notes from my food diary

This month’s challenge from Klub Berani Baking is making classic puff pastry.  I actually did this last week but haven’t gotten time to write the post yet.  Before I starting to ramble, I would like to thank the hosts for this challenge, I was very happy to finally have the push to make my own puff pastry.  I truly enjoyed the experience of making it and would love to do more pastry challenges in the future.

As for the process of making puff pastry, I had to say I encountered little problem this time.  Maybe it’s just my lucky year   There’s a bit butter leaking on the last fold (the sixth time) on the bottom of the pastry but it wasn’t a huge problem.  Everything went smoothly as planned, I was home all day that day.  I remembered I was doing this on Martin Luther King Jr’s day since I didn’t have to work.  My son went to school though because the school used that day to make up for the snow day.  What a perfect day, the house was empty except for the piano technician tuning my piano.  I could concentrate more when there’s little commotion in the house, no whinning, no one running around, no one bugging me!

Because it was cool in my house, I didn’t have to worry about the temperature of the dough.  They stayed pretty cool during the rolling and folding process.  The only thing that I had to be better next time was the rolling process.  I was sure I didn’t roll the dough quite as thin all over.  Some parts were a bit thicker, especially the middle part. 

What I made from the puff pastry was this Sun-Dried Tomato Palmiers.  I made these for a church friend’s baby shower party and since we liked them so much, I made them again last week using this homemade puff pastry.  One of the easiest things to do with puff pastry I must say, because it only involved using ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomato paste and Parmesan cheese.  Good for appetizers and nibblers in between meals

Classic Puff Pastry (Pate Feuilletee)


1 pound (4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour (or 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour + ½ cup cornstarch)

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, 1/2 (4 tablespoons) of 1 stick chilled, the rest (3 1/2 sticks) at room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons salt (1 for sweet, 2 for savory)

1 1/4 cups cold water (or substitute it with 1 Tbs lemon juice for 1 water if you wish to further temper the gluten in the flour)


*Dough:
————-
Measure the flour into a mixing bowl. Remove ½ cup and set it aside in another bowl.

Take the half stick (4 tablespoons) of 1 stick chilled butter, cut it into small pieces and drop it into the flour. With two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut or rub the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal.

Add the salt (and optional lemon juice) to the water and add this to the flour. Mix gently with a fork until you have a rough dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If you need to add more water, do it a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and the gluten has been somewhat developed, about 2-3 minutes. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


*Butter
————-
Take the remainder of the butter and the reserved flour and mix the two together until they’re well blended and smooth. You can do this with a mixer, a food processor or with a spoon, by hand.

Pat this butter/flour mixture into an 8-inch square on a lightly floured piece of waxed paper. Cover it with second sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. By mixing the butter with flour, you stabilize it somewhat so it won’t decide to ‘flow’.


Rolling-Folding
————————

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and put it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it into a square about 12 inches on a side. You don’t have to be obsessive about the dimension but be pretty close.

Put the butter square in the centre of the dough square but turn it so that the corners of the butter square point toward the sides of the dough square. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter until they meet in the middle. Pinch and seal the edges of the dough together.

Turn the square over and tap it gently with your rolling pin or by hand into a rectangular shape. Rolling the dough into a larger rectangle 20 inches long and 10 inches wide.

When the dough is the right size, fold the bottom third of the dough up to the centre and the top third over and turn the dough package ¼ turn to the right so it looks like a book ready to be opened. If the dough is still nice and cold and still relaxed, do another rolling and turning the same way. (If it begins feel too soft or wants to resist being rolled, cover it, put it on a small baking sheet and refrigerate it for 15 minutes).

If you’ve successfully rolled it out and folded it twice, you’ve completed 2 turns. Classic puff pastry gets six. Continue refrigerating it after each 2 turns (or more often if necessary) until all 6 turns are completed.


*Chilling
————-
When all 6 turns are done, put the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour (and preferable overnight) before shaping.


*Shaping
—————
After being thoroughly chilled, the dough can be shaped into croissants, patty shells, twists, straws, etc. Scraps can be chilled and rerolled.


*Freezing
—————-
Like other pastry doughs, you can freeze puff pasty in a non-self defrosting freezer for up to a year if it’s well wrapped. It can also be frozen at any time during rolling, folding, turning process. Defrost it thoroughly before you use it, just to make sure it does not get too soft.


Source: adapted from King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook

Sun-Dried Tomato Palmiers

Makes about 1 dozen

Note:  if you can’t find sun-dried tomato paste, make you own by covering fifteen halves sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water, and letting it stand until softened about 5 minutes.  Drain, then puree in a food processor with 3 tablespoons olive oil.

1 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff pastry, commercial or homemade, thawed

6 tablespoons ricotta cheese

6 tablespoons sund-dried tomato paste

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (4 ounces)

On a clean work surface, roll out one shet of pastry into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick.  Trim to approximately 8 by 11 inches.  Spread half of the ricotta over the pastry.  Spread half the sun-dried tomate paste on top.  Sprinkle with half the Parmesan.  Roll each long edge of the pastry into the center of the rectangle, making sure pastry is right and even.  Repeat process with the remaining sheet of pastry, ricotta, tomato paste, and Parmesan.

Wrap rolls separately with plastic wrap, and transfer to refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.  (Rolls can be frozen at this poin up to 1 month,  When ready to bake, remove rolls from freezer; let stand at room temperature until a sharp knife can slice through without compressing them, about 10 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 425 degree F.  Remove rolls from refrigerator, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.  Place 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake until puffed and lightly golden, 5 to 6 minutes.  Turn palmiers, and bake until golden, 5 to 6 minutes more.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Source:  adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook