The Versatile Puff Pastry

A recent discovery of mine has been working with puff pastry. Such a variety of recipes can be prepared in a flash if you keep a box of puff pastry in your freezer. It can be used for both savory or sweet dishes. In the savory category, I have used puff pastry as a topping for chicken pot pies and also as a base to serve a creamed seafood medley. Granted, it's a fairly high caloric splurge, what with all the layers of flour and butter, but isn't it worth it to indulge once in awhile?

Included in this entry are two desserts I made over the past couple months. One is a simple turnover and the only trick to this is to make sure the pastry is cut in fairly exact squares, otherwise it is difficult to keep the filling encased. (I learned this the hard way). I filled mine with some wonderful prepared cherry filling. It is important to brush the edges of the turnover with egg wash and press them closed with a fork. Bake 20 minutes or so at 350Degrees or until they are golden and puffed.
The other dessert is an apple tart. This was even easier than the turnover. All that is needed are some nice, tart cooking applies (I used Romes and Granny Smiths) cut into eights. These were placed on top of the squares of puff pastry, sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon, brown sugar and a dollop of butter (because there just isn't enough butter in the pastry!) and baked until the pastry was golden and the apples were soft. So French and so delicious.

Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts

The Husband is a devoted fan of The Simpsons. (Quite frankly, show me a male who isn't...) Like Homer, The Husband is also a devoted fan of doughnuts. As Homer once wisely observed, "Donuts-- is there anything they can't do?"

Since I am a devoted fan of The Husband (Quite frankly, show me a female who isn't...), I thought I would once again try my hand at homemade doughnuts for our Saturday morning coffee/newspaper time together. I had tried a time or two previously, and not had a lot of success. But one must perservere, so I found a new recipe to try. It went fairly well this time but, just like in previous attempts, the dough was extremely soft and I had to add much more flour than what was called for. However, once I got the dough to a workable consistency they cut out nicely and cooked up just as the recipe said they would. Like so many of my odd kitchen gadgets, I found my doughnut cutter at a garage sale somewhere along the way. Certainly not something I've used much but it came in handy today!

Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup buttermilk

3 Tbsp butter, melted

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground mace

Vegetable oil for frying

Confectioners sugar and cinnamon sugar for dusting doughnuts

(I cut this recipe in half from the quantities listed above as two dozen doughnuts seemed a bit excessive for the two of us. (Though Homer and The Husband would argue this point, it worked fine.)

Whisk the eggs until light and lemony in color. Gradually add the sugar, whisking constantly until mix is thick and ribbony.

Stir in the buttermilk and melted butter. Add the sifted dry ingredients into the egg mixture and stir until combined. IMPORTANT: Do not overwork the dough. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Pour oil to the depth of 2-3 inches into a large heavy pot. Heat it to 375 degrees. While oil is heating roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut doughnuts out with a doughnut cutter or a biscuit cutter. Fry the doughnuts in small batches until golden brown. Turn once after 1 1/2 minutes per side. Use a slotted spoon to take them out and drain on paper towels. Check the oil before putting in new batches to ensure it is at correct temperature. Dust the doughnuts while still warm. Makes approximately 2 dozen doughnuts and doughnut holes.

The Alchemy of Cooking

I love the magic of cooking. I love how you can take the most simple of ingredients; a sprinkle of yeast, a bit of sugar, a few cups of flour, mix it together, let it sit for a couple hours and voila - a beautiful bread dough

I made pizza dough with a delicious recipe that I've had around for awhile. It is very simple to make and very easy to work with once it's risen. Pizza is a great thing to try at home as there are endless possibilities for toppings. I like to divide the pizza into two parts; one with a meat choice and one vegetarian side. Tonight's pizza included tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese topped with a dry salami on one side and garlic olive oil, mozzarella, Parmesan and a sprinkling of fresh basil on the other side.

Really, homemade pizza is a fairly quick dinner once you have finished the dough and it has risen to all of it's glory. Just spread or roll the dough out onto your pan, slap on the toppings, pop it into the oven for 15-20 minutes and there you have it.

Pizza Dough

1 Tbsp dry active yeast (1 envelope - I use fast acting)

1 1/4 cup warm water (under 110deg F)

1/4 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp olive plus a little extra for greasing the pan

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Place the yeast, 1/4 cup of warm water and sugar into mixing bowl. Stir and set aside until the yeast foams, about 10 minutes.

From This - a few ingredients - yeast, water, sugar.

Add the remaining water, olive oil and cheese. Using the dough hook of your electric mixer, mix on low speed just to blend. Still on low speed, add the flour one sixth at a time. Add the salt and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3-4 minutes. While the dough is mixing, flour your work surface and grease a large mixing bowl with some oil.

Remove the dough to the floured work surface and knead for a minute or two to form a smooth ball. Place the dough in the greased bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

To This - a lovely, soft malleable dough. It's magic!

Once the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out onto a floured work surface, roll it or stretch it with your hands into a circle or square until the dough is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Place dough onto a greased baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal (I omitted this step and it came off the pan just fine).

The Pizza ready for the oven.

Distribute your topping choices over the pizza dough and set the baking sheet in the top third of the oven which has been set to 450 degrees. Bake until the crust is golden brown the the cheese is bubbling, approximately 15-20 minutes. Enjoy a wonderful, flavorful pizza!

