Daring Bakers’ Vols-au-Vent Puff Pastry

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Vols-au-Vent, pronounced voool-oh-vaw, are little puff pastry cases designed to hold a filling. I was so excited to make this month's challenge. I love puff pastry! All those flaky, melt-in-your mouth, fattening layers! We were allowed to fill our pastries with any sweet or savory filling we could dream up. And these little pastries are definitely something I could dream about!

One of the best things about being a Daring Baker is getting to know other Daring Bakers. Megan of Megan's Cookin and I have baked the last three DB challenges together on Twitter and this month we were joined by April of Abby's Sweets. It's so great having others just a tweet away to bounce ideas off of and to share your struggles with while baking the challenge.

My struggle with this challenge was the warm weather. We are having an unusually hot  fall and I should have cranked up my AC before starting this challenge. April was complaining of hand pain from beating her butter into submission, but my butter was easily beaten into a square without too much resistance. The dough came together perfectly in the food processor, not too dry, not too sticky, and it rolled easily into a nice little square.

But after one turn, my dough was getting really soft and I knew it needed to be chilled. I chilled it 30 minutes and did another turn. Another 30 minute chill and I did another turn. On the next turn the dough was too soft and the top and bottom layers were so buttery that I had to use lots of flour to keep it from sticking. After my great start I was getting so discouraged, but decided to just chill it for several hours and hope for the best. My elegant puff pastry dinner was replaced with BLTs.

Later that night I decided to be fearless and finished my last two turns, chilled the dough, and then rolled out and cut my first vols-au-vents. After more chilling and crossing my fingers I popped them in the oven and waited to see if puffing would occur. I was so relieved and happy to see my cute little bowls and dots puffing up and creating lots of flaky little layers despite my struggles! (That night we ate the dots drizzled with hot fudge and sprinkled with powdered sugar.)

The next night I made another batch of vols-au-vents and we had the decadent Cashew Chicken with Parmesan Cream Sauce dinner that I had dreamed of, followed by vols-au-vents filled with rich pastry cream and topped with sweet strawberries and a delicious strawberry sauce. It was scrumptious!

Thanks Steph for picking such a fabulous challenge. Visit the Daring Bakers' blogroll to see this month's amazing DB creations!

Cashew Chicken

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
2 cups uncooked chicken, chopped
1 cup  broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
3/4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoons soy sauce

Heat 1T. butter and cook cashews until lightly toasted. Remove nuts from pan. Heat 2T. butter, saute chicken and onions stirring often. Add chicken broth and broccoli. Cover and cook until broccoli is tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in soy sauce; stir into chicken mixture. Stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add cashews.

Parmesan Cream Sauce

2 T.butter

2 teaspoons flour

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add flour; cook and stir with wire whisk 1 minute. Add cream, whisking vigorously until thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in Parmesan.

Adapted from Crepes With Cashew Chicken Filling Recipe and Parmesan Chicken Crepe and Parmesan Cream Sauce

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough. Here’s a printable link to the recipe for puff pastry, as well as instructions for forming vol-au-vents and some extra tips

Spicy Chicken Soup

The coming months are the perfect time for a steaming hot bowl of soup. This is my family's favorite soup. My married daughter loves making it in the morning before heading out to work and coming home to the delicious spicy aroma. My boys love it because it is hearty and loaded with lots of tender chicken.

I adapted it from a highly rated recipe on allrecipes. It makes a huge pot of soup and freezes very well. I like to freeze it in individual serving portions, about 1 1/2 cups. This was one of the first recipes I posted when I started my blog but it's so good I wanted to update it and share it again.

Spicy Chicken Soup
1 (16 ounce) jar mild chunky salsa
2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped or 2 T. dehydrated minced onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (can be added frozen)
1 (15 ounce) bag frozen corn

Combined all ingredients and cook in crock-pot for 6-8 hours on low.

I usually don't add the frozen corn until the last 30 min. I like to serve it will a little cheese on top, or you could top it with a little sour cream and tortilla strips. 

My daughter's addition: For those of you with smaller crockpots only add half the chicken and take out a can of beans.

My daughter asked me for more great recipes like this that she can make in the morning and come home to a healthy homemade meal all ready to eat, with lots of leftover she can take with her for lunch. So I'm turning to you! Do you have a terrific, easy, make-ahead recipe that you'd like to share?  Please leave me a comment with a link to your favorite recipe. If you'll share them with me, I'll share them with her, then I'll blog about some of my new favorites!

Southwest Chipotle Burgers

I've been MIA the last few days because I've been spending every spare minute working obsessively on my blog redesign! I've wanted to update it for a long time and when Amanda posted a link on the Food Bloggers Discussion Group to some great blogger templates, I decided to pick one and just go for it.I hope you like it!

I did make time to have my daughter and son-in-law over for dinner the other night and decided to try Our Best Bites' Southwest Chipotle Burgers with a Chipotle-Lime Mayo. I've seen so many great burger posts over the summer and knew a juicy burger with a southwest kick would make everyone happy.

