not-too-sweet summer dessert, light enough to enjoy a slice after a big barbecue meal. Long-time followers will remember that two summers ago was my pie challenge summer, where I attempted to make a new pie every week during the summer. Last summer I really tried to master cobblers, crisps, and crumbles. This summer I am planning to make many galettes, sweet and savory versions alike. No fear, there will be some pies, cobblers, and crisps that stay in the mix too.
Recently Smitten Kitchen’s any-fruit galette recipe recipe struck both my and Hanna’s eye, so that is what we decided on making for the dinner at her parent’s house. Her recipe provides the perfect template for whatever fruit-filled adventure you choose to embark on this summer.
Where we ate in NYC
What is a trip to New York if not fitting as many delicious meals in as possible? For me, no trip is complete without grabbing a good slice of pizza, ordering a bagel, and buying Italian cookies — all of which I got to do last weekend, plus lots more. Here’s a recap of where we went.
Fish Cheeks has been on my NYC hit list for a while now, so with the afternoon off, Hanna took me for lunch when I got in since dinner reservations are a bit more elusive. They specialize in Thai seafood, and we split the pork cheeks and coconut crab curry, which were both outstanding. They paired perfectly together since one was sweet, tangy, salty, and a little smoky, and the other was creamy, spicy, and savory.
I lived in Williamsburg for a summer during an internship while in grad school and absolutely loved it. One of my favorite places while living there was DOC Wine Bar which was recommended to me by my roommate that summer. I’ve gone back a few times since moving, including this past weekend with him and Hanna. It is the kind of place where you spend 3 hours catching up with friends over a few bottles of wine eating delicious pasta. The two most recent times I’ve been, we’ve been given free tiramisu at the end of our meal for one reason or another. The place is really cozy, the staff is really friendly, the wine is always good, and the food is delicious. The fregola al pistachio is unlike anything I’ve ever had before, and I absolutely love it. Afterwards, we got a drink at the Williamsburg Hotel for a drink and enjoyed beautiful views of the city, then we had a little slice-of-pizza night cap before going home.
One of my top requests for the weekend was getting a meal in Chinatown, so we went to Spicy Village for dinner. We split pork soup dumplings, a pork pancake, and some spicy beef noodle soup. It was very tasty and affordable, only about $30 for everything. (Stay tuned for a possible Hangry to Happy takeover where Hanna reviews the best soup dumplings in NYC!) Afterwards Hanna took me to one of her favorite bars in the city, Apotheke, tucked away in Chinatown. It was small but not crowded, the cocktails were delicious (I got a Negroni-type drink with reposado tequila and hibiscus), and the DJ made it feel super upbeat. We grabbed another drink at Beyond the Pale before heading home.
To take home I picked up some of my favorite Italian cookies — rainbow cookies, amaretti, and pignolis — from Ferrara and Caffe Roma in Little Italy. These types of Italian cookies are really one of the things I look forward to getting the most while in NYC since we don’t really have many places in DC where you can get them.
We spent time one day in Red Hook, a neighborhood in Brooklyn with an up-and-coming industrial vibe on the water. There were a few breweries and outdoor eateries filled with people enjoying the lovely weather. Our first stop was Hometown Barbecue which had a hour-long line made better by taking drink orders while you wait. It would be wrong if I didn’t also shoutout the delicious key lime pie from Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie made with freshly squeezed key limes.
Some other great spots I got to go to were Baz Bagel were I had a delicious bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel with a side of ramp cream cheese (because I couldn’t resist). It seems like they have all the classics in addition to some fun twists. The ube latte from Urban Backyard was delicious and nowhere close to as sweet as I feared it would be. They had some really fun non-coffee beverages I would go back and try like the black currant yuzu lemonade.
Summer cooking in Connecticut
After a few days running around the city, it was so nice to retreat out to Connecticut to get some fresh air and be out by the water. Hanna and her family were the loveliest of hosts, and we shared some delicious food together. Determined to make the most summery meal possible, Hanna and I (mostly Hanna) put together a menu for a fresh and light, herbaceous, seafood-focused meal that we cooked together for her parents. Everything turned out delicious, and I’ll include more details on where we got some of the recipes below. All of the things we made are dishes I want on repeat this summer. Making this meal was a throwback to some highlights of our time in college cooking together. I really don’t relate to the mentality of wanting everyone to be out of the kitchen when I’m cooking — I absolutely love cooking with friends.
Herby sable fish with fennel slaw (recipe is from @lahbco on Instagram)
Crab cakes (Hanna’s dad’s recipe)
Homemade ricotta with grilled vegetables and bread
Strawberry rhubarb galette (more on the recipe above)
Crab cakes (top left), herby sable fish with fennel slaw (top right), grilled vegetables and bread with ricotta (bottom left) and strawberry rhubarb galette (bottom right)
Thank you for reading, subscribing, and continuing to follow along at @hangrytohappyy on Instagram and @hangrytohappy on TikTok! See you here next week! Xoxo 🍓
My favorite Hangry to Happy yet!