Apricot Fried Pies

Back

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe rough puff pastry

5 apricots

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preparation:

Remove stones from apricots and dice.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar and stir.  Let set.

Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out 4" or 5" rounds.  Roll rounds paper thin.  Place a tablespoon of apricots in center of round.  Moisten edges and fold in half.  Press with fingers or fork to seal well.  Chill pies for at least 30 minutes.

Place an inch of oil in heavy bottomed pan (i.e. cast iron).  Heat oil to 365 degrees.  Place a few pies in oil and fry until golden brown turning as necessary.  Drain on rack and dust with confectioner's sugar.  Serve while still warm.

Variation:

Pies may be baked in a 400 degree oven on a parchment lined baking sheet until puffed and golden brown.  Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar while warm.

History:

As a child my grandmother made apricot fried pies when my uncle's tree over produced apricots.  While searching for a recipe for these pies, I was surprised to find that "fried pies" are a Texan specialty.  My grandmother and mother were from Texas.

Pasteis de Nata

Back

Makes 12 Tartes.

Ingredients:

For the rough puff pastry:

150 gr. all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

25 gr. unsalted butter, chilled and diced

50-75 ml chilled water

60 gr unsalted butter, frozen

For the custard:

375 ml whole milk

45 gr. all-purpose flour

2 strips of lemon zest

1 cinnamon stick

375 gr. confectioner's sugar

7 large egg yolks

Preparation:

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Rub in the chilled butter, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Gradually add enough chilled water (about 4-6 tablespoons) to form a dough. 

Roll out the dough to a rectangle on a lightly floured work surface.  Grate half of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough.  Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if folding a letter.

Turn the folded dough 90 degrees and roll it out into a rectangle again.  Repeat the process and grate the remaining frozen butter on two-thirds of the dough and fold as before.  Wrap the dough in cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll and fold the pastry twice more, each time wrapping the dough in cling wrap and leaving it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a rectangle measuring 8" by 12".  Roll up the pastry tightly, from the short side, into a log and cut the log into 12 equal discs.

Place 1 disc into the cup of the muffin tin, swirl-side up.  Using wet fingers, carefully press the pastry up the sides with your fingers, working from the center outwards, until the pastry just pokes over the top.  Repeat with the remaining pastry discs.  Chill for 20 minutes.

For the custard, pour the milk into a pan and whisk in the flour.  Add the strips of lemon zest and the cinnamon stick.  Bring to a simmer over low heat, whisking continuously.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until thick.  Remove from heat.

Dissolve the sugar in 185 ml of water in a small pan over a low heat.  Then, increase the heat and boil until a drop of syrup placed in a glass of water forms a thread (or it reaches 106 - 112 degrees C on a candy thermometer).  Gradually whisk the boiling syrup into the milk mixture.

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and strain the milk mixture over the top, whisking to combine.  Cover the surface with cling wrap and leave to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, remove the lemon zest and cinnamon stick.

Heat the oven to 475 degrees (don't use convection).  Pour the custard into the pastry cases, leaving a 1/4 inch gap at the top, then bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp and the custard is bubbling with tiny brown spots on top.

Cool the tarts in the tins for 5 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

History:

Recipe comes from the Great British Bake Off.

Bouchées à la Reine (Pastry)

Back

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry (12" x 18")

Preparation:
Prepare puff pastry into Bouchée and bake at 350˚ for 20 to 25 minutes.

1

Before starting this Bouchées à la Reine recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the pastry cases. Roll out the puff pastry. Although puff pastry is quite technical, I invite you to follow my easy, step-by-step recipe for a home-made flaky pastry. You won't be disappointed! For best results, I recommend using extra dry butter.

2
Roll the puff pastry to a thickness of 4 or 5mm. Using an Exoglass round pastry cutter Ø 10cm (I used a fluted cutter for this recipe), cut the pastry into discs...

3
... and slightly twist the cutter on your floured worktop to make sure the disc is cut in a perfectly neat shape. The pastry disc will detach easily from the puff pastry slab.


4
Cut as many discs as you need. 500 grams of puff pastry yields 12 discs of Ø 10cm, for a total of 6 bouchées.


5
Arrange 6 pastry discs on a Silpat baking mat, placed on top of a Silichef XL perforated baking sheet.

6
Using a pastry brush, glaze the discs with eggwash (a beaten egg yolk with a little water).


7
With the 6 other pastry discs on your floured worktop, cut a hole in the centre with a smaller pastry cutter. I used an Exoglass round fluted cutter with a diameter of 6cm.



8
Repeat the operation for all discs. You should now have 6 pastry rings.


9
Carefully arrange the rings on top of the pastry discs. The rings will adhere to the glazed pastry discs easily.


10
Glaze the pastry rings...




11
... and store in the fridge for about 2 hours before baking. Ideally, start the recipe the day before and refrigerate overnight to prevent the pastry from shrinking during baking.


12
Remove from the fridge and apply another brush of eggwash along the rings.


13
Place small dariole moulds (height 5 or 6cm) in the four corners of the baking sheet. This will help control the rise of the puff pastry shells while baking...



14
... and place a baking sheet on top of the dariole moulds. I recommend using a heavy baking sheet, such as black steel. An aluminium baking sheet might not be heavy enough.


15
Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 170°C (gas 3) for 20 to 25 minutes.


16
20 minutes later, the pastry cases should have risen to a regular height. Remove the baking sheet on top.



17
Bake for a further 5 or 10 minutes. At this stage, there is no more risk of the pastry cases collapsing. Make sure the base of the pastry shells is well cooked. Gently lift the vol au vent cases to check.


18
When cooked, remove from the oven...


19
... then place the tray on your kitchen worktop and leave to cool.

Sausage Puffs

Back

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe puff pastry, cold

1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 large onion, thinly sliced

1 ounces soft sun-dried tomatoes

2 ounces provolone, grated

2 ounces fontina, grated

1/4 cup parsley, coursely chopped

3 tablespoons grated parmesan

Preparation:

Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet.  Remove casings from sausage and crumble into pan and cook, stirring until browned.  Transfer to a bowl to cool then finely chop.  Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to skillet and sauté onion and tomatoes until onions are tender.  Stir into sausage and cool.  Fold cheeses and parsley into sausage, taste and adjust for salt.

Roll puff pastry out to a 18 inch by 18 inch square.  Cut into 3 inch squares.  Place a square into each hole of mini cup cake pans (36 total).  Place tablespoon of filling into each pastry shell, sprinkle with parmesan and bake at 425 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes.

Sausage puffs can be frozen and reheated in an oven directly from the freezer.

History:

Basic recipe comes from Chef Tech Cooking School in Long Beach.  I varied the recipe from 5 inch square sausage pockets to the appetizer size.