Twisty Baguettes

David Lebovitz's blog never fails to inspire me. The latest is the USA-made hazelnut spread on holey twisted baguettes. The hazelnut spread looks really really yummy but the steep price is preventing me from getting a jar. I am more than happy and willing to make the twisted bread instead which is the more interesting of the two.

I have never heard of twisted baguettes which are supposed to be Swiss in origin. After reading about it here, I decided to use Peter Reinhart's pain à l'ancienne rustic bread recipe because I love its natural sweet flavor and ease of preparation. I altered the recipe a bit by substituting whole wheat flour for 5 ounces of the bread flour and increased the resting time between folds from 10 minutes to 30. The holey sweetish thin mini baguettes are superb and I love it with Nutella, of course, and with creamy spreadable just-made buttermilk cheese. I also made tiny ones, 6 inches in length, with a piece of bittersweet chocolate baton inside. It's very good but some of the chocolate oozed out and made a little bit of a mess.

What I love about the twisted shape is there is no need to score the loaves and they come out looking nice. I'll definitely make these again and will follow Jeffrey Hamelman's French Bread with Poolish recipe just to compare the flavors.

Twisty Baguettes
adapted from Peter Reinhart's ARTISAN BREADS EVERY DAY
Pain à l'Ancienne Rustic Bread recipe

15 ounces bread flour
5 ounces whole wheat flour
2½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups chilled water

• Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute until well combined. The dough should be coarse and sticky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour. Mix for 1 minute in machine or by hand using a wet spoon or wet hands. The dough should become smoother but will still be very soft, sticky, and wet. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface. With wet hands, stretch and fold the dough: reach under the front end, stretch it out, and fold it back onto the top; stretch and fold the 3 remaining sides. Flip the dough and tuck into a ball and return to the container. Cover and repeat the stretch and fold 3 more times at 30 minute intervals. After the final stretch and fold, immediately cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days.
  
• On baking day, remove the dough 1 hour before baking. Place a sheet pan on the bottom shelf of the oven and put the rack and stone in the lower middle shelf or wherever you want to position them. Preheat oven to 475°F for at least 45 minutes before baking.
  
• Place the dough on a generously floured work surface and shape into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle. With a metal pastry scraper, cut off a slice 1½ inches wide and roll on the flour. Stretch to elongate and make it thinner, if desired. Twist the dough from end to end (or from middle to both ends) and carefully transfer on a sheet pan lined with parchment; if baking directly on a stone place the shaped baguette on a piece of parchment laid on top of a peel or inverted sheet pan.
• Slide the baguettes on the stone or place the sheet pan in the oven. Pour ½ cup hot water on the bottom pan and bake for 12 to 18 minutes or until the crust is a rich brown. Cool baguettes on a wire rack for 15 minutes before slicing.
  

I just replaced my 13-year old gas oven. It was not working 100% for probably 6 months already. I noticed that the right side of the oven does not glow and it takes an hour or more to preheat to 350 degrees and can't maintain the heat while baking which is not good for baking cakes and breads. The cost to have it looked at by a professional is $200.00 plus more for parts and other services. I was tempted to open the oven floor and repair it myself but because this is a natural gas oven I was scared I might end up blowing up my house. The new oven, a Maytag, has more advanced features and preheats super fast. To test it for temperature accuracy, baking time, best rack position, etc I went nuts and baked today a loaf of white bread, chocolate Milo layer cake and cupcakes, and the mini baguettes. I'm quite happy with the oven. Which means more baked goods to write about.:p

Food Friday: The Hamburger Sandwich

Fat juicy burger topped with red wine-pickled tiny cucumbers, spiced ketchup, watercress, and sharp cheddar. The beef patty is a combination of ground boneless short ribs, skirt steak, brisket, and a little suet and bone marrow. The entire recipe is from bon appétit.

Ube Flan

If you are an ube (purple yam) fanatic like myself, you'll love it in flan. It makes a deliciously smooth and delightful dessert specially with a few pieces of slightly tart fruits like blueberries or strawberries. The recipe is a basic ube flan but you can adjust the amount of eggs without major alteration to the consistency of the flan.

Ube Flan
½ cup sugar for caramel
1 ½ cups ube jam
1 cup water
5 eggs, well beaten
1 can sweetened condensed milk

• Caramelize the sugar and pour into 4 or 5 ramekins or a llanera mold.
  
