packed puff pastries



My graduate program had a welcome back rooftop party so I decided to make these. I kinda made it up in my head as I went along so there's nothing really exact.

Here's a recipe:



2 packages Dufour puff pastry
1 1/2 pound package of meatloaf meat (that has a 1/2 pound each of  ground veal, beef and pork) or just buy them separately
1/2 pound ground lamb
a handful of fresh tarragon leaves chopped
a large handful of fresh oregano chopped
a bunch of fresh flat parsley chopped
8 cloves garlic chopped into small pieces(or to taste)
1/2 vidalia onion minced fine
fresh cracked pepper to taste
a pinch of cumin seeds ground up in a mortar and pestle (I ran out of powder)
a dash of ancho chili powder
a dash or three of Penzy's Arizona Dreaming spice mix
5 dashes of Hungarian sweet paprika
a dash of cayenne pepper
a couple dashes of Worchestershire sauce
a couple dashes of soy sauce
a dash of sweet balsamic vinegar
a teaspoon of chicken soup base (better than bouillon)
1/2 a small package of feta cheese
6 oz parmigiano reggiano
1/2 pound blue or gorgonzola
butter
2 egg yolks mixed with water for an egg wash



the puff pastry:

You can leave it out at room temperature for 40 minutes, or do like the package suggests and defrost in the fridge for 3 hours. My fridge did not really completely defrost it in more than 3 hours, but if you press your hand against the dough to warm it wherever it needs it will roll out fine.



the filling:

I started out by using some bacon ends I had to render oil for the onions and garlic to caramelize. You can use olive oil or nothing and just add them along with the meat. Once that was done I added the meat and cooked till browned and the juices were almost absorbed.

I drained the meat and put it back in the pan with a pat of butter to replace any oil lost, but not risk the puffs coming out soggy from too much liquid.

I added the freshly chopped tarragon leaves and oregano to the pan. Then I added the other seasonings. This was mainly trial and error, I didn't know what sort of flavor I was going for yet so I kept adding things till I liked the taste.

Once everything was cooked through I chopped up the fresh parsley and added it to the mix. Then I added the Parmesan cheese.

I let this sit on the stove for a while then popped it into my fridge in a container to cool more after adding half the package of Greek feta.

Once the mixture was cool enough I crumbled the blue cheese in and added it to the rest.

You will have half of this mixture left over and can use it on pasta or in more puffs later!



putting it together:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F

Lay the pastry out on a floured board and roll out the rectangle to a 12x12 square. Cut 16 ~3 inch squares out of the sheet with a pizza cutter.

spoon a teaspoon full of filling into the center of each square.

moisten the edges of each square with egg wash and fold over. You can make triangles or rectangles. FYI rectangles are easier when you're tired of folding pastry.

Crimp the edges with a fork or if you're fancy, crimp them in a nicer way.  My crimping attempts tend to look like a dog got a hold of the edges and shredded them with its teeth so I still use a fork.

Place the puffs on parchment paper on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan. You can pretty much use whatever you have handy.

Brush the egg wash on top of each.

Bake in the oven for 25-40 minutes or until the tops are browned and the pastries are puffed out plumply.

Repeat with the other package of pastry.

This will make 32 puffs.

sweet curried kidney bean soup with tomatoes and coconut



This was very quick to make:

2 cans of pinto beans (I used whole foods' organic)
sweet curry powder
smoked paprika
crushed tomatoes ( I used enough to fill up a small saucepan, so about 1/3 of a large can)
sweetened shredded coconut
garlic powder
1/2 stick butter
maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste
a dash of soy sauce
2 drops of liquid smoke (optional)

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the beans.
Mash about 1/3rd of the beans with a potato masher.
Add seasonings, coconut and tomatoes and cook on low for 20 mins or more.

simple shrimp scampi



This is really easy to make. I made enough for at least two days.

2lbs shrimp
8 cloves garlic minced 
half a head of parsley
1 stick of butter
olive oil
gin (yes, gin, I didn't have any dry vermouth on me)
the juice of 2.5 small-medium lemons
pinch of smoked  Spanish paprika
dash of Hungarian paprika
salt and pepper to taste. 

Rinse your shrimp and  lay to dry on paper towels while you melt the butter in a large pan. 

Add a glug or two of olive oil as the butter melts and heat until bubbly.

Add your shrimp either a bit at a time or all at once and remove the fully pink ones to a bowl then set aside.

When all the shrimp is cooked add the minced garlic and parsley till the garlic is golden brown. 

Pour a generous amount of  gin into the pan. 

Add the lemon juice and spices.  Cook till bubbly and reduced (basically until you can discern the oil from the rest of the mixture since most of the liquid will have evaporated).

Put the shrimp back into the pan and coat with the sauce.

Serve over warm pasta. I used thin linguini. 





roscoes chicken and waffles - once a year treat for me!


So we normally only go to the west coast once per year for Blizzcon. I made treats, lots of treats, but that's not what this post is about. This post is about some deeeeelicious chicken and waffles.


I always get the smothered chicken (dark meat) with waffles and then I think about it occasionally for the rest of the year till I can have it again.

I know we have chicken and waffles places here. In fact, I know chicken and waffles originated in NYC, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the combination of flavors Roscoes offers.

Their waffles are gently spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and the gravy is one of the few I will eat.