Apple Almond Galette to celebrate my new cookbook (giveaway)
The kettle is on and the table is set. It’s finally time to share with you a project I’ve been working on for a little over two years.
I’ve filled notebooks with scribbles and lists, developed hundreds of recipes, and picked the best ones to test and include. I’ve proofed many drafts of the manuscript and styled food for hundreds of photographs.
I’ve been anticipating this day for a very long time: the moment when The Simple Bites Kitchen launches into the world and you all are invited to join me in my kitchen.
Friends, today is the day! Keep reading to learn more about my new cookbook and upcoming book tour. I’m also sharing a seasonal recipe from the book – Apple Almond Galette – and giving away five copies to you!
The Simple Bites Kitchen cookbook
The Simple Bites Kitchen is dedicated to you, my readers. Without you, and without this space, there wouldn’t be an opportunity for another cookbook. It has been your loyal readership and encouragement over the past seven years that spurred me to create the collection of new recipes.
As you know from reading along over the years, my kitchen is a place where our family gathers, cooks together, and celebrates everyday life. In The Simple Bites Kitchen, I bring my love of whole foods to the table in a collection of 100 wholesome recipes drawn from my experience as a mom and a seasoned cook.
The recipes are brimming with fresh, seasonal ingredients that are easy to come by. They feature simple instructions, inspiring you to cook with confidence knowing you’re providing your family with healthy and great-tasting meals.
The Simple Bites Kitchen also includes recipes to keep your preserves pantry well-stocked all year long, kitchen tips, simple tutorials, and ideas for homespun hospitality.
The chapters are:
- Nourishing Breakfasts
- Wholesome Lunches and Snacks
- Homegrown Vegetarian
- Fresh-Air Gatherings
- Everyday Suppers
- Simple Bites Staples
- Preserves Pantry
I know well the challenges that come with feeding a family and tackle them head on by providing lunchbox inspiration, supper solutions and healthy snack options in this book. The recipes are nutritious, fairly easy to make, and approved by my kids (important!).
While Brown Eggs and Jam Jars featured quite a few celebrations like picnics, harvest dinner, holidays…., this second cookbook covers the basics in-between those wonderful life events. It’s about how we eat from Monday through Friday: simple, healthy, fast – but never boring.
One more thing: Kids in the Kitchen is a big part of this cookbook. Each chapter features a recipe that my kids love to make on their own, such as Noah’s French Toast with Cinnamon Maple Butter, Vietnamese Summer Rolls, and One-Pot Shrimp and Pea Orzo. Sparking your child’s curiosity in cooking at a young age can lead to a lifelong interest in healthful eating and unprocessed foods.
If you’re looking for inspiration and encouragement for feeding a family, The Simple Bites Kitchen is for you. As of today, is available in bookstores across North America and online in the links below.
- Canadian readers: Order online from Indigo.
- US readers: Find it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- UK readers: Find it on Amazon.
The Simple Bites Kitchen Canadian Book Tour 2017
I’m going coast to coast with this book, hitting major cities and a few personal spots. I hope you’ll come out and say hi if I happen to be near your town. I’d love to connect!
- October 3rd. Toronto, ON – Penguin Offices, 6-7:30pm
- October 14th. Montreal, QC – Appetite for Books, 2-4pm
- October 21st – Ottawa, ON – Red Apron, 3:30pm – 5pm
- November 5th – Smithers, BC – Two Sisters Café, 2-4pm
- November 6 – Vancouver, BC – PRH offices. 111 Water Street, Suite 310 6-7:30 Drop in.
- November 8 – Calgary, AB – The Cookbook Co. Cooks, 6:30-8pm
- November 20 – Halifax, NS – The Independent Mercantile Co. 6 – 7:30pm
Mark your calendars, friends.
Apple Almond Galette
I had to share a recipe from the cookbook, and since our Thanksgiving is just around the corner, this tart feels like the perfect fit. We’ve recently been to a local orchard to pick apples and I have heaps and heaps of them around, just waiting to be turned into a rustic galette such as this.
This seasonal tart is often my go-to dessert for family dinners when I’ve volunteered to bring something sweet. I keep 1-pound packages of puff pastry in my freezer and I always have a drawer of apples in my crisper, especially in fall. The frangipane freezes well, too, so I often make a double batch and tuck away half for another time.
Ingredients
- 1 pound puff pastry thawed overnight in the refrigerator«
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2/3 cup raw cane sugar divided, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 large Granny Smith apples or Russet
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds toasted, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured counter, roll puff pastry into a roughly 11- × 16-inch rectangle approximately 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to the baking sheet and place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the softened butter and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Add 1 egg and beat until smooth. Stir in the ground almonds and flour until a smooth paste forms. This frangipane may be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
- Peel and core the apples, then cut into quarters and slice into 1/4-inch wedges. Tumble the apples into a medium bowl and toss with another 1/3 cup sugar and the nutmeg.
