I considered using a store-bought puff pastry.  The never-ending heat wave makes baking a challenge and keeping the pastry firm enough to work with impossible, good reasons I ignored to make it from scratch.  I also picked up the last of the quinces from Union Market that I’d been eying them for weeks, deciding it was now or never to try Thomas Keller’s recipe for dulce de membrillo.

Despite the heat that had me rotating pans in and out of the refrigerator, the dough turned out well, flaky and not overly sweet or greasy, so I decided to go ahead and make the vanilla syrup called for in the original recipe.  The quince paste, infused with allspice, star anise, cinnamon and cloves, also worked.  I’d just miscalculated how long it would take and ended up using what was left of the Mitica membrillo as filling instead.

I didn’t realize until I was comparing recipes online that these were as popular in Argentina and Uruguay as our pastelitos de guayaba.  I found several references to the pastries made for el 25 de Mayo, the starting point of Argentina’s independence movement, observed every year and currently celebrating it’s bicentennial.  I’m a few months late in making these pastries, but I have all year to perfect them (and a couple of pounds of already-made ad hoc at home membrillo to fill them with), though a little envious of the prettiness that nature accomplishes with so little effort.

Pastelitos de Dulce de Membrillo
Adapted from Time-Life Foods of the World: Latin American Cooking written by Jonathan Norton Leonard.  The original recipe referred to them as Pastelitos de Mil Hojas or  Thousand-Leaf Pastries though I found more mentions of them as pastelitos de dulce de membrillo (the former name referring to more traditional mille-feuille cakes or traditional tart made with alfajores).  Unlike other pastry recipes, this one directed you to mix, roll and cut straight through.  My kitchen is a too warm for this right now so I let the dough chill after the initial kneading and in between the rolling and shaping to make it easier to work with.

Traditionally, the pastries are added to oil or melted lard that is only lukewarm (about 175º) for a few minutes then added to hot oil (375º) for an extra couple of minutes until golden brown.  I think this allows the pastry to open up but I couldn’t bear to see them in the warm oil soaking up grease and decided to add them directly to the hot oil.  Next time around, I’ll try the double-frying method to compare the results.

Though they’re typically glazed with warm syrup, I sprinkled a few with powdered sugar and cinnamon.  I’d made extra to give away and didn’t want them weighted down with syrup if they weren’t eaten right away.

For the pastry:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
10 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup ice water
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

4-5 ounces of membrillo/quince paste, homemade or store bought

For the syrup (optional):
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional garnish: powdered or granulated sugar and cinnamon

Sift together all dry ingredients and pulse in the food processor, 1-2 pulses to distribute evenly.  Add butter and pulse together until butter flakes into pea-size pieces.  Add egg yolk and lemon juice and pulse to blend.  Add ice water gradually until just combined.

Turn out dough and knead a few times to form a smooth mass, 3-4 minutes.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.  Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a square about 16 x 16 inches.  Brush it evenly with melted butter and sprinkly with light dusting of flour.  Smooth the flour over the surface of the dough until the flour absorbs the butter.  Fold the dough in half to form a rectangle (8 x 16).  Butter and flour the dough again and bring the short ends of the dough together to create a square (8 x 8).  Repeat two more times to form a final square 4 x 4 inches.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes until ready to use.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board to a 15-inch square, using a small knife or pastry wheel to trim.  Measure and cut into 36 squares.  Place about 1 teaspoon of membrillo in the center of each of 18 squares.  Lightly moisten the dough around the filling with cold water.  Pair the filled squares with the remaining squares to form individual 8-point stars, pressing the dough around the filling to secure it.  Pinch the stars into the flowerlike shapes.

To make the syrup, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over high heat.  Continue to boil without stirring until the syrup reaches a temperature of 230° on candy thermometer or until a bit dropped into ice water immediately forms a thread.  Remove from pan and stir in vanilla.  Cover and keep warm until ready to use.

In a deep fryer or heavy pot (3 1/2-4 quarts wide), heat oil to 375 degrees.  Carefully add the pastelitos to the oil, 2-3 at a time and fry until golden  about 2-3 minutes, turning once.

