Puff Pastry Sheets!

Puff Pastry Sheets 

This buttery pastry is a light, flaky, rich pastry made by rolling dough with fat (butter or lard) and folding it repeatedly to form layers. Its versatility extends from sweet to savory, from desserts to main courses, from soup crust to hors d'oeuvres, including but not limited to canapés, tarts, turnovers, straws, breadsticks, rolls, puffs, palmiers, hot pies, pizzas and napoleons. They are great for bite-size desserts, or serving cups for appetizers.

To make puff pastry from scratch, it requires serious time to roll and chill in between the repeated folding process. Store bought frozen pastry sheets are pre-made dough to save the day without all the hours and elbow grease.

What to Buy

There are three main brands of puff pastry. I prefer all-butter pastry versions over those with vegetable shortenings for health reason and better taste. The all-butter versions also keep their flavor longer when cooled. 

How to Use and Store
     - Keep frozen until use
     - Thaw completely
     - Keep it cold while rolling

Needless to say, you should keep them in the freezer until ready to use. 

Frozen puff pastry sheet needs to completely thaw before you use it. If you can, take the package of puff out of the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If you are pressed for time, set the pastry on the counter for about 35 to 45 minutes to thaw at room temperature, but keep a close eye on it as you want to catch the moment when it is pliable enough to work with but not so warm that the butter starts to melt and weep. 

The main thing is to keep it cold while you are working, so the layers of butter remain firm. Stow the unused sheets in the refrigerator until you get to them. If the pastry gets too soft while you're rolling or cutting it, simply return it to the fridge or freezer to firm it up. If you're trying to create a specific shape, keep the pastry as cold as possible and it will be easier to make precise cuts. Use a sharp knife, a pizza wheel, a pastry cutter, or simple cookie cutters, and if you're after really straight lines, pull out a ruler or use a straight-edged baking sheet as a guide.

How to Roll 

Most frozen puff pastry comes in folded sheets. Unfold the pastry gently after it's thawed, and if you see any tears or holes, use your fingers—and a little water if necessary—to gently squeeze the pastry back together.

If your box comes with one large sheet, you can fold it crosswise in half and roll it out to create more layers.  Cut out what you need, wrap the rest tightly and freeze leftovers for later usage.

To prevent sticking, roll puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin. Afterward, gently brush off any excess flour. If you're making a sweet recipe, you can use sugar or cinnamon sugar in lieu of flour, and for recipes made with cheese, you can use finely grated cheese. 

Be careful not to roll puff pastry too thin, especially if making any kind of pizza or tart—the pastry needs to be sturdy enough to support the toppings and stay crisp.

How to Bake

If you're blind-baking a pie or tart shell and want to keep the inside from rising as much as the edges, use a fork to prick the surface of the dough (like you would a regular pie crust). The pastry will still be light and flaky—it just won't puff up as much. If you need straight, even sheets of puff pastry for making a napoleon, bake the puff pastry between two baking sheets so it bakes into completely flat pieces. 

Just before baking, brush your puff pastry with an egg glaze (one large egg lightly beaten with about 1 teaspoon water) to give it an attractive sheen. An egg glaze can also be used like an edible glue to seal the pastry edges for turnovers, empanadas, or any stuffed pocket-style pastry; just brush a thin layer along the edges and press them together gently.

Keep Liquid Out

Puff pastry is delicate, so be careful not to weigh it down with excessive toppings or ingredients that could release a lot of liquid and make the pastry soggy. Be particularly cautious with sticky fillings or ones that could overflow and make a mess of your baking sheets. And no matter what you're baking, line your baking sheets with parchment or a silicone baking mat, such as a Silpat, to prevent sticking.

Save the Scraps

If you have any pieces of puff pastry left over, combine them and roll them out to make palmiers or cheese straws. Leftover pastry won't puff up quite as much and it may be a little uneven, but that's less important with smaller shapes.

Puff Pastry Sheet versus Phyllo Dough

Phyllo (Filo) Dough 

There is also frozen phyllo (or filo, means leaf in Greek) dough in the same section, that is not to be confused with puff pastry sheets. Phyllo dough is a very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava, spanakopita and börek in Balkan, Greek, Middle Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. 

Phyllo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of phyllo/filo brushed with melted butter or olive oil; the pastry is then baked. When it bakes up, the layers get airy, crisp, and flaky.

