September 2011 Daring Bakers Challenge: Fresh, Fluffy, French…

… and no, I’m not talking about myself! The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child.

When I saw we were making croissants, I got a little scared. Don’t get me wrong- I like croissants, but that’s just it. There are certain foods  where (to me) ignorance is bliss and if I don’t know how to make them, then I won’t be tempted to make them again, and again, and again…you get the idea. Croissants are fattening. They’re full of butter, and we all know I have a love/hate relationship with dairy products i.e. I love them but they hate me. However, I decided to participate anyway and hoped to make them once then burn the recipe, bury the ashes, and never look back. So then naturally I thought that if I was only going to do this once, why not go out with a bang and add two of my favorite ingredients: chocolate and bacon?

A note to my vegetarian/vegan friends and family members: Yes, I am aware that bacon is bad for you; and no I do not eat it as much as you guys think I do. I am an ex-vegan and still can’t stand to eat meat more than a few times a month. I am also aware that bacon is a gateway meat (hence my term “ex-vegan”) and will not push my bacony baked goods on my veggie friends. In fact, I do have plenty of vegan baking and experience and will be happy to bake you a vegan cake if you ask nicely!

Before you begin, be aware that the process for making croissants is a long one. Luckily, you can complete part of the rising process in the refrigerator overnight. Otherwise, it takes about twelve hours from start to finish. Since the croissants take so long to make, don’t make your filling until the final rising time.

As far as the bacon and chocolate go, I cannot stress this enough: Use good quality chocolate. It doesn’t have to be the best, most expensive brand, but don’t just pick up one of those cheapo waxy-tasting candy bars from the checkout isle. It just won’t taste as good. Luckily, the store brand at my local supermarket makes really good dark chocolate chips so that’s what I used. As for the bacon, you can use pretty much whatever kind you like. If you want to add a special kick to the recipe, candy your bacon first by laying the slices on a broil pan in a single layer and sprinkling some brown sugar on them. Bake them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Make sure you let the candied bacon cool before handling it! Caramelized sugar is the devil and will leave a nasty burn if you get it on your skin. However, if you want to lose your fingerprints and tastebuds to third degree burns, then be my guest

Preparation time: In total, 12 hours.
Making dough, 10 mins
First rise, 3 hours
Kneading and folding, 5 mins
Second rise, 1.5 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Rolling in the butter (turns one and two), 15 mins
First rest, 2 hours
Turns three and four, 10 mins
Second rest, 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Forming croissants, 30 mins
Final rise, 1 hour (or longer in the fridge)
Baking, 15 mins

Equipment required:
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing bowls of numerous sizes
• Rubber spatula
• Plastic bag
• Pastry scraper
• Counter space or board for rolling and kneading
• Rolling pin
• Plastic wrap
• Baking tray

Ingredients (for the dough)
¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used Polish all-purpose flour, which is 13% protein)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
1½ teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk (I am not sure if the fat content matters. I used 2%)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little, about 5 minutes. You can measure out your ingredients while you’re waiting for the yeast.

2. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar.

3. Place the flour in a large bowl, and add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour.

4. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl

5. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below) It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter (she does this at 6:55 in the video in case you want to fast forward to it) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper. This is lots of fun, and a great stress reliever if you’re having a bad day- so next time someone pisses you off, don’t get mad! Make croissants!

6. Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size.

7. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.

8. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).

9. Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up.) Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.

10. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge .

11. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the butter.

12. Once the dough has doubled, it’s time to incorporate the butter. Place the block of chilled butter on a chopping board, and using the rolling pin, beat the butter down a little till it’s almost flat.

13. Use the heel of your hand to continue to spread the butter until it is smooth. You want the butter to stay cool, but spread easily.

14. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.

15. Spread the dough using your hands into a rectangle about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

16. Remove the butter from the board, and place it on the top half of the dough rectangle. Spread the butter all across the top two-thirds of the dough rectangle, but keep it ¼ inch (6 mm) across from all the edges. (See kids? you do use math in real life!)

17. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third of the dough up. Turn the dough package 90 degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book.)

18. Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm). *I ran into trouble in this step because my kitchen was too hot and the butter was too soft. If this happens, just pop the dough into the fridge for a minute or so to firm it up again- just don’t leave it too long or the butter will get too hard!

19. Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.

20. After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter. Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little, and let the dough rest for 8 to 10 minutes.

21. Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

22. Fold in three, as before. Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

23. Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (or overnight, with something heavy on top to stop it from rising.)

24. The next steps is rolling out and shaping your croissants. While you’re waiting, cook your bacon and set aside. Once it’s cool to the touch, pulse in the food processor to chop it up into bits. I like to call these bacon sprinkles…yum.

25. Lightly butter your baking sheet to get it ready. If you don’t want to use butter, you can bake the croissants on parchment. However, you’re already eating a ton of butter in the croissant, so why stop with the butter now? We’re going all out, remember?!

26. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter.

27. Roll the dough out into a 20 by 5 inch rectangle (51 cm by 12½ cm). Cut the dough into two rectangles (each 10 by 5 inches (25½ cm by 12½ cm.))

28. Place one of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold.

29. Roll the second rectangle out until it is 15 by 5 inches (38 cm by 12½ cm).

30. Cut the rectangle into three squares (each 5 by 5 inches (12½ cm by 12½ cm.)) Place two of the squares in the fridge

31. The remaining square may have shrunk up a little bit in the meantime. Roll it out again till it is nearly square.

32. Cut the square diagonally into two triangles. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles (more math!!!)

33. At the wide end of the triangle, sprinkle some of the chocolate and bacon chips. Don’t use too much or it’ll ooze out when the chocolate melts. Then, starting at the wide end, fold the dough over the filling and roll the triangle up towards the point. Curve into a crescent shape. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet, and repeat the process with the rest of the dough, creating 12 croissants in total.

*To be honest, I didn’t make 12 croissants. I made about six before getting impatient and cutting, filling, and rolling rectangles instead of triangles and making little rolls that looked more like pain au chocolat than anything else. They tasted just as good, and I was able to use more filling than in the triangles.

34. Leave the tray of croissants (or rolls) covered lightly with plastic wrap to rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to a very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.

35. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water, and brush the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.

36. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely, then let cool on a rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
Croissants are best eaten the day they are made. They will survive till the next day in a sealed container. If they seem a little stale, they can be quickly re-freshed by warming them in the oven.

Whew! That was a lengthy, yet fun process. Let’s never do it again… at least not for a while… dammit.

 

 

Daring Bakers April 2011 challenge: Maple mousse in served edible containers

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Evelyne, a native of Quebec, came up with this challenge to celebrate the annual tradition of the Cabane a Sucre, or the sugar shack. Sugar shacks are small cabins found mainly in Eastern Canada (and even parts of the Northeastern United States) where maple sap is collected and boiled into maple syrup. According to Evelyne, families, friends, and coworkers organize trips to these shacks and enjoy rich meals of eggs, bacon, ham,  pork rinds, pancakes, and pea soup- all drizzled with maple syrup. Sounds delicious doesn’t it? It doesn’t end there! Afterward, the meal is finished off with delicious maple taffy- served atop a bed of clean snow, of course. Seriously, sign me up! This maple mousse may not be a traditional cabane a sucre recipe, but it is a nice little taste of what the sugar shack pilgrimage is all about.

There were two rules in this challenge. The first was that we make the maple mousse, and the second, that the container we serve it in has to be edible. Included with the mousse recipe were two suggestions for a container: One was a bacon cup, and the second was a little cup made out of crushed nuts. Both sounded amazing to me so I decided to combine them and make a bacon-almond tart crust. The resulting dessert, a rich maple mousse served in a chocolate lined bacon and almond crust, and topped with a snowy white meringue was the perfect combination of salty and sweet; and a small taste of a tradition that dates back to the 17th century.

Here’s the recipe!