Remove from oil and drain directly on cooling rack or on paper towels.  Dip them in the warm syrup or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Makes 18 pastelitos.

I couldn’t think of  a better way to celebrate my 200th post than with a game of dominoes.  Growing up Cuban, we loved playing dominoes when we were kids.  Our grandparents were happy to have us quiet and entertained for a couple of hours and we were happy to swirl the clacking tiles around the table, dunking oreos in milk between matches, and enjoying the late of hours of a Sunday afternoon.  Then we got older and everything changed. No longer at the kids table, we might venture into a vacant chair after dinner or during a family vacation to play with los viejos, but it was a different story.  Trying to keep up, you may set your piece down but lived in fear of “the look” from your partner across the table (the one who got stuck with you).  A look that asked why, oh why would you put that piece down?  Not one for strategic thinking, I never had an answer.  The other team would laugh and reap whatever reward your mistake allowed.  The game was the same but the expectations were higher.

This past Christmas, I took my place at the dominoes table once again.  I’d traded my milk for wine but still liked swirling the tiles, the moment when one game is over and another is starting, and loved being in the game.  Newly obsessed, when a friend asked me to make a cake for his partner’s birthday a few weeks ago,  the elegant black and white cake with three layers of pastry cream I’d planned, went square and turned into a domino.  Past the age where you can celebrate staring 40+ candles in the face, I thought it would be a fun way to hide his true age in plain sight.  One cake would have been too obvious so it became three  — would he be turning 24 or 42, 27 or 73, 35 or 54?

After that, I couldn’t resist going for a whole set of double-6, this time petits fours with guava filling and a lime glaze.  Set on frilly cupcake liners they can glide across the table for a quick game.  I wouldn’t suggest rapping them twice to skip a turn, flicking them across to your partner to set down for you, or slamming them on the table when you have “domino!”, but whatever tiles your left with, you can eat.  My dominoes, my rules.

When I decided to take a break last week, I wasn’t sure if my 200th post should come just before or just after.  Is it the end of the round or another just beginning?  Going through my site this past week, I still didn’t detect a strategy but could definitely see how one post lead to another and another.  I’m looking forward to the next hundred and hope you’ll keep reading and commenting because I’m still very, very hungry.

Guava Petits Fours with Lime Glaze
This recipe started with Dorie Greenspan’s Black & White cake from Baking: From My Home To Yours, one of my favorites, so I adapted part of it for the cake layers.  I was just short of my usual cake flour and used an unbleached King Arthur cake flour for the first time.  While regular cake flour promises a finer texture, I found this cake just as light and I loved that it didn’t have the metallic, chemical scent of bleached cake flour.  I’ve noticed that more stores are carrying it, and it’s definitely worth trying.

2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of one lime
3/4 cup buttermilk

Filling:
1 cup guava preserves

Syrup and glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
Zest of one lime (optional)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Black gel paste for decoration

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-x-13 sheet pan with butter and dust inside with flour, shaking out the excess.  Line with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter on medium speed for one minute.  Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high speed till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs and yolk one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.  Beat in vanilla and lime zest.  Batter may separate.  On low speed or by hand, add flour mixture in three batches alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour.  Do not over mix.*

Pour batter into sheet pan and bake in a the middle of the oven until a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack for about 5 minutes.  Unmold and set upright on cooling rack until room temperature.**

Heat guava preserves over medium heat until smooth and spreadable, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

To prepare the syrup, combine the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until sugar dissolves.  Add zest if using and set aside to cool.

Using a long serrated knife, slice cake in half horizontally.  Set aside top layer.  Lightly brush bottom layer, cut side-up with lemon syrup.  (Use syrup sparsely, no more than 2 tablespoons).  Cover cake with cooled guava preserves and top with remaining layer, cut-side down.

Sift confectioner’s sugar into bowl.  Strain remaining syrup into confectioner’s sugar and beat on low speed until smooth.  Set apart 1/4 cup of the glaze.  Ice cake with remaining glaze and allow to set for 20 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, carefully trim ends from cake and cut into even squares.