• In a large bowl, slowly add water into the jam and mix until mixture is smooth and has no visible lumps of ube jam. Add the beaten eggs and milk and mix well. Strain into the prepared ramekins or mold.
  
• Steam in rapidly boiling water or bake in a bain marie at 325°F oven for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.

Food Friday: Jackfruit

Fresh jackfruit grown in Florida, in portions or the whole fruit, is now available in Asian grocery stores in my area. They are as good as the ones from Asia but the color is not as deep yellow maybe because the fruits are picked a little early.

Jackfruit is a favorite of mine. I cook them in sugar syrup then add the sweet langka in halo-halo, ice cream, candies, sapin-sapin, guinatan, and of course in saba banana turon which I'll make this weekend. I also boil the seeds with a little sea salt until they are very soft. They're so good for snacking.

guinatan halo-halo

Food Friday: Spaghetti with Meatballs

This is my favorite spaghetti, with garlicky marinara sauce topped with meatballs and freshly grated Romano or Parmesan. Very yummy and comforting.

Italian Meatballs
1½ pounds ground beef
½ pound ground pork
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1½ teaspoons sea salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup water

• In a large glass bowl, mix everything together, it should be moist. Fry a teaspoon and adjust seasoning. Form into balls, from teeny to ginormous ones and bake in a 375°F oven until lightly browned. Continue cooking in a simmering pan of marinara sauce for 20 to 30 minutes.

Flapjacks and Hobnobs

flapjacks

McVitie's cookies and digestives are my long time favorites British stuff. I usually get them from World Market whenever they are available. A few weeks ago I bought a package with 3 different types of biscuits and one of them is the highly addictive crunchy Hobnobs which according to the package are made with rolled oats, whole wheat flour, margarine, brown sugar, golden syrup, and baking soda. I looked for a recipe online and most have exactly the same ingredients as the package, with a few different variations in the preparation. Having made the digestives and Jaffa cakes once before I thought why not bake some.

The Hobnobs ingredients, except for whole wheat flour, remind me of the British oatmeal bars called Flapjacks which I read about in the bon appétit magazine several months ago. I had to search for it which means reading the table of contents of a few issues and found it in March. The recipe which the author says is similar to Rice Krispies Treats is unbelievably simple to make yet delivers a satisfyingly delicious caramelly oatmeal bars that are chewy in the middle and crispy at the edges. They are addicting just like the Hobnobs.

It's a good thing Lyle golden syrup from the UK is widely available [in almost all grocery stores] where I live. This essential ingredient for both flapjacks and hobnobs is a very very thick syrup and although the ingredient indicated on the label says it's cane sugar syrup, I can taste a hint of salt which I really like btw, and I end up licking my fingers and the spoon I used. But I might be mistaken about the salt. Anyway, look for them at your grocery store's baking section near the sugars and syrups.

Flapjacks
by Molly Wizenberg (bon appétit magazine)
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
½ cup packed golden brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or old-fashioned)
pinch of salt

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 x 8 x 2 inch metal baking pan.
  
• Combine first 3 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add oats and salt, stir until coated. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out in even layer.
  
• Bake until top is golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut into 4 squares, cut each into 4 triangles (mixture will be soft). Cool completely in pan before serving.
  

Hobnobs

2 cups quick-cooking oats
1¼ cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons golden syrup
½ teaspoon baking soda

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
  
• Pulse the oats in a food processor a few times to break them up into a coarse consistency but do not process too much. In a large bowl, whisk the oats, flours, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined.
  
• In a medium saucepan, place butter and syrup and heat gently while stirring until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and stir in baking soda; then add to the dry ingredient mixture and stir thoroughly to combine.
  
• Using a small scoop, measure out round pieces and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet 3 inches apart. Shape the pieces into balls and with a fork or a small glass, flatten into ¼-inch thick rounds, they will spread while baking. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool in pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack. Optional: Melt some milk chocolate and spread on top. Let the chocolate set completely before serving. I myself prefer these cookies plain.
  

Pretzels and Pretzel Buns

I have been reading about store-bought and homemade pretzel dough shaped into burger and hot dog buns. I have always wanted to make pretzels that are chewy and have thin dark crusts and thought the recipe from Jeffrey Hamelman's BREAD would be a good one to try.

I followed the recipe as written but I didn't poach the dough in lye and water solution because I don't have lye. I boiled the pieces in baking soda and water instead and they came out wonderfully dark brown all over, are soft and chewy and so delicious. The pretzels sprinkled with sea salt are so yummy simply dipped in yellow mustard and the meaty sturdy hot dog buns are perfect with the jalapeno cheese German sausages that a friend gave me.

The bread takes 2 days to make because of the 12 - 16 hour pre-ferment which I usually prepare at about 6PM and let it sit on the kitchen counter overnight. It's ready for mixing the next morning. If you love pretzels I highly recommend this easy recipe and the book, BREAD by Jeffrey Hamelman.

Pretzels
adapted from BREAD by Jeffrey Hamelman

pâte fermentée
1 cup/4.2 ounces bread flour
3/8 cup/2.7 ounces water, room temperature
¾ teaspoon/0.08 ounce salt
pinch of instant yeast

final dough
3 7/8 cups/1 pound 1 ounce bread flour
1¼ cups/10 ounces water
½ tablespoon/0.3 ounce salt
¾ teaspoon/0.08 ounce instant yeast
2 tablespoons/1.1 ounce soft butter
2 teaspoons/0.02 ounce dia static malt powder
all the pre-ferment

poaching liquid
6 cups hot water
¼ cup baking soda

for topping
coarse sea or kosher salt
sesame seeds

• Prepare the pâte fermentée: Stir the yeast into the water, then mix in the flour and salt until smooth. Cover with plastic film and let stand for 12 to 16 hours at 70°F.
  
• Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, add all the final dough ingredients except the pâte fermentée. Mix on the first speed for 3 minutes. As the dough is coming together, add the pâte fermentée in chunks. The dough will be a bit stiff. Increase to second speed and mix for 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer into a container, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 1 hour. Transfer the dough on the kitchen counter, flatten slightly into a rectangle and fold one third over to the left and the other third over to the right like a letter. Turn 90 degrees and fold again from right to left then left to right then flip over and return to the container seams side down. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for another hour.
• Shape the dough: Divide the dough into 3-ounce pieces. Round the pieces for burger buns and roll with your palm. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan 3 inches apart and flatten the dough to less than 1 inch thick. Cover with plastic film. For hot dog rolls, flatten into a rectangle 5 x 3 inch rectangle and roll tightly, using the heel of your hand to seal the seams. Roll into a a 6-inch log. Place on the sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap. To shape the pretzels, roll the pieces into a log. Let the logs relax for a few minutes, covered with plastic. Roll the logs to 16 inch long with the center thicker than the ends. Twist the ends twice and press on the sides or near the bottom. Arrange on the parchment-lined sheet pan 3 inches apart, adjusting the shape. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove the plastic and let stand for another 10 minutes.
  
• Prepare the water: Heat the water to boiling and add the baking soda. It will bubble. Turn the heat to medium and poach the pieces, 2 at a time, 30 seconds on both sides. Remove with a skimmer and return to the sheet pan, good side up.
  
• Score the buns: For the round buns, with a sharp knife score the top with a ¼-inch deep cross; hot dog buns, straight down the middle. Sprinkle pretzels with coarse salt or seeds and score the bottom, if desired.
  
• Bake the buns and rolls: Put the pans in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until buns are dark brown, rotating pans halfway during baking. Enjoy while warm.

great with beef sausage and Dijon mustard

Croissants

I have decided to bake my way through Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day at my own pace. There are a little over 30 recipes and I have baked maybe a third when I signed up to be a recipe tester 2 years ago. I will bake all the breads including the ones I already baked and will post the adapted versions as I go along. I highly recommend this baking book for beginner or with a little experience bakers and busy folks as the dough recipes are not very complicated [except for croissants] and are mixed the night before, kept in the refrigerator for 1 up to 4 days and the breads baked at your convenience. This is also not a no-knead bread book; there is minimal kneading with machine or hand, 2 to 3 minutes at the most, which I prefer to the no-knead method because a little kneading makes a huge difference in taste and texture.

To start off this series is one of my top favorites from the book, Croissants. Making croissants is not an easy project. It takes 2 days and there are a number of steps to do but the end result is very rewarding: flaky buttery golden brown crust with delicious pillowy soft elastic layered crumb. After enjoying a few pieces of the croissants specially the ones with chocolate batons, you won't settle for anything less.

