If you have been following this space for a while now, you may know that I am an avid jammer. For years now I spend my Summer and Fall building up a year’s worth of various jams with whatever fruits that strike my fancy. I do not follow recipes and instead use a very simple formula that you can find here along with some of my tips and tricks. In these months, I haunt my farmer’s market waiting for that peak moment in the fruit’s season so that I can capture it in a little jar to take with me into the bitter winter months. If possible, I also like to get out of the city to one of the many farms near me and go fruit picking. One of my favorites, Rose Hill Farm, is a gorgeous little place in the Hudson Valley. I picked delicious blueberries there last year and then earlier this year we also went cherry picking here with my parents. A couple weeks ago we were able to go peach picking there and I thought I would take the opportunity to come up with a great little picnic ready Peach and Tomato Summer Galette. I also brought along my good friends Jesse and Gabe of Ceremony Films so that we could shoot a little video together. We also collaborated last year on my very first video making a wonderful Berry Hibiscus Granita. You can check that out here.

I have always found peaches very difficult to buy unless they are tree ripened. They are such delicate fruits that often there is such a short time between them being hard as a rock when bought and then over ripe and mushy. I recently took the risk and bought two peaches at the supermarket. They were stone hard when we brought them home and they literally went from hard to bruised to a rotting mush. We had to throw them away. Obviously this is definitely not the case for most peaches and I have had more luck buying peaches straight from the farmers at a famers market. But I don’t really remember the last time I was able to buy a supermarket peach that I enjoyed. Peaches are one of those fruits where if I cannot have the peach of my dreams – drip down my chin juicy, lusciously fragrant, and yet still retaining a texture with bite – I would rather not have them. It is a no compromise sort of fruit for me. Well I have found the peaches of my dreams. From now on I am going to make the effort to go upstate, pick loads of peaches and eat my fill.

This galette is a delicious little showstopper that would be great little center piece at your next picnic or would make for a lovely addition to Sunday lunch with your family. The dough is made with a recipe that I have used for years and has never failed on me. To this regular pie dough, I folded it much like I would do with a puff pastry allowing for maximum layers and puff when the galette is baked. Trust me when I say this dough is to die for. At our little picnic, Jesse’s tasted the galette and exclaimed “wow it’s like a croissant pie!”, with no prompting from me. In addition to the very special crust, I also slathered a delicious spicy tomato and peach jam under layers fruit. Peaches really lend themselves to savory recipes and I think this recipes does a great job of perfectly straddling the sweet and salty. I can imagine this jam being a great marinate for meats and would definitely be a delicious component in a homemade BBQ sauce. To this we are adding both parmesan and feta for salty tang. The parmesan also serves as a layer to catch any juices that leaks from the peaches and tomatoes keeping the crust crispy. No soggy bottoms here! This is truly a dish that allows the main featured ingredients to shine.

Enjoy the last bits of summer! I am certainly clutching onto it for as long as possible.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………