Add gel coloring, no more than one drop at a time, to remaining glaze until desired shade.  Using a pastry bag fitted with a small tube attachment, pipe black icing onto cut squares to make dominoes.

Keep decorated petits fours refrigerated.  Take out about 20 minutes before ready to serve.

Makes 28-32 petits fours.

Notes:
*I usually fold in the dry/wet ingredients by hand then mix on low speed for a few seconds until just combined.
**At this point, the cake can be well covered in plastic wrap and frozen until ready to use.

I’d been looking for a way to use chirimoyas since I came across them a few months ago in a nearby market.  Originally found in the Andean region between Peru and Ecuador, they’re also cultivated in small pockets throughout Chile, California, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, and Israel.  Heart-shaped and scaly, they could be a dragon’s paw and are almost as rare in my Brooklyn neighborhood, so I was excited when I found them.  Also known as custard apples, they’re like everything and like nothing else.  The fruit can be likened to strawberry, banana, pineapple, papaya, avocados, mango, ripe pears, and commercial bubble gum while Mark Twain described it more simply as “deliciousness itself.”

Not sure where to start, I found a Peruvian recipe for a meringue cake using chirimoyas.  I was worried that the combination of sugary meringue, manjarblanco (also known as dulce de leche) and sweetened cream would be too much.  I decided to shape the layers of meringue into smaller pavlovas to make individual desserts.  Believed to have originated in New Zealand and named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, it was a fitting choice.  After the whipping and whirring of the meringue, the crisp exterior of the meringues gave way to a mashmallowy center that mixed well with the manjarblanco.  Meanwhile, the chopped chirimoya balanced out the sweetness like a dancer who spins and flies then lands perfectly on point as though it couldn’t have ended any other way.  It was too much but just enough.

Merengues con Chirimoya/Pavlovas with Cherimoya
Adapted and translated from Yanuq from their recipe for merengado de chirimoya.  Though there are several steps, the pavlovas can be made well in advance and assembled just before serving.  Why the grated chocolate didn’t drive it all over the edge, however, I can’t explain.  I just know it worked.

1 whole chirimoya, peeled and diced (about 1 lb.)

4 egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon potato starch

1/2 cup manjarblanco (or dulce de leche, arequipe, cajeta)

1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Grated bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Using a small bottle or cup, trace 6 circles on the parchment paper, about 3″ each.  Turn paper face down on the baking sheet and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt on medium-high until frothy.  Combine the sugar, baking powder, and potato starch.  Gradually add the sugar mixture and continue to beat until it forms stiff peaks.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the meringue.  Pipe a disc of meringue to fill each circle on the prepared sheet then an a additional layer along outer circle to form a border.

Place the meringues in the preheated oven and immediately lower heat to 190 degrees.  Bake for two hours occasionally rotating pans.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

While the meringues cool, beat the heavy cream until slightly thickened. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

To serve, place one meringue on dessert plate.  Add about one tablespoon of manjarblanco to the center of each meringue and top with a round tablespoon of chopped chirimoya and cover with whipped cream.  If using, garnish with grated chocolate.

Though I’d love to have homemade rolls every day, I stay away from bread recipes for first thing.  They never seem to rise and bulk up in the time promised.  I wake up early and spend the morning nervously peeking at the dough I lovingly covered in its blanky and placed in a draft free place to no avail.  One hour becomes two and there’s no breakfast in sight.  By the time it’s done, I’m too cranky to really enjoy it.  I didn’t get to sleep in yet the dough enjoyed a leisurely rise.  When I came across pan de yuca or yuca bread in a Miami, I was curious.  A combination of yuca flour (also known as tapioca starch) and cheese, it can be mixed and rolled as quickly as arepas then baked off.  

