Beef Empanadas

These were a dorm favorite in undergraduate. One of my roommates was Argentinian and we would make these tasty treats thru out the winter. Still do.

Filling
1 lb Ground beef, cooked and drained
1 Small onion, diced
1/4 c Raisins
1/4 c Green olives, diced
1/4 c Capers
4 oz Tomato paste
1 tsp Ground cumin
2 Hard boiled eggs, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika & egg white

Crust
5 tbs Butter
3 tbs Vegetable shortening
1 1/3 c All purpose flour
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tbs Iced water

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Scatter chilled butter and shortening pieces over the flour mixture and cut in. When coarse crumbs form, drizzle in water until dough becomes an evenly moist mass; not a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill.

Saute onion and ground beef, let cool. Mix in olives, rasins, cumin, salt, pepper and hard boiled eggs. Add tomato paste and mix well.

Roll out pie crust dough into small rounds and add 1 heaping tablespoon if filling. Wrap and seal edges with a fork. Brush on egg white and sprinkle paprika on top.

Bake @ 400˚ until golden, 12-15 minutes.

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here again: fat, sugar and salt make everything taste good...
nom, nom, nom...

1 c Butter, softened
1 c Brown sugar, packed
1 c Graulated sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Baking powder
2 c All purpose flour
2 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea Salt Flakes for sprinkling

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, baking powder until evenly mixed. Stir in flour, careful not to over mix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake @ 375º for 8-11 minutes.

Caramels with Sea Salt

My philosophy with food is that Fat, Sugar & Salt makes everything taste good. So, it's a no brainer. I love caramels.
 
2c sugar
2c whipping cream
1 1/2c white corn syrup
1c butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sea salt, for sprinkling (ie fleur de sel, cyprus flake salt)

Mix sugar, butter, syrup & 1c cream. cook to a rolling boil then add remaining cream.

Cook to 242º using a candy thermometer. Check the consistency by dribbling a bit  of the syrup in a cup of cool water.

Remove from heat, add vanilla.

Pour into a parchment lined 9x13 pan.

Croissant

Preferment

1 cup (215g) nonfat milk, room temp.

1 Tbsp (10g) active dry yeast

1 1/3 cups (175g)unbleached all-purpose flour

Place the milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast over the milk.  Stir just until it begins to get cloudy..

Add the flour and stir until you get a smooth mixture.  Let sit, covered, for 2 hours or overnight if in the refrigerator.


Dough

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp (14g) active dry yeast

2 cups (440g) whole milk, room temp

6 cups (800g) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (70g) sugar

1 Tbsps + 1 tsp (20g) kosher salt

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 3/4 cups (625g) unsalted butter, european style

Sprinkle the yeast over the preferment.  Mix with the dough hook for 2 minutes, or until the mass looks elastic and smoother.

 

Slowly add half of the whole milk and continue with the dough hook until well incorporated.  You can scrape a few times to loosen some of the preferment that stays on the hook and bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining milk and stir until all of the preferment is dissolved.

Add your melted butter, sugar, salt and flour to the preferment.  Mix with the dough hook for three minutes.  Let rest for 20 minutes.

You will now notice that your dough looks more relaxed!  The gluten needs this resting period in order to make it easier to knead now. Mix on low speed for no more than 3 minutes until you get a smooth dough that feels more elastic. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 1.5 hours.

On a lightly floured surface, press dough into a 2” thick rectangle and wrap.  Place in fridge for 4-6 hours, but no more than 7.

Sometime within a couple of hours of chilling your dough, begin creating the butter packet: Place butter in the stand mixer bowl and beat until pliable.  Press into a rectangle about 14x9” over plastic.  Wrap tightly and refrigerate until you are ready to roll out your dough.

Take  your dough out of the fridge and roll it out to a rectangle 28”x12”. Place the butter over the left 2/3 of the dough.  Fold from right to the left, like an envelope. Turn the dough a quarter turn so that the larger seam faces you and roll out again to 28”x12”.  Fold once again, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1.5 hours.

Remove from the fridge, roll out again into 28”x12”, re-wrap and freeze for 1 hour.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle 32”x12”.  Cut out desired shapes and place on cookie sheets.‘Proof’ your croissants by placing them in a slightly warm, humid, draft-free space for 2 hours.

Egg Wash

4 egg yolks               

¼ cup cream

pinch of salt

Whisk the yolks. Add the cream and salt and using a pastry brush, lightly cover the croissants.  Wait 10 minutes to dry.

Egg wash the croissants again after letting them proof. Preheat oven to 425.  Turn down to 400 to bake.  Place your croissants inside and bake for 9 minutes (8 for smaller croissants).  Turn the pans and bake 6-7 more minutes.