Puff Pastry | Aapplemint

Keema Vol Au Vents … Continued from the last post

All, Featured, Non-Vegetarian 9 Responses »

Apr 172012

There are times when you have been doing some things a certain way, believing that it is the right way or what seems like the best thing to do at that point of time. And suddenly something happens and you change your way and realize its so much better and what the hell were you doing all this time. How you want to beat yourself up for not having thought of it earlier and wasting all this precious time. I’m sure all of you have gone through this at some point of your life.

Well I won’t beat around the bush. I’m talking about putting my 2 n half yr old to bed. All this time he’s been a late sleeper. Would sleep by 11 and 12 at night, and that would leave me with no time to do anything else. Now that the summer holidays have started we cut out his afternoon nap, stretched him up till night and have him sleep earlier. Bang and suddenly I have a couple of free hours to blog at night ! How wonderful is that. And how silly I feel for not having followed this routine all of his play school year. Well now with the spare hours on my hands I’m surely hoping to blog more often and find time to do all the other things on my to do list. Well most, if not all. I’ve been planning a trip to The Furniture Market for the longest time as I need to start buying the furniture for my new house. The excitement and joy of doing up your own place is unexplainable and having a brand new kitchen with all your favorite gadgets . A dream come true .

And not that todays dish is related to any of what I’m talking of at the moment. But here it is none the less. The last post was about Keema, and this one is this one is child’s play. All you need is the Keema ready and a pack of frozen puff pastry. The recipe for Keema is here.

For the Vol u Vents, pre heat your oven to 200 C. Roll out the pastry to a 1cm thickness. Cut out desired sized rounds and score an inner circle lightly so it can be removed after baking to make a hollow gap to put in the filling. Bake for about 10-15 mins or golden brown in colour. Remove , cool and store in an airtight container till ready to use.

To put them together, just spoon in some keema and garnish with sliced onions and corriander.

You can use these Vol Au Vent cases to fill in just about anything. Be it Veg or non veg, Sweet or savoury. They look great and are excellent for entertaining.

Tuna n Cheese Puffs

All, Baking, Non-Vegetarian 23 Responses »

May 182009

Its Sunday morning, you’re all geared up n packed to go to the beach, but everybody else in the house is sleeping and refuses to get up. Its past noon already and you’re trying really hard not to throw a bucket of water on the sleepy heads faces … control !! … distract your mind … and start thinking of food instead. Hmm whats going through your mind … savoury … flaky, crunchy, creamy, a hint of chilli, got to have something healthy in it … tuna … its got to be something warm … not too much effort, yet satisfying and then i got it !! i knew exactly what i wanted ! Breakfast – … well not exactly breakfast, can call it brunchy – Cheesey Tuna Puffs !

Easy peesy as most of my recipes are. This one can be made in no time and actually using just one mixing bowl, so not too many dishes to wash up either ! Start with thawing your puff pastry , i bet you have some in the freezer, i always do ! Meanwhile, drain the tuna from the can I like to use tuna in water. Separate it with a fork in the mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon on chopped onion, 4 pickled Lebanese green chillies, grate in your favourite commercial cheese. This is one of the times you want to reach out for the ready made pizza cheese, or creamy cheddar. Add as much as you like. Salt n pepper to taste, mix well and set aside. Now cut your puff pastry into little squares. Once again feel free to keep them as big or small you like. I’ve made smaller ones here. Stuff them with with the tuna mixture and press the corners. Give it an egg wash so as to attain that beautiful golden brown colour. Bake in an preheated oven at 2000 C for about 10 mins or till desired colour achieved and pasty baked through. Just prefect for that Sunday brunch and even gr8 to carry in your picnic bag … hmmm now if only everyone wakes up !!!

African Cup Of Nations and Ofcourse something Sweet !