Searching for online recipes, I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of them before.  Popular at snack stands throughout Latin America, they’re known as pan de queso in Colombia, pão de queijo in Brazil, and chipas in Argentina while a popular food chain sells them with yogurt throughout Ecuador.  Though the dough can be made ahead of time, I started them this morning to see if they were as straightforward as they seemed.  I combined the dry ingredients and added grated mozzarella and two yolks.  Expecting something to go wrong, the mass of crumbly powdered cheese didn’t look like it could ever become a smooth mass.  I considered transferring it to a food processor or starting over, but after adding a little cream and kneading it a few minutes, it quickly took form.  In about twenty minutes, I had warm rolls, crumbly like bread but creamy like cheese.  Mostly, I loved that I could decide to make them in the haze of the early morning then have them right away, no rest required.

Pan de Yuca
Recipe from Ingrid Hoffman for her show Simply Delicioso.

Though I used mozzarella this time, similar recipes also suggest Oaxaca, queso blanco, Parmesan, or Cotija.  While they’re great for breakfast, they’re a perfect any time snack to have with coffee, tea, hot chooclate or as a side dish for lunch or dinner.

1 cup yuca harina*
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups fresh white cheese (Oaxaca, Mozzarella or Queso Blanco), finely grated
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, coat with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yuca harina and baking powder.  Stir in the grated cheese and eggs.  Mix well until a ball forms.  Turn out onto a floured board and knead with your hands until smooth.  If the dough still appears too dry, add cream one tablespoon at a time as needed.

Divide into 10 even pieces and roll into balls.  Place at least 1″ apart on prepared baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes until golden.**  Cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes.  Serve warm.

*Also known as tapioca starch/almidon de yuca/manioc starch, it’s widely available online or in Latin American markets.  It should not be confused with manioc flour used for farofa which is darker and has a grainier texture.

**I placed them under the broiler for an additional minute to brown evenly.  They will darken quickly under the broiler and should be checked frequently.

I’ve become deeply suspicious of Cuban cookies.  It’s not really the cookie’s fault.  They’re just not what we do.  Growing up, home baked cookies weren’t foreign but they did have the exoticism of something you’d mostly like get at a friend’s house.  Tres leches, meringues, tocino del cielo, flan were home, toll house was not.  The last couple of months, I’ve tried a few forgettable variations. I follow the recipes to the letter but cusubes elude me and my caballitos de queque were cinnamon drenched failures.  This being the cookie season, I looked though all my Cuban sources for a new recipe that was traditional but workable.  Many called for Crisco with 1950′s abandon while others were really turrones (blended with more Crisco).

Finally, I found estrellas de chocolate.  Star-shaped chocolate sandwich cookies with peppermint cream cheese filling dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in coconut, it sounded like an Oreo having a nervous breakdown.  I had to try it.  Refusing to go down with a bad recipe a third time, I decided to approach each part separately and see what worked.

I used my favorite chocolate wafer recipe and replaced the butter in the heavy chocolate coating with grapeseed oil for a lighter finish.  The cream cheese and peppermint filling worked really well but I left off the shredded coconut.  In the end, they were pretty but plain so I added a little sanding sugar.  I had taken away so many of their frills that I wanted to give them back a little sparkle so they still felt like themselves.

Estrellas de Chocolate/ Chocolate Stars
I came across the idea in Nitza Villapol’s Cocina al Minuto but the recipe is largely adapted from Gourmet, December 2007.  Getting it all down, I realized that it seemed like a lot of steps but it actually goes very smoothly since the filling and coating can be done quickly while the dough is chilling.

For cookies:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For filling:
3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Chocolate coating:
1 cup (166 grams) 72% bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (25 grams)  grapeseed oil

Make dough:
In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt then set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed till creamy about one minute.  Slowly add sugar and continue to beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 5 additional minutes.

Add flour mixture all at once and stir with a spoon or spatula for a couple of turns.  Return to stand and beat on low speed until just combined.  Divide dough in half and form into discs.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till firm, at least 3 hours (dough can be chilled up to 2 days).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle.  Line two baking sheets non-stick liner or greased parchment paper.

Between two sheets of parchment or wax paper, roll out dough to a 1/8″ thick.  Refrigerate or freeze until firm again, about 10 minutes.  Repeat with the second disc.

Using a star cutter (or other desired shape), cut out as many stars as possible from first chilled square.  Immediately transfer cookies to prepared sheet, arranging them 1/2 inch apart.  (If dough becomes to soft, return to freezer until firm.)

