Rosie Makes Asparagus In Puff Pastry.

 Let's bring on the Spring.

With asparagus.

 

I thought I'd try some appetizers - asparagus in puff pastry with a dill cream sauce.

 

First, what is puff pastry?  It's a very delicate, flaky, light pastry, also known as pâte feuilletée, made by repeatedly layering and folding dough and cold butter through a process known as lamination.  Throughout the process, the dough is kept chilled in the fridge while it rests and develops the gluten structure.  When baked, the water in the butter turns to steam and the many layers are puffed up and stretched until they're a glossy beautiful golden pastry.

Now, if you haven't made your own puff pastry from scratch, you should try it.

But, if you don't have the time or the know-how, you can use store-bought.

Just be sure you buy the right stuff.  There's puff pastry and then there's puff pastry.

 

The main ingredient in puff pastry is BUTTER.  Real butter.  So when you're looking to buy puff pastry, you must read the ingredients list.  The only puff pastry on the Outer Banks (that I've found) that comes close to actually being puff pastry is Dufours brand from Fresh Market.  Note that ingredients are always listed by volume.

Here's the ingredients list from Dufours:  Ingredients USDA Grade AA Butter (Cream, Natural Flavorings), Unbleached Unbromated Flour, Water, Salt, Lemon Juice

 

And here's the ingredients list from Pepperidge Farm brand:  
MADE FROM: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, VEGETABLE OILS (PALM, SOYBEAN, HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, TURMERIC AND ANNATTO EXTRACTS .

 

Note that butter is not even in Pepperidge Farm puff pastry.  The main ingredient is wheat flour and then you have some type of oil.  No butter.

 

 Now that you have a box of puff pastry (from the freezer section), let it sit in the fridge overnight to thaw.  And while you're working with it, keep it cool.  

The sheets come folded in thirds.

I'm using one-third sheet which I cut into four rectangles.

With a small knife,

score around each rectangle.

Then prick inside

the scoring.

Refrigerate rectangles

while you

make the sauce.

Rosie's Dill and Cream Cheese Sauce for Asparagus

1 TB butter

1 oz. cream cheese

2 TB grated Gruyère cheese

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 tsp coarse Dijon mustard

1 TB cream

Heat all ingredients until cheeses are melted.

Stir until smooth.

Add in 1 TB chopped fresh dill.

12 asparagus spears.

For the asparagus, hold at each end, bend gently, and let the bottom snap off naturally.

Discard that bottom piece.

Then slice each spear into 3 lengths.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Drop in the asparagus and leave it for about 90 seconds.

Drain, then plunge asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking and set the bright green color.

When cool, drain and pat dry.

Cook puff pastry

at 400° 

for about 15 minutes.

Until golden brown and puffy.

Remove the scored section.

Fill shells

with asparagus

and pour heated

cream sauce

over top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add lemon zest and fresh dill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For added crunch, sprinkle on some toasted pistachios.

Enjoy!

Sweet And Savory Croissants.

A few months ago, I made puff pastry and croissants. And I saved half the dough in the freezer for another time.

And that time was yesterday. I thawed out the puff pastry in the fridge for two days.

I rolled (and rolled and rolled) the dough into a semi-rectangle 20-24 inches long and 15-18 inches wide.

I folded the top half over and cut into triangles.

The triangles werre approximately 7 inches long with a 4-inch base. I wet my fingers and the dough with a damp paper towel. Then started pressing to elongate the base.

Working with the triangles, one at a time, press down the length, pulling and stretching until you work the triangle until it's about 2-3 times its original size. I used the heel of my hand and a rolling pin to press the dough out.

Here are the ingredients for my first stuffing: 3 TB butter 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar 2 tsp cornstarch 1 tsp almond extract 1/2 cup toasted almonds

I processed the butter, sugar, and almonds.

Then I added the almond extract and cornstarch. Refrigerate.

I rolled out some of the almond filling and placed at the base of the croissant.

As I rolled up the croissant, I pressed out the dough even more.

You can see the difference in the dough. The lighter, see-through dough, is where I'd pressed it with the heel of my hand.

And roll all the way up.

This is the first croissant I made.

First, second, and third croissants. See, I got better.

Next, I used up the rest of my Nutella/cream mixture and Ricotta/Mascarpone mixture which I used in the sweet calzones the other day. Threw in a few sliced strawberries.

And roll up.

All right, maybe I should have trimmed the sides of the croissant dough before I rolled them up, cause this is looking kinda ratty-assed.

I put the stuffed croissants in the oven and poured boiling water in my iron pan on the bottom shelf to let the steam work on the rising.

I had some leftover pastry and decided to make one savory croissant: toasted walnuts blue cheese sliced apples brown sugar

I placed a few slices of apple on the pastry and added a bit of lemon juice.

Added crumbled bleu cheese and toasted walnuts.

Then the brown sugar.

I had another scraggly piece of dough so I just added some bittersweet chocolate and rolled it up.

Ready to rise.

Ooooh Kay. My croissants rose and the Nutella/cheese mixture kinda oozed out.

Brush with egg wash.

I sprinkled hazelnuts on top of the Nutella/Cheese croissants.

Almonds on top of the almond paste-stuffed croissants.

Baked in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until nicely browned. These are the almond croissants.

And these are the Nutella/cheese croissants. I know it looks like a mess. But if you could just taste them.

I transferred the croissants to a rack. These are the almond croissants. I scraped up the oozed out almond paste and placed it on top of the croissants. Not so bad now.

Purty, ain't it?

And I scraped up the oozed out Nutella mixture and put that on top of the Nutella croissants.

This was the bleu cheese/apple/walnut/brown sugar croissant. I love these flavors together. You have the crisp, fruity, freshness of the apples, the tang and bite of the bleu cheese, the nuttiness of the walnuts, all tempered by the sweetness of the brown sugar.

Flaky layers, buttery goodness, deliciosity of the croissants. Loved the almond mixture and the strawberry/Nutella/cheese mixture is wonderful.