KBB#30: Rosemary Cheese Spritz Cookies

Seperti biasa, tantangan KBB selalu memperluas wawasanku dalam bidang per-kue-an...:p
Kali ini belajar bikin kue pake cookie press sesuai resep yg diberikan..dan ternyata susaaahh euy....adonannya ga mau putus dr cookie press-nya..
Sejam dicoba berantakan terus, nyeraaahh.... ambil piping bag dan spuit bintang.. dispuit-in aja deh...
Soal rasa, hmmmm....yummy....lumayan nih buat yg mau nambah variasi kue kering u/ Lebaran nanti..

Ini resepnya....

Rosemary-Cheese Spritz Cookies From Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg yolk

6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino cheese

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoons fine salt

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Special Equipment: Cookie Press

Directions

Bring all ingredients to room temperature.

Beat the butter and lemon zest with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Slowly beat in the egg yolk and cream.

Whisk the flour, pecorino, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, sugar, rosemary, salt, and nutmeg together in a bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture while mixing slowly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed to make a slightly sticky dough.

Fill the cookie press with the dough. Assemble the press with the desired disk shape (see cook's note), and press cookies onto ungreased baking sheets. Leave about one inch between cookies. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and refrigerate cookies for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake cookies, rotating pan halfway through, until golden, the cheese browns a bit, and the cookies smell nutty, about 20 to 25 minutes. Briefly cool the cookies on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool. Serve or store in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 month.

Cook's Notes: These freeze beautifully. Press the cookies out into desired shapes on cookie sheets and freeze. Transfer frozen cookies to a plastic bag, seal, and keep frozen for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, lay out frozen cookies on cookie trays and bake from frozen for 25 minutes.

Some disk shapes work better than others. Since this is savory cookie, we liked the cutters that result in a cracker shape cookie.

KBB#29: ECCLES CAKES

Eccles Cakes.....alias bakpia-nya orang Inggris....:p
Bikin fillingnya gampang, tapi bikin kulit pastry-nya very tricky...harus pakai tenaga dalam dulu...hihihi, nggak koq...;)

Yang jelas, bikin kue ini memerlukan tekad yg kuat krn ga bisa dikerjain buru-buru...minimal sehari semalem deh, baru jadi nih kue...apalagi buat kita di Jakarta yg udaranya akhir akhir ini, amat sangat puanassss... dough pastry-nya harus bolak balik masuk kulkas.

Anyway, buat yg mau coba bikin di rumah...ini resepnyaa...

Eccles Cakes
Makes about 50 smallish cakes

Filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Peel from 2 lemons Peel from 2 oranges 2 cups dried currants 1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the spices and peel and fry until they are fragrant in the butter. Add the fruit, brandy, and juice. Simmer for ten or fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool, then put in the fridge overnight to let the flavors really meld.

Puff Pastry
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
Between 1 and 1/2 cups ice water

Take three of the sticks of butter and slice them in half lengthwise and then again widthwise. Arrange them into a rectangle on a large piece of wax paper. Put another piece of wax paper on top and roll them the butter out into a 9x12-inch rectangle between the sheets of waxed paper. Chill for at least four hours.

Put the four cups of flour into a food processor. Cut up the remaining stick of butter and add it, bit by bit, to the flour and pulse into dusty crumbs. Dump the butter-flour crumbs into a big bowl and add ice water gradually, stirring, just until the dough comes together. Knead for a couple minutes until smooth. Wrap and refrigerate four hours or overnight.

Roll the dough out into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle and place the butter rectangle on top. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter and roll out to its previous size. Fold the sides of the dough up to the middle, like folding a piece of paper into thirds, then fold it again in half — like closing a book. You're working the butter into the dough in finer and finer layers; the butter if it stays cold will puff the pastry up in delicious and spectacular ways when you're finished. Wrap this parcel well and put back in the fridge for at least an hour or two.

Take the dough out and roll the parcel out into the rectangle again, then repeat the folding process. This is working the butter into the pastry in finer and finer layers. Continue this process - rolling out, then folding. These are called turns. Do at least four turns - six or more is even better.

It's very simple: the longer you let the dough rest and chill between turns, and the more turns you do, the lighter and flakier your pastry will be. I did five turns over the course of about 8 hours, and mine was fine - but if I was doing some other kind of pastry I would definitely let it sit overnight at least once.

Assembly

1 egg, beaten Coarse sugar

Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a third of the the puff pastry dough from the fridge. It should be very cold and firm, but not hard. Roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8-inch.

Cut small circles - I used a biscuit cutter that gave me four-inch circles. You could do larger, but I wanted a lot of individual pastries. Put a small dollop of filling (about 1 teaspoon) in the center of each dough circle.