Bake until baked through and slightly puffed, 10 to 12 minutes.  Cool on sheet on rack for 5 minutes then transfer to rack.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy.  Blend in peppermint extract.  Using a pastry bag, pipe filling onto flat side of cookie and top with second cookie.  Chill until filling is set, about 15 minutes.

Place chocolate in a double boiler or heatproof bowl over simmering water and stir until melted.  Off heat, slowly add grapeseed oil until completely blended.

Place cooling rack over a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper.  Balance each filled cookie on a fork over bowl and cover with chocolate until completely coated.  Place on rack and repeat.  Freeze cookies till coating set, at least 15 minutes.

Makes 25 large or 50 small cookies.

]]> http://hungrysofia.com/2009/12/15/estrellas-de-chocolate/feed/ 3 hungrysofia IMG_5986 IMG_5883 IMG_5889 IMG_5950 IMG_5954 IMG_5910 IMG_5963 IMG_5970 IMG_5974 http://hungrysofia.com/2009/12/06/figure-eights/ http://hungrysofia.com/2009/12/06/figure-eights/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:33:02 +0000 hungrysofia http://hungrysofia.com/?p=2711 ]]> There’s always a point when I finish a post and choose a country category that feels a little dishonest.  Well not so much dishonest but not the whole elephant either.  When I decided to write about Latin food, I knew that it would be a fuzzy focus and difficult to define.  Buñuelos, fritters popular throughout Spain and Latin America, are a good example.  Originally from the Iberian penninsula, they’re either Arabic or Sephardic, or maybe both.  Typically made from a wheat-based dough that’s flavored with anise, they’re rolled into balls or discs and deep fried then topped with a syrup or honey. Colombians add cheese and have them with natilla at Christmas while Mexicans sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and have them for New Year’s in Oaxaca.  In Catalunya, bunyols de Quaresma are typical during lent and Turkish Jews prepare them with matzoh meal for Passover, to name just a few examples.

I’d always thought they were simply Cuban and decided to try making them after writing about Argentina’s Ñoquis de 29 tradition.  Similar to ñoquis, we add flour to boiled yuca and malanga to form a light dough that’s shaped into figure eights and covered in syrup.  When I went in search of ingredients, the Mexican grocer wrongly told me the piles of yautia weren’t the same as malanga.  The Puerto Rican bodega next door was able to clear up the confusion.  What Cubans call malanga is yautia in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.  Puerto Ricans also have malanga but they’re referring to a different root vegetable (please don’t ask me what because I haven’t gotten that far).  While these buñuelos aren’t the only version, they are classically Cuban and simultaneously from everywhere else.

Buñuelos de Yuca y Malanga
Adapted from Nitza Villapol’s Cocina al Minuto.

For buñuelos:
1 lb yuca
1 lb malanga
1 egg
1 teaspoon, ground anise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup, unbleached all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil, about 1 1/2 cups if using heavy pot or minimum amount required to fill deep fryer per manufacturer’s instructions

For syrup:
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of lime juice
Zest of one lime
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
1 teaspoon vanilla

Peal and chop yuca and malanga into chunks.   Cover with water and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer covered an additional 20 minutes till tender.  Force through ricer or food mill into sheet pan while still warm, spreading in an even layer. Cool completely.

Beat together egg, anise, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl.  On a lightly floured board, gather pureed vegetables into a mound on sheet pan and form a well in the center.  Pour egg mixture into well, then knead into vegetables. Knead in flour until mixture forms a smooth but slightly sticky dough. Dust top lightly with some of flour.

Cut dough into pieces. Form 1 piece of dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rope on a lightly floured surface and shape into a figure 8.

In a deep fryer or heavy pot (3 1/2-4 quarts wide), heat oil to 375 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick liner.  Carefully add buñuelos to oil 3-4 pieces at a time and fry till golden, turning occasionally, about 3-4 minutes.

Drain directly on cooling rack placed over lined baking sheet or on paper towels.