Sara suggested making your own hamburger buns and Frieda had posted great instructions on making rosette hamburger buns on Lovin' from the Oven that I had been wanting. So I made homemade hamburger buns for the first time! I used the ABin5 buttermilk bread recipe that Zoe recommended for buns. I used four ounces of dough and they were the perfect size for a burger, tender and delicious, yet sturdy.

This is an easy, delicious burger recipe. It was a fun way to kick the burger up a notch. I've been asked to make them again soon!

Southwest Chipotle Burgers
Recipe by Our Best Bites

Burgers:
1 1/2 lb ground chuck or ground sirloin
1-1/2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce
1 1/2 T adobo sauce (from the chipotle chili can)
1/4 C grated onion
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t pepper

Chipotle-Lime Mayo:
1/2 C Mayo
2 t lime juice
1 1/2 t adobo sauce (from the canned chipotle chilis)
2T chopped fresh cilantro

4-6 good quality buns
1 tomato
1-2 avocado
lettuce
Optional: jack, cotija, or queso fresco cheese

Sauce: Combine mayo, adobo sauce, lime juice and cilantro in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Sauce can made sauce to a day ahead of time.

Crumble beef gently with your fingers into a bowl. Add the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, grated onion, garlic powder, cumin, kosher salt, and pepper. Don't over-work, just mix it enough to distribute the ingredients. Divide into 4 patties (or 6 little ones) and place on a preheated grill, indoor grill pan, or skillet.

If desired, top with cheese, during the last few minutes of grilling. When the burgers are done to your liking let them stand for 5 minutes off the grill/pan.

Toast buns then spread chipotle-lime sauce generously on each side of each bun. Add burger and top with tomato slices, avocado slices, and a crisp piece of lettuce.

A Mac Attack

No not a Big Mac Attack. My Mac Attack the past two weeks has been all about the wonderful french pastry the macaron. The macaron is made of egg whites, almond flour, powdered sugar and sugar. A similar pastry called macaroons are a dense cookie made either with coconut or almond paste. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. I've had lots of macaroons in my life, but I'd never eaten a macaron.

When my good blogging friends Jamie of Life's a Feast and Deeba of Passionate about Baking began tweeting about making macs and creating a challenge, I thought it would be a fun chance to try something new. Jamie, the Mac Queen, challenged our little mac group, Deeba of Passionate about Baking, Hilda of Saffron & Blueberry, Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, Meeta of What’s for Lunch, Honey?, Ilva of Lucullian Delights, Shelley of Shelley Bakes, Erin of Explore and Eat, Deborah of Italian Food Forever, Rachael of Fuji Mama, Ria of Ria’s Collection and myself to make two different mac flavors and blog about it.

I love baking cookies! But the macaron is not a cookie that you can throw together and it will be fabulous no matter what. Oh no! The macaron is a fussy little french pastry that brought me to my knees! Four times I tried to create a perfect mac and four times I failed.

My first attempt started off well I thought. The little feet started to develop in the oven, but then they started to spread out and became ruffles. It was fairly taste, a mint and chocolate ganache flavor, but had a huge air pocket underneath a too crispy top.

I was confident that my second attempt would be better. I read lots of tips and information on lots of great blogs about creating the perfect mac. I determined I probably didn't beat my egg whites long enough and perhaps needed to cook them at a higher temperature because of my high altitude. However, despite my changes, disappointly once again I got ruffles instead of feet.

On my third attempt I decided to try a different recipe, Deeba had achieved success using David Lebovitz Chocolate Macaron recipe. I was thrilled to see the little feet develop in the oven and not spread into ruffles. I thought finally I had achieved success. But no such luck. I overcooked them and they were crunchy. They also had a beak on top.

I had just enough almond flour left for one more attempt. So this morning I again tried to create a perfect chocolate macaron. I was told the reason I had beaks was undermixing, so this time I mixed the batter a bit more, which resulted in ruffles again. But...

I did not overbaked them this time. I did not have a shell that was too crunchy. I had a delicious chocolate macaron with a slightly crisp exterior and a delightful chewy interior - a wonderful French pastry that when everyone in my family tried one they said, "Ohhhhhh". They were not perfect. They had a ruffle. They had a little beak. But they were delicious and they gave me hope that one day I will create a perfect macaron.

Thanks to everyone who tweeted and lent their expertise to the mac making process! Visit Life's a Feast on September 16 for a delicious mac round-up.

Chocolate Macarons
Makes about fifteen cookies

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz

Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used 20 gr)
2 large egg whites, at room temperature (60 gr)
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar (I used 40 gr.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C). (I baked them at 310º for 15 - 20 min.)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready. (Setting the pastry bag in a glass while you fill the bag was a great tip I learned during this process.)

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart. (There is a great macaron template here. Thanks for the link Fuji Mama)

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet. (I only baked mine for 11 minutes.)