- Spread the almond frangipane over the puff pastry, leaving at least a 3-inch border on all sides. Arrange the apple slices over the frangipane, overlapping and tucking them in close together.
- Fold the sides of the puff pastry up and over the apples in an easy, free-form way, making an edge of at least 2 inches. The beauty of a galette is that it doesn’t have to look perfect. Pinch the pastry folds firmly together to seal them.
- Brush the apples with the melted butter. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush it over the puff pastry. Sprinkle everything with the remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the pasty is golden and the apples are soft when poked with a fork. Cool slightly, then sprinkle with almonds and serve warm. The galette is best enjoyed on the same day it is made.
Nutrition
The Simple Bites Kitchen Giveaway!
Thanks to my wonderful publishers at Penguin Canada, I have five copies of The Simple Bites Kitchen to giveaway to my North American readers.
To enter: please leave a comment on this post and tell me one thing you like to cook or bake in fall.
*** This giveaway has ended. The winners are: Sarah, Nancy, Anne, Matt and Laura Mayne. You have all been notified via email. Congratulations! *
That’s it! Giveaway ends on Tuesday, October 10 at 9am. The five winners will be announced here on this post, as well as directly via email. Good luck to all.
Recipe excerpted from The Simple Bites Kitchen: Nourishing Whole Food Recipes for Every Day. Copyright © 2017 by Aimée Wimbush-Bourque. Photos copyright © Tim and Angela Chin. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Oh wow! So many fall things to choose from. I’m an American here in the UK so anything pumpkin (for my American roots) and any type of crumble (like apple, blackberry/rhubarb) is amazing!
I love baking pumpkin cookies, roasting chicken, making applesauce and having soup and bread for dinner@
In the fall when apples start to show up at the farmer’s market, I love making fresh applesauce and apple crisp; that says Fall to me!
The main thing I like to bake in fall (summer is just too hot) is bread, bread, bread! I love baking any kind of bread, but I think my favorite is English Muffin Toasting Bread. I love all those little nooks & crannies that type of bread has. I use a wonderful recipe from King Arthur Flour (hopr it’s okay to mention them).
Pies! Apple for Thanksgiving, pumpkin for my husband’s birthday, and pecan for my mother-in-law’s birthday. And everything to do with Thanksgiving dinner. I’m working on introducing quick, nutritious and fun meals for my 12 month old that we parents can enjoy too. Your book sounds like the support I need. If I don’t win, I hope to find a copy in my Christmas stocking!
Chili! Also bread. Any kind of bread. Really, anything that will warm my cold Chicago kitchen.
I like to make tomato soup spice cake and fresh whipped cream. Our 4 kids adore it!
Butternut squash soup with fresh rosemary is a favorite this time of year. I also just put up a double recipe of hot pepper jelly with the avalanche of sweet and hot peppers from the CSA. Congratulations Aimee! What an exciting time for you with the new cookbook and relocation. Can’t wait to read the kid friendly recipe ideas.
I am so excited, my copy of The Simple Bites Kitchen arrived from Amazon today. I have really enjoy Brown Eggs and Jam Jars, two of our favorites are the Coconut Cream Oatmeal and Mexican Hot Chocolate. I am saving Simple Bites Kitchen to look through around the fire camping this weekend, I can’t wait! I don’t need to be entered in the contest but one of my favorites to make in the fall is apple dumplings.
I love to cook soup in the fall! And cinnamon rolls!
I love to roast vegetables. And right now our family is really enjoying baked potatoes as a base for all sorts of sauces and stews!
Looks yummy and easy to do. Fall is for anything with pumpkin or squash. Such versatile foods for sweet or savoury items.
I love to bake pumpkin scones with maple glaze.
I plan to make the apple almond galette for my mom. It looks and sounds so much like a german apple cake my grandmother, her mother used to make. We tried and tried to write down the recipe, even sitting with her, measuring each ingredient as she added it. Her English was limited and she cooked by touch and from her heart. My mom was measuring each ingredient and then Grandma would say, “Ach, dat doesn’t feel right,” and grab a handful of that ingredient and throw it in. So much for measuring. Grandma is long gone but the memory of that cake haunts us all. Maybe this Galette will bring it closer.
Yum, this sounds awesome and I will be trying it out this weekend. Traditionally I make a Danish dessert (æblekage) with apples for Thanksgiving which has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I think of it as a cross between a crisp and a trifle. I hope to have a food blog launched by Christmas and my version of this lovely dessert will be available. I admire your site, enjoy your recipes and applaude your hard work!
I love making pumpkin cheesecake and apple cheesecake. I also love making apple pie, pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins. The kids love to help as well!