Croissants
adapted from ARTISAN BREADS EVERY DAY by Peter Reinhart

the recipe makes croissants that have flaky buttery crust and soft pillowy somewhat elastic visibly layered crumb

dough
21 oz/595 gm/4 2/3 cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour or a combination
0.4 oz/11 gm/2½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 oz/56.5 gm/¼ cup sugar
0.33 oz/9 gm/1 tablespoon instant yeast
7 oz/198 gm/¾ cup + 2 tablespoons cold whole milk
8 oz/227 gm/1 cup cool water
1 oz/28.5 gm/2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
extra flour for dusting

butter block
12 oz/340 gm/1½ cups cold unsalted butter
0.57 oz/16 gm/2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

tools
standing mixer
plastic dough scraper
metal pastry scraper
rolling pin

optional ingredients
1 egg for egg wash
3-inch chocolate batons for chocolate croissants

• Make the dough: With the paddle attachment, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add in the milk, water, and butter and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. The dough will look coarse, wet, and shaggy. Adjust with more flour or water if necessary. Continue mixing on the lowest speed for another 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium-high for 15 seconds until the dough begins to smooth out. It will be very soft, supple, and sticky, but not batterlike. Add more flour or water as needed and mix until the dough has formed. It should be soft and pliable and somewhat sticky. Transfer the dough to the kitchen counter dusted with flour and with floured hands, form it into a ball. Place the dough seams side down in a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic film and lid, and immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.
  
• Prepare the butter block: Cut the cold butter into ½ inch slices and place in the bowl of a standing mixer. Sprinkle the flour and beat on low with the paddle attachment until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. The butter should still be cold. Using a plastic scraper, transfer the butter mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a 6-inch square.
  
• Incorporate the butter block into the dough: Have a container of flour nearby. Lightly dust the kitchen counter with flour. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into a 12½ inch by 6½ inch rectangle, about ½-inch thick. Place the butter block on one side of the dough, fold the other half of the dough to completely cover the butter and pinch on all sides to seal in the butter block. You now have three layers: dough, butter, dough.
  
• Laminate the dough: With the metal scraper, lift the dough, one side at a time, and toss more flour underneath it. Lightly tap the dough with a rolling pin and working from the center out and then on all four sides, gently roll the dough into a 9 x 16-inch rectangle, dusting under and on top of the dough as needed, always using a metal scraper to prevent tearing and to keep the corners squared. Fold the dough as if folding a letter: fold the right one-third of the dough over to the left, making sure the top and bottom are squared-off and are perfectly aligned with the bottom dough. Fold the left one-third dough to the right the same way. Use the rolling pin to press out any air pockets, then lay it down on a sheet pan lined with the plastic wrap you used for the butter block. Cover loosely with another piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Dust the kitchen counter with flour. Transfer the dough back on the counter with the open seam facing away from and the closed side facing you, and gently roll and fold it as before. Return to the plastic-lined pan, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat this procedure one more time. You have now completed three turns and created 81 layers of dough and butter.
• Roll and shape: Transfer the dough back to the flour-dusted counter and gently roll out, from the center to the corners, then out to the sides, until the dough is under ¼ inch thick, about 28 inches wide and 9 inches long, lifting the dough with the metal scraper and dusting the counter underneath with flour to prevent it from sticking and tearing. Remember to always keep the corners neatly squared-off.
  
• To make croissants: Using a ruler, make a small notch with the metal scraper at 4-inch intervals along the bottom edge of the dough. Repeat this along the edge of the top of the dough but mark the first at 2 inches from the left and continue measuring at 4-inch intervals from that point. Using a pizza cutter or the metal scraper, cut a line from the left corner of the bottom dough to the first notch of the top dough, then simply connect the marks to cut off the dough triangles. When all the pieces are cut and separated, cut a 1-inch notch into the bottom center of the triangle base. Spread the bottom as wide as the notch will allow to create wing-like flaps. Begin rolling up the dough, gently pulling the top point (nose) as you roll, trying not to squeeze it. It should form in either 5 or 7 "steps". Place the shaped pieces on parchment-lined sheet pans 2 inches apart, with the nose positioned underneath so that it is anchored. Give the end flaps a slight curve and facing in the same direction as the nose is pointing. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2½ to 3 hours or until the croissants look airy and feel hollow. About 20 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450°F/232°C. Apply egg wash if desired. Place the pans in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 375°F/191°C and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, or until a rich golden brown all over. Allow to cool for 40 minutes before serving.
• Chocolate Croissants: Use half or the full recipe. Cut the rolled dough into 3½ inch x 6 inch rectangles. Place 2 batons on one short side, roll up, and place on the parchment-lined pans, seam side down, 2 inches apart. Bake as above.
  