To make the syrup, combine all ingredients except for vanilla in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cook until it reaches the thread stage (230° F).  Remove from heat and add vanilla while still warm.  Serve with fried buñuelos.

Makes 12-14.

The Elena Ruz sandwich always seemed a little out of place on the menu.  A combination of roasted turkey, cream cheese and strawberry preserves, it floats alongside the heavier ham, lechon asado and cheese melds of Cuban lunch menus – lighter and prettier with a first and last name.  Named for Elena Ruz, a Havana socialite who had the unusual combination made to order for her at El Carmelo.  Then a fashionable cafe in the 1930s, it landed on the menu becoming a popular item.  According to later interviews, her parents were scandalized to see a sign for “Sandwich Elena Ruz 25 centavos” on display, though as she pointed out the other sandwiches only went for 10 cents at the time.

Sandwich Elena Ruz
Though its served all year, this is my favorite way to use Thanksgiving leftovers. Traditionally made with strawberry preserves, leftover cranberry sauce can be substituted.

Roasted turkey, sliced
Strawberry preserves
Cream cheese, softened and blended
Pan de medianoche*

Slice roll in half.  Evenly spread cream cheese one side.  Form a 1/4″ wide strip down the middle of the other half and spread the strawberry preserves on the other.  Cover with one half with layer of roasted turkey and close.  Press on a greased griddle until lightly toasted and warmed through.  Cut on the diagonal and serve.

*Toasted white bread can be substituted for the pressed sandwich roll.

Pan de Medianoche
Originally adapted with permission from Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban by Glenn Lindgren, Raúl Musibay, and Jorge Castillo.  I substituted butter for lard and added the final cup of flour by hand.  I’ve re-posted the recipe to reflect some changes I made the second time around.

2 packets (dry active) yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
5-6 cups bread flour, more or less

1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons warm water

In a large bowl, mix yeast and three tablespoons sugar in one 1 1/4 cup of water. Place in a warm place and wait for the yeast to begin bubbling. (If it doesn’t bubble and foam, you have some bad yeast or something else went wrong and you’ll need to start over.)

Beat the eggs until foamy.  Add the eggs, the rest of the sugar, salt, and melted lard to the yeast/water mixture.

Using a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment on low speed, add four cups of flour, one cup at a time.  Continue to beat on medium, until the dough just begins to pull away from sides of bowl.

Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in remaining cup of flour, as needed, until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.  Form dough into a ball place into a large, greased mixing bowl, immediately turning over so that all sides are greased.  Cover with a piece of lightly greased plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.  At this point it can be refrigerated over night and brought to room temperature before proceeding.

Place the dough on your work surface and punch it down.  Divide the dough into good-sized handfuls.  Roll each handful on a lightly floured surface to make cylinders about five inches long and about 2 1/4 inches in diameter. Arrange rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Cover with a slightly damp, clean towel. Let rise in a warm place for about one hour or until the rolls double in volume.

Preheat oven to 350º F

Brush the tops of the rolls liberally with the egg glaze. Bake until golden brown — about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove the rolls from the oven, take them off the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack. While they are still warm, brush the tops with a little melted butter. Use for medianoche sandwiches, or serve warm as a side dish.

I think it’s the special occasion quality I associate with churros that keeps me from buying them in New York (though I’d never pass them up in Madrid – I’m not crazy).  Yesterday, deciding I needed a little Christmas now, I brought out the churrera, that my mother who hates to cook but loves kitchen gadgets sent, and my monster of a deep fryer to make my own.  Churros go from blisteringly hot to too lukewarm in a few seconds, like a puppy that growls first then licks your hand, so it was great to have them fried, sugared, dipped and eaten straight away.  Making it snow in my apartment was easier than I expected, and I’m looking forward to having friends over for churros and chocolate over the chilly months ahead.  I loved the churros but missed the crowds.

Churros
Adapted from Nitza Villapol’s Cocina al Minuto. I looked at a few different recipes for churros, usually a straightforward flour and water mixture with a little salt, similar to pâte à choux pastry dough.  Villapol’s recipe combined equal part milk and water with a little added butter and had a slightly creamy texture that I really liked.  This time I stuck to a simple cinnamon and sugar mixture to cover, but plan on trying flavored oils and filled churros next.