Daring Cooks - Indian Dosas

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was Indian Dosas and was hosted by Debyi from Healthy Vegan Kitcchen. It was my first time cooking Indian food and vegan food. I was a bit nervous serving something so "excotic", but my family enjoyed it. Although they all commented that the filling needed meat! Obviously, we like meat at our house.

We were challenged to not use animal products,no cows milk, butter, meat, poultry, fish, chicken/beef broth, etc. I stuck pretty close to the recipe, except I couldn't find banana chilies so I substituted canned green chilies in the filling. Also, I used the entire 12 oz. can of tomato paste rather than waste it. I substituted curry paste for the curry powder in all three recipes.


I didn't want my sauce to be runny, so I only used one can of vegetable broth, one can of lite coconut milk, and one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes well-drained. I also used my immersion blender in the saucepan to puree the sauce, so the kids would like it better.

Although this isn't something I'd make again, I really enjoyed this challenge and the opportunity to try something new.

Indian Dosas
This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting (I forgot & didn't start making the rice until everything was ready, oops).
Serves 4

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated
Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste
1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Eggplant Parmesan

 

Lately at the farmers market they have had gorgeous eggplants. I’ve never been much of a vegetable lover but I’ve always loved the color of eggplant. It just looks so rich and delicious!

Jamie of Life’s a Feast recently blogged about eggplant saying, “I adore eggplant, brilliant, deep violet skin like the darkest of garnets or a rich, ruby red wine. Voluptuous eggplants, firm, dense and curvaceous, hinting of Old World decadence and gorgeous, fleshy women draped sensually across red velvet sofas. Slice through them and breath in the fresh scent, stare at the white, white flesh. Once considered dangerous, thought to induce insanity or, worse, to be a powerful aphrodisiac, I love touching these gorgeous beings, ogling them, stroking them and cooking them. I have been dreaming of a luscious Eggplant Parmesan, the eggplant thinly sliced and flash fried snuggling down deep in a thick, heady, fragrant tomato sauce, layered between meltingly hot, gooey cheese.”

I was breathless just reading about it. How could I resist making it when those gorgeous eggplants were just waiting for me at the farmers market.


And I wasn’t disappointed. The recipe is fabulous! I made a few changes to accommodate what I had on hand. My version is below, but be sure and stop by Jamie’s (my wonderful French blogging buddy) and read her beautifully written post and see her gorgeous step by step photos and instructions. Thanks for sharing this one Jamie. It is definitely a keeper!

EGGPLANT PARMESAN
For the homemade Tomato Sauce :
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 – 20 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
¼ cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil
3 x 15 oz cans crushed tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Eggplant Parmesan :
The homemade Tomato Sauce
2 large, firm eggplants
1 ½ cups grated mozzarella
1 – 2 cups grated Parmesan
Flour for dredging
Vegetable or olive oil for frying

Make the Tomato Sauce :
Combine onion, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Simmer for five minutes over medium heat, stirring, and then add the crushed tomato. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes with the lid on but allowing about ¼-inch to allow steam to escape. It should be flavorful and thickened. Set aside until you're ready to layer it with the eggplant. The sauce is best when it's made in advance.

Prepare the eggplant :
Peel the eggplant and slice off and discard the 2 ends of each. Slice the eggplant lengthwise evenly into ¼ to ½ - inch slices, salt both sides, then let them sit for 20 minutes. This draws out the moisture. After 20 minutes, rinse, and then pat dry with a kitchen towel.

In a large skillet, heat about half-inch of oil. Dredge each eggplant slice in the flour, coating both sides and shaking off the excess. Fry the slices in batches, a couple of minutes on each side, until golden. Remove slices to a plate while you fry the rest of the batches.

Prepare the Eggplant Parmesan :
Preheat the oven to 400°F. In the bottom of a large baking pan or dish, spread one ladleful of Tomato Sauce to cover the bottom. Layer, overlapping, half of the eggplant slices on top of the sauce.

Ladle on half of the remaining Tomato Sauce, spreading to cover the eggplant slices evenly. Sprinkle on half of the grated Parmesan cheese then layer on half of the mozzarella to cover.

Repeat with the rest of the eggplant slices, then the rest of the sauce, the rest of the parmesan and finally cover it all with the remaining mozzarella.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I been a little bit of a slacker lately about posting my baking adventures. I have been baking, but seem to put off posting. I have lots of pictures waiting for a post. Hopefully, now that the kids are back in school I'll find more time to bake and blog. That is if I can pull myself away from Twitter and live with not being on the top of the leaderboard on Bejeweled Blitz!

One fun thing my boys and I did over the summer was whip up a batch of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and create individual pizzas and calzones. Although the boys often stuck with pepperoni and cheese, we tried lots of great combinations and it was nice to see them interested in baking and creating their masterpieces.

I also made beautiful baguettes from the moist no-knead dough that you keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Bread making doesn't get much easier than the great recipes in this book. So many recipes, so little time!

If you don't already own this terrific cookbook, Simple Daily Recipes is currently having a giveaway for one Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook each week for the next four weeks.