chocolate croissants

Egg Pie

One of the few Filipino baked goods that was unappealing to me and therefore never had before is egg pie. The custard dessert I remember had very thick nuclear yellow filling and it smelled eggy too. I don't know what came over me today but I suddenly wanted to try a friend's recipe that has only 3 eggs and no cornstarch or flour as thickener. And I'm glad I did bake it. The pie with its light creamy custard filling and my homemade buttery flaky crust is heavenly delicious but oh so rich. The filling has half a cup of butter in it! It is rather an indulgent dessert but I love it specially the subtle flavor combination of vanilla and lemon extracts and the dark brown crust on the custard gives a nice color contrast to the pale yellow filling beneath. This is great stuff.

Filipino Egg Pie

buttery flaky pie crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup very cold diced unsalted butter
½ cup ice water with a few ice cubes

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. With fingertips and working quickly, rub the butter into the flour. Sprinkle ¼ cup water, adding more if needed, ½ tablespoon at a time, and stir with a fork until the dough comes together and gathers into a ball. Flatten the dough, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 h0urs. Roll to fit into a 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Trim and crimp the edges using the back of a table knife. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

custard filling
3 whole eggs
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
12 ounces whole milk, scalded and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, butter, and sugar until fluffy. On low speed, beat in the rest of the ingredients until fully incorporated. Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator, pour the filling in, bake on the lower third shelf of the oven for 1 hour or until crust is golden in color. Cool on a rack for 3 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Whole Wheat and Rye Bread Rolls

A long-time reader Raissa asked if I have the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory® dark bread that the restaurant chain serves along with a sourdough loaf. I have never been to CF and I presumed it would be a dark whole wheat roll. I searched online for description and photos of the bread and found several copycat recipes, from pumpernickel with a little rye flour with cocoa powder and coffee, to sweetish squaw bread. I combined all the recipes with Peter Reinhart's soft rye sandwich bread method of retarding the dough in the refrigerator and came up with a sweetish soft delicious rolls. The rye flavor is almost indistinct and I think they came out a bit lighter in color than the photos. I will add more rye flour and a teaspoon more of caramel powder to the next batch. The old-fashioned oats on top give the loaves a good crunch and texture. I love it freshly baked with unsalted butter. I'll try to get some of the CF loaves to have a taste and to know if I did a good copy of their bread.

Whole Wheat and Rye Rolls

1 cup bread flour

1¼ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup whole grain rye flour
½ tablespoon vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons instant yeast
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon caramel powder

¼ cup powdered milk

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 cup room temperature water

3 tablespoons light olive oil

2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses

extra oil for folding and shaping

water in a spray bottle

old-fashioned oats for topping

• Mix all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add all the liquids and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and mix for another minute. Replace attachment with the dough hook and knead on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Shape the dough into a ball and transfer, smooth side up, into a lightly oiled plastic container (with a lid). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough on all sides, shape into a ball, flip, and return to the container. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for another 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold, cover with plastic wrap and the lid and refrigerate overnight. [The reason for the stretch and fold is to make the dough stronger since it is a very sticky dough and difficult to knead by hand or machine.]
  
• The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into four 7-ounce pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. Shape the dough pieces into small logs 7 inches long and 2 inches thick. Arrange on a sheet pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours or until doubled in size.
• 20 minutes before the rising period ends, place a rack on the lower third position and preheat the oven to 450°F.
• Just before baking, score the loaves ½ inch deep right down the middle. Let it spread a little then spray lightly with water. Sprinkle oats on top of the loaves and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 7 - 10 minutes more or until nicely browned.

the loaves have a sweetish soft crumb

Mango Tart

The recipe for this delicious Filipino mango tart is adapted from a recipe I found in one of the countless Filipino recipe directories on the web. It's a bit involved but worth making. The baked shell is very crispy and flaky and the tart is really really yummy.