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Vegetable oil, about 1 1/2 cups if using heavy pot or minimum amount required to fill deep fryer per manufacturer’s instructions

In a heavy saucepan, heat milk, water, butter and salt over medium-high heat until it just comes to a boil.  Off heat, add all of the flour at once and beat with a wooden spoon until blended and mostly smooth.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a deep fryer or heavy pot (3 1/2-4 quarts wide), heat oil to 375 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick liner.  Fill the canister of the churrera or pastry bag fitted with large star tip.  Form strips directly on baking sheet about 1″ thick and 5-6″ long.  Carefully add strips to oil 5-6 pieces at a time and fry till golden, turning occasionally, about 3-4 minutes.

Drain directly on cooling rack placed over lined baking sheet or on paper towels.  Roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture and serve immediately.

With the holidays coming fast and furious, I had the uncharacteristically practical thought that it was time to make empanadas, an easy way to use leftovers.  So sensible, but after a poor initial batch involving sirloin tips and too-buttery dough, I had to start from scratch.  I was looking for something in a chicken, baked not fried, and maybe a little sweet.  That’s when I found Anya Von Bremzen’s recipe for pastela moruna, Moorish chicken with dried fruits and nuts baked in puff pastry, a specialty of Granada.  As she explains, local food historians trace its origin to the Alhambra’s Moorish aristocracy though its likely to have come from North Africa.

Van Bremzen also cites Sophie Coe’s description in America’s First Cuisine of a banquet given by Hernán Cortés in Mexico City in 1538 where an enormous empanada was served.  When the crust was broken, live rabbits and birds leapt out.  I decided to save the puff pastry for another time but knew I’d found my filling for the empanadas.  It wasn’t leaping rabbits and palace tales, but spiced with sweet paprika, ginger, cumin and cinnamon, it was like making a tiny pastry suitcase for my favorite things then eating it.

Empanadas de Pollo a la Moruna
Adapted from The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen. That didn’t happen here, unfortunately.

For the filling:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, quartered and finely diced
1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 cups skinned chicken, torn into bite-size pieces (from 1 medium-size rotisserie chicken)
1/2 tablespoon sweet (not smoked) paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup plum tomatoes, diced, fresh or canned
1/4 cup dark raisins
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/8 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1/8 cup lightly toasted slivered almonds

Empanada dough (see below)
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Sugar

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 3-5 minutes.  Continue to cook over medium-low heat until translucent and just beginning to brown, an additional 10-15 minutes.  Add 1-2 teaspoons of  olive oil or chicken broth if skillet dries out.  Add chicken and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne.  Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and raisins.  Cover and cook for an additional 12 to 15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Remove from heat.  Season with salt to taste and set aside till cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 of an inch and cut it into circles about 5 inches in diameter. Lightly brush ridge of circle with egg glaze.  Place two tablespoons of filling in the center of each circle and fold in half. Seal the edges with the tines of a fork or the pinch and twist method.*

Brush with egg wash and lightly sprinkle with sugar.  Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

*Click here for an easy to follow demo of the latter technique posted by From Argentina With Love.

Homemade Empanada Dough
This recipe is adapted from A Taste of Old Cuba by Maria Josefa Lluria de O’Higgins.  I’d only used this recipe to make smaller, fried empanaditas but they dough worked well.  Click here to jump to a related post.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups filling (see above)

Combine flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives crossed like scissors until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Mix the egg with the wine in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid. Toss the mixture gently to blend then knead the dough until well mixed. Chill for 2 hours.

Makes 24 small or 12 large empanadas.