Phyllo dough can also make great edible serving cups for appetizers or desserts but phyllo dough and puff pastry sheets are different and can't be used interchangeably. Since phyllo dough consists of many fragile tissue-thin layers, it is delicate and won't hold the shape nearly as well as the puff pastry.

How to Use and Store 

Although you may be able to find fresh phyllo in Greek markets, they are easy to find in the freezer section in flat squares or rolls. Defrost in the refrigerator and not on the counter since it can get gummy. The main thing is to keep it from drying out. Keep the sheets covered with plastic wrap or a damp towel while you're working, and don't be discouraged if a sheet rips — just patch it back together and move on, it'll bake up just fine!

Note that don't refreeze phyllo, as it will get brittle.

Note:

• Vegetable shortenings are partially hydrogenated, which means they are infused with hydrogen atoms to create an oil that is solid at room temperature but melts at cooking temperature. The chemical reaction turns the oil in the shortening into trans fats.

Browning Tips.

• Don't overcrowd the pan. My rule of thumb is that the food should cover 90% of the bottom of the saute pan and somewhere between 85% to 90% is okay. All the food should be in contact with the bottom of pan, the heat source, in one single layer. If your pan is too small, cook in batches.


• Heat up the pan without the oil first. The pan is not as delicate as the oil, which has a smoke point and a flash point.


• It is a high heat cooking method so choose the oil accordingly.


• Heat up the pan for about 3 min and make sure there is no liquid before you add the oil. Some people would drop a little water to test if the pan is hot enough. If you do so, make sure the water is all gone. Pour the water out or cook it off before you add the oil.


• Don't add oil into a hot pan with very little liquid because the little droplets of water in hot oil will burst and might splash hot oil onto you. This is also why you should always pat the food dry in high heat dry-cooking with fat method.


• If you overload the pan, the ingredients make the pan's temperature plummet and the foods end up steaming in its juice rather than properly browned. If there is too much juice in the pan, the temperature will remain at 212F boiling point until all the juice is vaporized and before we see any serious browning. All the extra cooking time while waiting for the juice to be gone would have already cooked the food to the ideal doneness internally without yielding the desirable browning and flavors. If you keep cooking to have the browning, the food would most likely end up overcooked, dry, juiceless and grainy.


• When you put the food in a pan, thinking the pan and oil have been heated hot enough, but you see juice coming out of the food and you don't hear the signature "Psssst....." sizzling, pick up the food immediately and let the pan heat up to cook off the liquid. Or place the food aside, and pour off the liquid before you make the second attempt to brown. This way, you won't over cook it. Bottom line, there can't be any liquid in the pan when you want the color and flavor.


• If the food cover less than 80% of the pan, the area without food would overheat and burn the oil. For our one-pot club members, use something that won't release liquid but can add flavors such as ginger, green onions or carrots to keep those areas occupied. Cut them into bigger thicker slices so it's easier to handle because you may have to keep flipping and moving these little helpers to avoid burning them (for this reason, I won't use onions), while you leave the meat undisturbed for 4-5 minutes. If the aromatics brown too fast, pick them up and place them on the meat to cool down.


• When you brown the meat, you need to leave those meat alone for 4-5 minutes on medium to medium-high heat without messing with them. You need to let the heat do its thing if you want the Maillard Reaction to happen. When you hear the sizzling sound quiets down, it means all the liquid in contact with the pan is gone and the temperature is rising fast. That tells you to check more often now, about every 1-2 minutes.


• Pat the meat or fish dry before cooking. Surface moisture creates steam when it hits a hot pan or grill and impeding browning until the liquid is gone.


• Run your knife like a squeegee against the skin of fish or meat to scrape off the water trapped in it and pat dry to be sure.


• To draw more moisture out of the surface, you can sprinkle salt on all sides of the fish, chicken, or meat. Leave it in the refrigerator uncovered. For fish, 30 minutes to a couple of hours will do. For meat or chicken, you can do this overnight to 24 hours ahead. Beside making browning more effective, this method will give you crispy skin when baking or roasting them.


• Yes, that means you can also brown food in the oven. A broiler is the same idea as an inverted grill, a source of concentrated quick-cooking heat. Chicken and meat take about 10-12 minutes to broil at 450F to 500F. You will want to check halfway through, after 5-6 minutes and flip them.

Why Browning...

My Five Simple Rules For You to Master Cooking!