Mango Tart
pastry shell, homemade or store bought
pastry cream
sliced ripe mangoes
meringue buttercream

pastry shell
1½ cups pastry or all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1½ tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
2 tablespoons shortening, cubed and chilled
1 large egg

• Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. With fingertips mix in butter and shortening until crumbly. Add the egg and stir with a fork. Form into a ball/s. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour. Roll out thinly and ease into tart pan/s, trim edges. Bake in a 400°F oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool. Remove from pans and set aside.

pastry cream
6 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup milk, scalded

• In a saucepan, mix the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch with a rubber spatula. Pour the scalded milk and cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Strain into a shallow container and cool for 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
  

meringue buttercream
2 egg whites
pinch of fine sea salt
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 teaspoon rum or mango vodka, optional

• In a small saucepan, boil sugar and 3 tablespoons water to to 230°F. In a standing mixer with the wire whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until until stiff but not dry. With mixer on high speed, slowly pour hot syrup and beat until the bowl is cool to the touch. Add butter one piece at a time and continue beating until it holds its shape. Add rum or vodka if using.

Assemble the mango tart: Fill tart shell/s with a ½-inch thick layer of pastry cream. Arrange mango slices on top of cream. Top with meringue buttercream.

Food Friday Panzerotti

I have been itching to make panzerotti, fried pizza dough filled with cheese and tomatoes or ham, since the day I saw a travel show where people were eating them on the street in Italy, can't remember the city. They're like calzone but much smaller in size, and they are fried not baked. They're easy to make with store-bought pizza dough.

These are 5 inch thin dough rounds filled with cheese mixed with chopped tomatoes and pepperoni. The rounds are folded and sealed just like empanada then fried in hot oil until golden brown. They have to be eaten right away as they don't stay crispy.

Daring Cooks Nut Butters

cold salad of buckwheat soba, spinach, sugar snap peas, and strips of nori with cashew butter sauce

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

Sorry for my seemingly never ending post but I went nuts with this challenge. I made 5 savory dishes and an easy sweet one using homemade nut butters. Nut butters are easy to make in a food processor, they are delicious and very healthy too.

First is one of the recipes given for this challenge, a noodle salad with cashew butter sauce. I omitted just one ingredient from the sauce (ginger), adjusted the seasonings to suit my taste, and added a few drops of sriracha sauce. The salad has cold Japanese buckwheat noodles, spinach, sugar snap peas, and strips of nori for a completely vegan dish. The mildly spicy cashew butter sauce is absolutely delicious with the cold noodle salad specially on a hot summer day.

Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad
½ pound buckwheat soba, cooked and chilled on ice
blanched baby spinach, room temperature
precooked sugar snap peas, room temperature
cashew butter sauce
nori, cut into thin strips

cashew butter sauce
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup cashew butter
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
sriracha hot sauce, to taste

• Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth.
• Prepare cashew dressing: Combine garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor. Process until smooth and garlic is completely pureed.
• The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter.
• Add a few drops of sriracha hot sauce if desired. Taste and add salt if needed.

The second dish I prepared is Filipino tamales which I never had back when I was living in the Philippines, I don't know why. I have made a similar tamale recipe once, it was from another region in the Philippines and so I can say this is the first time I made this kind of tamale. Unlike the Mexican corn tamale, this is made with rice flour, peanut butter, and lots of coconut milk. They are wrapped in wilted banana leaves and steamed for hours. I love its peanuty and soft creamy texture.

Filipino Tamales

2 cups rice flour
7 cups coconut milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste
¼ cup annatto seeds soaked in ¼ cup warm water
½ cup lightly toasted peanut butter
slices of hard boiled egg
boiled peanuts
cooked pork belly, sliced
cooked chicken breast, shredded
squares of banana leaves

• Toast the rice flour in a large non-stick wok or Dutch oven until light brown.
• Add the coconut milk, salt, sugar, and pepper and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Add the peanut butter and stir cook for 10 minutes.

• Divide this paste mixture into two parts leaving one part in the wok.
• Strain the annatto, discard the seeds and add the colored water to the remaining mixture in the wok and continue cooking for 2 minutes longer.
• Wrap the tamales: On three layers of banana leaves, put 3 tablespoons of the red mixture, then an equal amount of the white mixture, pat lightly to flatten, then arrange slices of pork or the shredded chicken, boiled peanut halves, and hard cooked eggs on top of mixture. Wrap each tamale and tie securely. Place the tamales in a steamer and steam for 2 hours.

I love Spanish tapas and one of the easiest to make is Albondigas, meat balls. After frying the meat balls they are usually simmered either in almond or tomato sauce.

Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs in Almond Sauce)

meat balls
1 pound minced pork or beef
1 small onion, finely minced
1 clove finely minced garlic
2 slices bread, crusts removed and soaked in milk
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
dash of nutmeg
olive oil for frying
flour for dusting

sauce
¼ cup olive oil
1 slice bread
½ cup almond butter
½ cup white wine
1 clove minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground clove
a pinch of saffron
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
lemon juice
chopped parsley and toasted slivered almond for garnish

• In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix until well blended, then divide and shape into small walnut sized balls. Roll in flour and fry gently in hot oil until brown all over. Set aside and keep warm.
• Prepare the sauce: Fry the bread and garlic in the oil until golden, then put into a food processor along with the almond butter, black pepper, saffron, clove, and white wine. Process to a smooth paste. Pour this into the same pan and add the stock, mix well and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs to the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Just before serving add a squeeze of lemon, a little chopped parsley and a few slivers of toasted almonds.

For my fourth nut butter dish, I processed dehydrated coconut flakes to a thin almost liquid consistency. I added some vegetable broth, salt, and lemon juice and drizzled the sauce on a dish of steamed oysters and sauteed vidalia onions seasoned with soy sauce, lemon juice, and 1 sliced red finger chili. It's very yummy.

The last dish is also Filipino called Kare Kare, a meat stew colored with annatto seed oil. It has lots of peanut butter and an assortment of precooked vegetables and served with salty fermented shrimp fries called bagoong (bah-goh-ong). The usual vegetables are yardlong beans, banana blossoms, baby bokchoy, and Asian eggplant. I had some pig tails already boiled and stored in the freezer with the broth and made the peanut butter with medium dark roasted peanuts. My favorite Kare Kare is made with ox tail, recipe and photos here.

pig tail kare kare

And I couldn't resist making something sweet out of peanut butter and chocolate chips. I mixed equal amounts of peanut butter and chocolate chips then added powdered sugar until crumbly but holds its shape. These are similar to candies in the Philippines called Choc*Nut.

Thank you Margie and Natashya for coming up with this surprisingly delicious and delightful challenge.:p

Mellow Bakers French Bread

When I started baking our bread more than 3 years ago, same day French baguettes were the first ones I made. They were not bad but also not any better than store-bought. With more experience and better recipes [with poolish or my favorite, BBA's Pain à l'Ancienne] I have become a baguette snob. And yet, I baked Jeffrey Hamelman's same day French baguettes from his excellent book BREAD, the second bread I chose to bake for this month's MellowBakers....just because....

The bread is okay flavorwise, nothing to rave about, as expected. The loaves have a thin crispy-ish crust but don't have my obsession an open crumb. This recipe [which IMHO is out of place in the book reminds me of the Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong."] will be in the "do not make again" list. ^_^

join us , we're meeelllooow

Praline and Chocolate Pots de Crème

I found a recipe for pots de crème (a fancy term for pudding) with gianduja which sounds really good and one with praline paste which sounds even better. Praline paste is available from the stores but I made it at home with 4 ounces each of blanched and toasted whole almonds and hazelnuts stirred into 9 ounces of golden or darkish hot caramelized sugar; the praline was left to cool for 1 hour then broken into small pieces before processing into an oily paste. This makes about 2 cups of praline paste. The praline paste is delicious and I love to eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar.

Praline Pots de Crème
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ounces milk chocolate
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
7 ounces praline paste
4 egg yolks

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  
• Place four 6-ounce ramekins on a cookie sheet and set aside.
• Place the milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and praline paste in a mixing bowl with pouring lip and set aside.
• In a small mixing bowl, break up the yolks with a fork. Set aside.
• Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour the mixture over the chocolates and praline paste. Using a whisk, gently mix the ingredients while occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue until the ingredients are fully incorporated. You may use an immersion blender for a finer texture but don't incorporate too much air. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and gently whisk until fully incorporated. Using a small strainer pour the liquid, filling the ramekins to the top.
  
• Bake in a bain marie for about 50 minutes or until they are jiggly.
• Let them cool for about 15 minutes on a rack, cover with plastic film, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Enjoy them chilled or at room temperature.

The pudding is silky smooth and a bit runny but will firm up in the refrigerator.

the yummiest smooth as silk nutty caramelly chocolaty pudding