Dried Cherry Biscotti

It's been a baking kind of weekend. Cookies and cake. Cookies for The Husband and cake for a last of the summer Bar-B-Que at the Mother-in-Law's. I'll start with the cookie recipe and talk about the cake in another entry. A favorite in our house is cherries. Cherry jam, cherry pie, cherry turnovers, plain cherries and dried cherry biscotti (I sound like Forrest Gump - fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, etc.....).

This recipe makes very good biscotti and they are fairly easy to make but are messy as I have found that when mixing the ingredients together it is far more effective to use one's hands then a spoon. They also take some tending to when baking them as they are twice baked and have to be cooled a bit after the initial baking and then cut, and then baked again in two 5 minute sessions. The end result is worth it though. They turn out crunchy, not too sweet and with nice sour bites with the dried cherries.

Dried Cherry Biscotti

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup chopped dried cherries (dried cranberries also work)

1 cup ground almonds

Sugar for the top (optional)

Lightly grease one cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 35o degrees.

Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until dough is formed. Stir in almonds and cherries.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and kneed several times. Using the greased cookie sheet as a surface, divide the dough in half and form into two flat logs about 9 inches long by 3 inches wide. I like to press some sugar onto the tops for an added sweet crunch.Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Let cool directly on baking sheet resting on a rack for 10 minutes.

Lower heat to 325 degrees. On a cutting board, cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Put back in oven for 5 minutes. Turn over and bake 5 more minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a baking rack. Store in an airtight container.

Grandma's Tarts

My English grandma always had a large decorative tin of tarts ready for us when we came to visit. There were of maids of honor (so named by King Henry VIII for Anne Boleyn who was a lady in waiting to his first wife Katherine of Aragon), coconut tarts, and jam and lemon curd filled tarts, with each layer separated in the tin by wax paper. It was such a treat to sit at my grandparents dining room table with cups of tea and the delicious tarts. My mother also made tarts, but with her busy schedule it was usually at Christmas or at times when she baked a pie she would make jam tarts with the leftover pie dough.

I am very pleased that I was able to get my grandma's recipes for her various tarts and I try to make them at least once a year. When finished, I too always put them in my favorite tin which is decorated with tart pictures and the poem about the Queen of Hearts and her tarts. I hope my nieces will learn how to make them as it would be a shame for those traditional recipes to be lost.

Since I made my gloriously successful berry pie, I decided to throw together a few jam tarts with my leftover pie dough. I was able to do so primarily because The Husband was at work and not stealing and eating the raw dough before I can get to the rest of my baking.

Above: Tarts ready for baking.

For these tarts there is no recipe other than taking leftover dough, rolling it out and cutting into circles to fit the muffin tin, filling each tart with approximately 1 teaspoon of a jam, jelly, or lemon curd and baking at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes until crusts are light brown. Let tarts cool in tin for 10 minutes or so, until jam sets then remove and cool them on a rack.

Above: Tarts baked and ready for their special tin.

Facing Fears

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"You must do things you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt

Taking to heart the inspirational words of this fine American couple, I decided to tackle my fear of pie making again before the summer slips away and all of the fresh fruits and berries are long gone. I recalled making a couple of pies a few years ago for Thanksgiving when my mother was here visiting and I used a pate brisee recipe for the crusts and they turned out fairly well. I chalked their success up to the fact that my mother was in the kitchen with me bringing me good cooking Karma. That theory is now put to the test, as is that pie crust recipe.

Pate Brisee Pie Crust
(Makes two 9-10inch crusts)
2 sticks very cold butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
In processor bowl pulse flour, sugar and salt together 3-4 times. Add butter and mix until a coarse crumble forms, no more than 30 seconds. Very slowly add water through the feed tube of the processor with the machine going, adding just enough so that mixture holds together when pinched together. Divide the dough into two and form into smooth circles, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes but as long as overnight. If overnight, take dough out for 30 minutes prior to rolling it out.

Above: Ingredients for pie dough.

Above: Processed dough holding together nicely.Above: Dough balls ready for the Big Chill overnight.

The next step in my process was to make the berry filling, roll out the crusts and put the pie together and it worked BEAUTIFULLY! I have finally found a pie crust that works for me and I will never ever waver from it again. No more lard, no more shortening, no more vinegar, just pure butter and lots of it.

Above: The Willamette Valley's delicious berries-Marion and Blackberries with a sprinkle of lemon zest.

The berry filling consisted of 3 cups of Marionberries and 1 cup of blackberries and a couple teaspoons of lemon zest which were coated with a slurry of 2 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar. The bottom crust was rolled out and filled with the berries, then the top crust was rolled out and put on top and crimped and a few slits were put in the top crust to let steam escape. Then the top was brushed lightly with cream and sprinkled it with sugar. It baked at at 450 deg for the first 10 minutes then turned down the heat to 350 deg where it stayed for another 45 minutes. Approximately 10 minutes prior to taking it out, the edges were covered with foil so as not to burn. A baking sheet was kept under the pie during baking to prevent spillage all over the oven. Above: Pie ready for the oven, glazed with cream and a sprinkle of sugar.

Above: Finished pie in all it's glory.

I served the pie ala mode with homemade vanilla ice cream. Pie Oh My Indeed!