Here you go:

1. Sharpen your taste buds. (More sequels of my posting about taste to come!)

2. Recipes are maps. You are the driver at wheel.

• Don't be obsessed about the measurements. Season to your taste, your liking.
• Taste and adjust is part of the fun in the journey. Embrace and own it.
• Don't be afraid to get lost. Explore and experiment is fun.
• Change ingredients for what you have on hand! My notes provide you basic rules and options.
• One of the keys to sustainability is that you have to like it, not to be told to.

3. Shop like your grandma.

• Well, I've done part of it for you by posting weekly sales.
• Inspect the produce. 
• Don't be afraid to ask the workers for more if the shelf is empty.
• Ask for rain checks if they are all out for sale items.
• Go to farmer's market. Know your local growers if you can.
  (List of State by State farmers' markets)

4. Stick with real, fresh, local and seasonal.

5. Pick on the quality of food, not quantity.


For people who have decision fatigue, feel free to use my grocery shopping rules:

• Choose those closest to the earth, soil, habitat - vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish, wholesome real food.
• Choose those that don't require the packages - the produce.
• Choose those that don't require ingredients list.
• Choose those with short ingredients list, generally the less the better.
• Choose those with ingredients that you know and can pronounce.
• Choose those that don't have to shout for their health benefits and claims.
• Wednesday is the best grocery shopping day, less people shop on Wednesday.

Suck at Cooking? Myth Busted.

I know, it's fun, it's tongue in cheek entertainment and I enjoy watching it. However, I don't think there is a certain way that can be called "right" when it comes to cooking.

Cooking is an art and a very intimate, very personal sensory experience. I believer there is no "right" or "wrong" ways, there is only "this" or "that" way that people choose according to what their taste buds are telling them.

A lot of people are intimidated because they don't want to embarrass themselves by "being wrong", so they completely outsource the food preparation to, uh, the food industry or the restaurant industry. That's really tragic because they fail to realize that's a high price they can't afford to pay.

Certainly for professional chefs and cooks, there will be general expectations and guidelines of the food they are serving, but it is not so when you prepare food for yourself and your family.

Recipes are not mechanical manuals for you to follow to a Tee. They are to be adjusted, changed, modified to fit you, to please you! It is you who could say, this is not right for me, I don't like it, and not the other way around. Your palate is the judge and you are the ruler of it.

The more you allow yourself to know about food, the more comfortable you are to handle and prepare them, the more choices and control you'll have for your own and your planet's future.

Simple rules, accessible, approachable, sustainable ... that's my mission.

Grilling Into the Independence Day!

For this week's sale, you've got everything you could ask for on the grill.


For chickens, check out Grilled Chicken Drumsticks or Quarter Legs.

Or use my barbecue sauce for the pork chops.

You've got broccoli, carrots, corn, bell peppers and mushrooms to hit the grill and be served with the side of salad and fruit medley.

For dessert, you can grill the peaches, mango, or melons to go with your meat.

If you not much of an outdoors person, use the ground pork with my New Ethnic Ragu on Rice Recipe. Try half pork and half chicken/turkey if you like. Or try my Mapo Tofu recipe.

Enjoy!

Five Ways With Fried Shallots!

Here are 5 ways to use Fried Shallots. (If you can't find it in Asian market, try my Homemade Fried Shallots Recipe.)

1. Top them with fried rice.
2. Top them with pastas.
3. Top them with grilled steaks or pork chops.
4. Use them as flavoring agents when you cook clear savory soup.
5. Use them in scramble eggs, omelette, or frittata.

They also go well with garlic, cilantro and chives in these five ways. Enjoy!

How to Deglaze!

How to capitalize the delicious fond that is bursting with flavors?

First, remove the food you’ve just cooked from the pan and pour off any liquid or fat. Dump out anything that seems burned because that won’t taste good if you’re making a sauce.

Return the pan to the heat and add liquid to cover the pan by about half an inch. As the liquid heats, use a spatula or spoon to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan until the pan is clean and all the fond bits are dissolved or floating into the liquid.

You can simply add water to deglaze but if you want to jazz up the flavor with the fond, use stock, wine, juice, beer or vinegar to deglaze. If you are using alcohol to deglaze, make sure to remove the pan from the heat when adding the alcohol to prevent flames.

To transform that liquid into a sauce or gravy for a meal, boil the liquid until it’s reduced and thickened. Add any aromatics such as shallots, garlic, fresh herbs, or whole spices and cooked briefly. Remove from heat, strain off the solids if necessary, whisk in butter or cream to make it velvety, and serve.

Where are those brown bits from?