I’d love a copy of your book! I’m all about pumpkin in the fall. I roast my own and put pumpkin in whatever I can: muffins, cakes, smoothies, pancakes, and more!
My favorite fall recipes are spiced pear butter and pumpkin pie bread.
As soon as fall is in the air I love to bake a fresh loaf of bread and have apple or pumpkin butter cooking down on the stove. Mmmnn
I love to make good, hearty loaves of bread (to go with all those fall and winter stews)!
I can’t wait to get my hands on this cookbook. I have been reading your blog since before Clara was born. I love your recipes, but I also connect with your stories of homesteading and raising children who know their way around the kitchen. We cook a lot from your blog. My children decided a few years ago that our Thanksgiving dinner will always include your bacon wrapped turkey breast stuffed into a spaghetti squash, lol! They think it is just fantastic. We also enjoy your Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili from your Eating the Pantry post as the weather cools off.
Thanks for all the wonderful work you do!!
For me fall means pumpkin! And pumpkin everything. I especially love a curried pumpkin soup, but my kids love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (we got the recipe out of a kids’ magazine years ago and my 11 yo knows it by heart!).
I love to make frittatas with roasted fall veggies as the filling…delicious and easy!
Applesauce, baked veggies, bread….
Fall is time for baking bread now that the kitchen is a little cooler. Maybe some honey-whole wheat bagels. Also much better temperatures to ferment a gallon of beer.
I vote for curried butternut squash and apple soup, which I then put into your awesome hubbard squash tureen. Can’t wait to see the new book!
I love to bake breads of all kinds!
I love applesauce and walnuts this time of year…and pumpkin muffins!
When beautiful sunny days and cool, crisp nights fall upon us, nothing says Fall like a nice warm apple crisp.
Congratulations on the arrival! It must be so exciting to see two years of hard work in physical form. I look forward to testing out all the recipes!
Fall is preserving time for me. My favorites are chocolate zucchini bread or pumpkin bread. And homemade jam to go with them!
Fall is for making pumpkin risotto!! Simple yet delicious… like many of your recipes!
Your book just arrived and I am so excited to dive inside. I’ve loved your blog for years as well as “Brown Eggs and Jam Jars”. I am far from a chef, but am inspired by your stories and recipes. Can’t wait to get started on some fall dishes!
My wife makes your maple pumpkin chili all the time during the fall and winter months. It’s become a family favourite.
I love being able to start baking bread again!
It’s simple, but homemade applesauce is my fall favorite. Thanks for the giveaway!
Pumpkin cheesecake
Apple crisp
This is a tough one as I am constantly baking, just finished making a batch of molasses ginger cookies, my next project is going to be a carrot cake with cheesecake, two in one, should be interesting.
Winter squashes, carrots, parsnip, breads, apples, hot peppers, herbs, garlic, end of season tomatoes…
I love to bake anything pumpkin this time of year.
I just love being able to bake bread again! The hardest part of summer for me is that it is too hot to do much baking, it is always nice to have that heat from the oven become welcome once more! My favorite bread to bake is a lovely oatmeal honey bread! It definitely is my husband’s favorite!
Congratulations on your latest cookbook–can’t wait to read it! My favorite fall dishes are probably stuffing (done in a variety of ways), soups aplenty–vegetable, butternut squash, mushroom barley, and breads, both yeasty and quick breads, like a spiced pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.
Everybody’s saying pumpkin this and pumpkin that! Well I love getting the slowcooker out for a hearty beef stew with garden potatoes, carrots, and onions.
I like to make sure apple anything in the fall, but especially apple crisp (my husband’s favorite). It maybe now an apple galette.
Anything maple! Ginger cake with maple drizzle was last.
My favorite recipe to cook in fall is a “boulli” plenty of vegetables a little bit of meat and in the end you dip your bread in the bouillon. Miam !
Excited for your new book! October is birthday month in my house, so it’s when I love to make a special cake or cupcakes for my girls.
I love to eat and love to make apple crisp! So delicious!
I make applesauce with the peels so that the sauce is a rich pink!
Pumpkin bread…. whole wheat and less sugar, so I don’t feel too guilty. 🙂
Hi from Halifax NS! Excited to hear you are heading this way :)) There is an apple variety unique to here called the Gravenstein. It is one of the very first apples in the season and has a distinct flavour that takes me right back to my mothers kitchen and all things apple she created. We picked apples as a family growing up- and now we carry on the tradition every year with our two girls and head to the Valley early September. I always pick a rediculous amount of apples…I can’t resist! Then spend the next many weeks making endless batches of applesauce for the freezer- skins on (makes a bright pink coloured sauce) then running through a food mill to get smooth. Oh- and apple crisps, apple cake, apple muffins, apple tarts, squash apple soups….yay fall! Congratulations on your new book- hope to see you when you come to Halifax !