Fold in half, like a potsticker dumpling, and seal the edges with your fingers. Now bring the two pointy edges up and fold them in the center, on the curved seam. Flatten out the little pouch with your fingers, and roll it into a small circle - just thin enough that the filling shows through the dough a little. Try not to let it leak out, though. Make two or three shallow slashes in the top of the finished round cake.

Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. (Note: I think that my pastry dough was pretty warm by this point, from all the handling and rolling. I didn't try this at the time, but in the future I think I would put the finished, unbaked pans of cakes in the fridge or freezer to let them chill again - maybe for an hour. This would make a higher, lighter pastry.)

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy. Try not to eat one immediately - the hot raisin filling will scorch your mouth. These are amazingly good even a few days later

Eccles cakes have been a regional specialty in England since the late 1700s. They're similar to Banbury cakes.
They were first sold by a shopkeeper in the small town of Eccles and they became quite the rage, popular at the local church fairs, and eventually they got themselves exported all over the known world.

But the secret of the recipe was kept close and aspiring copycats had to guess at it. One early recipe included "the meat of a boiled calf’s foot (gelatine), plus apples, oranges, nutmeg, egg yolk, currants and French brandy."

KBB#28: TORTA PASQUALINA (Easter Savoury Cake)

Setelah izin tidak bikin pe-er KBB#27: Fortune Cookies, tentu saja pe-er kali ini tidak boleh dilewatkan..

Tantangan terberatnya adalah: mencari bahan baku kue yang punya nama mirip judul telenovela ini...:)

Karena asalnya dari Italia, bahan2nya pun bisa dibilang asing buat kita, orang Indonesia. Pertama baca resepnya, bingung banget baca Marjoram, Swiss Chard, Silver Beet, apaan tuh?? hehehe... Tapi setelah sharing sama teman2 yang tinggal di luar negeri ditambah browsing sana sini, akhirnya tau juga dimana harus beli atau bisa diganti dengan apa...

Setelah bahan2 terkumpul, baca resep lagi dengan lebih teliti trus dipraktekkan dengan mengikuti step-by-stepnya.. Dan akhirnyaa...tadaaaaaa....jadi juga Torta Pasqualina-ku...

Torta Pasqualina literally means 'Easter cake' in Italian. It's typical Easter dish from Piemonte and Liguria.

The dough is a layered dough, a bit like 'phyllo dough', but thicker. It's called 'pasta matta' (i.e. crazy dough)

As this dish comes from Liguria,  it contains a local cheese called Prescinseua which can only be found in Liguria.  It is very creamy, soft and slightly acidulated.

It’s unlikely you will find Prescinseau so a very soft ricotta can or a regular ricotta with the addition of a little milk will do.

Torta Pasqualina

Source: Old Time Cooking Recipes

Ingredients:
DOUGH:
600 g (1 lb 5 oz) white flour

6 Tbs olive oil

a pinch of salt

FILLING:
1 kg (2 lb) Swiss chard (silver beet) or spinach

400 g (0.9 lb) cottage cheese/ricotta cheese

100 g (3.5 oz) parmesan

10 eggs

2 teaspoons marjoram, chopped

2 teaspoons parsley, chopped

garlic, minced (optional)

olive oil

salt, pepper

Preparation:
1. DOUGH:

-Combine flour, oil, a pinch of salt and enough cold water to make amedium soft dough.

-Knead well for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes elastic.

-Divide the dough into 14 balls.

-Cover with cloth and let stand for about 1 hour.

2. FILLING:

-Clean, wash and dry the Swiss chard.

-Place in a saucepan with little boiling water and cook at high heat until wilted.

-Cool, then squeeze out excess liquid and chop finely.

-Add 50 g (1.7 oz) parmesan cheese, marjoram, parsley, garlic and 2eggs. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Oil a round shallow oven dish, 9 inches (22 cm) in diameter.

4. Flatten each piece of dough, one at a time, making each a very thin disk, larger than the baking pan you are going to use.

5. Lay the pastry on the oven dish, allowing it to flow over the edges. Oil it lightly.

6. Place another disk over it and repeat until you have used 7 disks.

7. Spread the Swiss chard stuffing over the dough, and then spread the cottage cheese over the greens level with a knife.

8. Make 8 small cavities. Pour a raw egg into each cavity and sprinkle each with salt, pepper and remaining parmesan cheese.

9. Cover the whole lot with the same number of pastry sheets, each brushed with oil.

10. Pinch the borders and trim the excess dough, prick the top of thepie in a few places and then brush with oil.

11. Bake for 1 hour in 190 C (375 F) oven. Allow to rest before removing from the cake tin.