]]> http://hungrysofia.com/2009/11/18/practical-packages/feed/ 2 hungrysofia IMG_5711 IMG_5680 IMG_5693 IMG_5685 IMG_5671 http://hungrysofia.com/2009/11/01/pan-de-muerto/ http://hungrysofia.com/2009/11/01/pan-de-muerto/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:02:36 +0000 hungrysofia http://hungrysofia.com/?p=2442 ]]>

I came across pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, a few months ago in the long stretch of Mexican bakeries and stores in Sunset Park.  Placed on family altars for el Día de los Muertos (November 1 & 2) as an offering to their deceased loved ones, I asked everyone I knew how they’d celebrated in Mexico and whether they continued to do so in the States. For a population associated with movement and migration, it seemed a poignant combination between a spiritual observance and earthly tradition, very much tied to a time and place.  Loved ones could be remembered and they’re favorite foods prepared for the ofrenda, almost anywhere, but a path of marigolds and candles  couldn’t possibly reach from a Brooklyn apartment to a Mexican cemetery.  Researching a piece for another site, I read everything I could about the holiday.  I learned that you might receive a sugar skull with your name written across it as a gift, that monarch butterflies (whose migration coincides with the holiday in some areas) were believed to be returning souls, and started seeing calacas everywhere.  Last night, I skipped Halloween and made my way to El Museo del Barrio, itself on the border between the Upper East Side and Spanish Harlem, to see Imperial Silence: Una Opera Muerta.  Subtitled “A Dead Opera in Four Acts” it featured Los Cuatro Vientos, a skeletal band of mariachis that sang, danced, laughed and reminded us we’d be with them soon enough – a perfect way to celebrate the absurdity of death in the face of life, and vice-versa.

Pan de Muerto/Bread of the Dead
Adapted and translated to English from Cocina de la Familia: mas de 200 recetas auténticas by Marilyn Tausend with Miguel Ravego, the original recipe is attributed to Paula Solis.  Bread recipes have always been tricky for me because I they don’t always behave the way they’re supposed to.  I end up staring at the dough willing it to rise.  This is the second recipe I’ve tried from this book and whatever she says is going to happen, happens.  The dough pulled away and formed and doubled easily.  The decorations were trickier than I thought.  During the last rising, the bones I’d carefully formed bulked up and the calavera in the middle expanded.  For dead bread, it was very much alive.  I’d fussed with it so much that when it baked it looked like the skull was trying to breakthrough, but the effect worked.

For the dough:
2 tablespoons of anise seeds
2 packages (1/2 ounce) of active dry yeast
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
6 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons of orange blossom water
1 tablespoon of orange zest, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4-5 cups of unbleached, all-purpose flour

For the glaze:
1 egg, lightly beaten combined with 1 tablespoon of water

For the toppings:
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup of sugar

Bring 1/4 cup of water to a boil and pour over anise seeds in a heatproof bowl.  Set aside till cool, about 15 minutes.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, combine 1/2 cup of warm water (110-115 degrees) and yeast.  Let stand until yeast dissolves and bubbles, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Strain the cooled anise water into the yeast and discard the seeds into the yeast mixture.  Stir in the melted butter, sugar, yolks, eggs, orange blossom water, orange zest, and salt to combine.  Using a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment on low speed, add four cups of flour, one cup at a time.  Continue to beat on medium, until the dough just begins to pull away from sides of bowl.

Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in remaining cup of flour, as needed, until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.  Form dough into a ball place into a large, greased mixing bowl, immediately turning over so that all sides are greased.  Cover with a piece of lightly greased plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.  At this point it can be refrigerated over night and brought to room temperature before proceeding.*

Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down.  Divide into equal parts or keep whole to make one large round.  Pinch off 1/4 of each piece for decorations.  Line a baking sheet with a non-stick liner or greased parchment paper and set aside.

Former the large part of each piece into a ball.  With the flat of your hand, push each ball down the dough to form a circle about 1 inch thick and place on baking sheet.  With the remaining dough, form one small ball, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches, for each round and one long rope of dough to shape the “bones”.  In the center of each round, make a small indentation, form the bottom side of each ball into a point and attach to the round.  Using the long rope of dough, cut off pieces as needed to form into long bones and attach to the ball in the center so that they radiate outwards.  Repeat with each round.

Lightly cover and set aside in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Gently brush egg glaze over dough and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes for small pieces and up to 45 minutes for larger loaves.  Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.  Immediately brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.  Set aside to cool.