All, Baking, Places & Travel 47 Responses »

Feb 112008

I don’t know how many of you followed the biggest sport event of the year in Africa, but since the past 3 weeks the whole continent has been glued to the tele for the 29th African Cup Of Nations , also known as AfCon , CAN – Cup of African Nations , CAF – Confederation of African Football ….
The tournament is Africa’s equivalent of the European Championships or even the World Cup football. It is held every two years instead of every four and 16 teams competed with each other to lift the cup. Professional African players who play their trade for European clubs like Chelsea , Man U , Liverpool , Arsenal …. all flew down and played for their respective countries. This year the cup was held in Ghana! All of us were eagerly waiting for this event which kicked off on 20th January. Fortunately for us Ghana being the host nation, we got to see a lot of the matches in Accra’s Ohene Djan Stadium. Sadly the Ghanaian team – “The Black Stars” did not reach the finals and secured only the 3rd spot.

Yesterday the 10th of Feb, was the final between the reigning champions of 2006 Egypt vs Cameroon. Above you can see both the teams singing their national anthems, Egypt on the left in the red and white uniform , and Cameroon on the right in the green and red. Egypt took the cup again this year, beating Cameroon to 1-0, a goal which was scored 13 minutes from time by Mohamed Aboutrika, making them the champions for 2 consecutive years. And also the recipient of the cup 6 times over, the most any African country has ever won.The entire event was sponsored by MTN and organized by FIFA , and if u see in the snap below, we have the man himself – The president of FIFA – Sepp Blatter sitting next to the Ghanaian president John Kufuor (ok its not a very clear image but i think u can still see them). Frankly i couldn’t believe i was sitting in Ghana, watching this event as they had done such a wonderful job organizing and hosting it. We saw some some excellent football from star players and experienced adrenaline rushes each time a goal was scored. Imagine the noise 45,000 fanatic fans can make. For me it was a first time experience and I’ve only seen cricket matches in the stadium. Read more about the game here, they also published my pictures

And if you’re wondering why don’t i have the snaps of Egypt holding the cup and that of the closing ceremony ? Its because silly me left the extra battery in the car boot and the battery in my camera ran out at half time ! How i hate myself when something like that happens.

And my sweet fix for this post is another very simple fruit, custard pastry. This was something i was craving for the past couple of days, and being very busy this whole week it was just the perfect thing.

Puff pastry
Mixed berries – Strawberry , Blueberry , Blackberry(which ever u can find, just make sure they are fresh)
1 egg yolk custard *
icing sugar

K i know u are probably doubting my cooking skills at this point , but trust me the simplest of things are usually the tastiest .
*Make your 1 egg yolk custard by heating about 200 ml of cream. In a bowl whisk together 150 gms of caster sugar, pure vanilla extract, 1 egg yolk and a tsp of cornflour, till well incorporated. Pour over the warm cream whisking well and bring it all back to a boil and simmer gently till think enough.
In the non stick baking tray lay the rectangular puff pastry and spread the custard all over.

Slice the strawberries and lay them all over the custard. Fold over the puff pastry, enveloping all the custard and berries around the 4 corners. You don’t have to be very neat. The slightly uneven edges look gr8 once it is baked. Dust the whole thing generously with icing sugar and bake in a hot oven until the pastry has risen and turned a lovely golden brown colour. I like mine to be crispier and a little darker in colour. But feel free to make it as you like. Change the shape, change the fruits … everything goes ! Best served warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream.

Wrap n Burn

All, Vegetarian 6 Responses »

Apr 112007

This is a step by step guide of how to screw up a highly simple wrap.Well i did’nt plan for it to happen this way but a little bit of neglect and there u have it !Since A is in town and she is vegetarian I’m having a tough time thinking of what to make for her specially after returning home tired from galavanting all day.So taking a easy way out i thought of using store bought puff pastry and stuffing it with some veggies, and a soup to accompany it.I was grilling chicken for the rest of us and so i thought this will b perfect.

Started off with stirfrying in some olive oil, crushed garlic,chopped green chillies, jullianed carrots, red and green peppers, onions, chickpeas, left over cooked spaghetti.For the seasonings i used cumin powder, a pinch of garam masala,salt and pepper.

And then neatly placed the mixture in the center and wrapped it .

Don’t forget the egg wash ! want it to look pretty don’t ya !

And then to screw it up all you have to do it forget to get it out of the oven ! Just like i did.The corners were totally burnt off and the spaghetti had turned black.It was dry outside but the inside was safe .But thats no excuse.Poor A had to settle for soup n half burnt wraps.Moral of the story … Don’t be a vegetarian, eat meat !