For the crust you will need:

small tart pans (or a mini muffin pan)

1 pound of bacon

3/4 cup ground almonds (you can use a coffee grinder to grind them as fine as you can)

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

1 beaten egg*

2 Tablespoons flour

1/4 to 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

*I halved the recipe for the mousse so I made up this recipe based on half of the nut crust recipe provided. Though the crust turned out fine, one whole egg may have been too much liquid. The “dough” will be a little pasty if you use a whole large egg, so you may want to either use half a beaten egg or use a small egg instead of a large one.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your tart pans with a little aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Fry the bacon in a large skillet, according to package directions. Some packages say you can microwave or bake the bacon, but I never tried it so I can’t guarantee it will work. Once the bacon is nice and crispy, remove from the pan and set aside on paper towels to soak up excess grease, and let cool slightly. Be sure to save the bacon grease in a heat safe container- it’s great for making bacon cupcakes (but that’s for another post…)

3. In a food processor, pulse the bacon strips until they are as finely chopped as you can get them. Remove the bacon crumbles from the food processor and place in a medium sized bowl.

4. Add remaining ingredients (except for the chocolate) and stir well to combine. Spoon a little of the mixture into each prepared tart pan and use the spoon to make a uniform crust in each one. The mixture will be slightly sticky.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the crust is cooked through and slightly browned. Set aside to cool completely. When the crusts are cooled, carefully remove them from the pans and peel off the foil. Be careful not to break them, they’re kind of fragile.

Bacon crusts, about to go in the oven

6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring well after each interval. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will get grainy.

7. Use a spoon to smooth a thin layer of chocolate over the bottom of the crust, and place in the refrigerator while you make your mousse.

For the mousse (half batch):

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (not maple-flavored syrup)

2 large egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)

1/2 package (1/2 tbsp.) unflavored gelatine

3/4 whipping cream

Directions:
1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).

3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.

4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.

5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.

6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.

7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.

8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

For the meringue:

2 large egg whites at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated  sugar

1.Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Put the egg whites in a bowl. Using an electric mixer beat for a few minutes until the whites become stiff. Now add the sugar, a little at a time, whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and the mixture won’t fall out.

3. Place baking parchment on to a clean baking sheet. Using a spoon or a piping bag, dollop the meringue into circles that fit inside the rim of your edible cups.

4. Put the tray in the oven, then immediately turn the oven down to 250 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes.

5. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool in the oven for a few hours.

6. Place meringues as decoration on your maple mousse which has already be spooned into your edible containers.

Enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped flank steak with chimichurri sauce

It’s been a week of bacon experimentation at my house, and this is my favorite dish so far. Delicious, juicy flank steak cut into strips and rolled up with a slice of bacon, and served with a savory homemade chimichurri sauce.

This is one of the dinners I get homesick for! When I was a kid, my mom used to make this dish for us all the time. The tender steak, wrapped with the salty bacon, made for very tasty comfort food. Though my mom never served it with chimichurri sauce, I thought it would be a nice addition to the steak and bacon flavors and boy was I glad I thought to make it when I tasted them together! Perfection.

Here’s the recipe

For the roll-ups:

Flank steak

thick sliced bacon, one piece per strip of steak

salt and pepper, to taste (take into account that the bacon is salty and will transfer some onto the steak. Don’t over-season!)

toothpicks

For the chimichurri sauce:

1 cup (packed) Italian Parsley
3 garlic cloves
1 small shallot
1 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
1/4 tsp ground Oregano
pinch cayenne pepper 
1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly season the flank steak with salt and pepper and cut into strips slightly wider than the bacon.

2. Place the strip of steak on top of the bacon and roll up tightly, using a toothpick to skewer it so it doesn’t unravel.

3. Put the roll-ups in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and cook another 20-25 minutes until thoroughly cooked and bacon is browned.

4. While you’re waiting, you can make the chimichurri sauce. Be sure to wash the parsley well and remove all large stems. Place the ingredients to the chimichurri sauce in the food processor and pulse until there are no large chunks. The sauce won’t be totally smooth.

5. Serve the roll-ups on top of the sauce, or spoon it over them and serve. Don’t forget about the toothpicks! Just pull them out before cutting into the roll-up.