The French Laundry's Gougère - Baking Partner Challenge #11 | Cheese Puffs

It's time for yet another Baking Partner Challenge. This time it was to learn to prepare Pâte à choux - the light French pastry dough, which is used to make sweet and savory delicacies. The challenge was to make Chocolate Eclairs or French Gougère or both using Pâte à choux. I was in deep confusion on which one to choose to bake this time & the problem was I have not had both before, so it was kinda difficult to decide.. If time had permitted, I would have done both. After much thought & research I zeroed in on the savory Gougère a.k.a the Cheese Puff.

So foremost, a small note which I had gathered on the pastry dough & the savory appetizer, before I take off on the recipe. Gougères are made all over France though they are said to have originated from Burgandy. They are small & light on the outside and soft, eggy & cheesy on the middle or inside. These puffs are best served warm & usually as an accompaniment to Wine. Some like to fill them up with some stuffing or sandwich them with ham. I personally enjoyed having them with Nutella (Nugatti) ;) And you must be wondering what's with the name 'The French Laundry's Gougère', it's nothing else but Thomas Keller's Michelin 3-star restaurant 'The French Laundry' in California. There these famous little Gougère appetizers are served with wine.

And talking about pâte à choux, here the dough is cooked first before baked. That's instead of using a raising agent it uses the heat from cooking the dough to puff the pastry. Also cooking the dough dries it out a bit & makes it easier to absorb the eggs. And while baking it uses two different temperature that allows it to first puff and then dry into crispy little delights. So that's a lot of information for now I guess, so quick into the recipe  ..

Recipe Source: Adapted from Bouchon Bakery Book

Makes: 30 bites

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20 minutesBaking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Water	-	½ cup + 1 ½ tbsp
Butter - Unsalted	-	4.5 tbsp
Kosher Salt	-	½ tsp
Freshly ground pepper	-	¼ tsp
All purpose flour	-	½ cup + 2 ½ tbsp
Eggs	-	150 gm / 2 large nos
Gruyere Cheese (Aged & shredded	-	scant 1 cup

The Way:

1. Preheat the oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes
2. In a saucepan, combine water, butter, salt & pepper and place over medium heat and stir until the butter is melted
3. Increase heat to medium high once the butter has melted. Then bring to simmer and remove from fire
4. Using a wooden spatula stir in the flour for about 2 minutes until it has a paste like consistency
5. Now place this saucepan again over medium-high heat and stir rapidly for 1 minute, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and the bottom of the pan is clean. Remove from fire
6. The dough should be glossy and smooth but not dry
7. Now beat in the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, beating until each addition is completely absorbed by the dough. Use only large eggs not extra-large or jumbo or small as this may cause the puff to be too liquidy or be under-baked
8. Mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl pulled with the spatula but immediately grabs back on again. When the dough is lifted, it should form a bird's peak- it should hold it's shape and turn down on itself but not break off
9. Now add the cheese and mix to incorporate
10. In a baking tray place the baking sheet and take a tablespoon of the dough & drop on into the baking sheet with a distance of at least 1 ½ inches in between each drop. Use wet fingers to smooth the surface of each drop
11. Bake for 10 minutes and then turn down the temperature to 190 degrees and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until they are completely golden brown. Make sure they bake until they’re completely browned up the sides so that they don’t sink when cooling

Cheers,

Chitz

Gobi Manchurian - Dry | Cauliflower Manchurian

 Deep fried Cauliflower florets sauteed in onions & Chinese sauces

Gobi Manchurian, that's the first dish that comes to my mind when I am expecting some vegetarian guests at home. Coz, it's rich & heavy and very seldom vegetarians have an aversion to it and moreover, it's deep fried !! Definitely a winner, right?? Many of those who do not like to have cauliflower curry or gravy or stir fry, would say YES to Gobi 65 & Gobi Manchurian :) And it's very difficult to find a restaurant that doesn't have this in their menu, isn't it?? Be it any cuisine restaurant, this would be definitely on their list... So how about we look into the recipe, which is a perfect side for Chappathis and Kulchas and even fried rice..

Recipe Source: Ma

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 90 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

I Used:

Caulliflower	-	A small sized one
Maida	-	3 tbsp
Cornflour	-	3 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	-	1 tbsp
Pepper	-	2 tbsp
Onion	-	1 no - medium sized
Ginger	-	1 tbsp
Garlic	-	1 tbsp
Green Chilly	-	3 nos
Soya sauce	-	1 tbsp
Chilly sauce	-	2 tbsp
Tomato sauce (optional)	-	2 tsp
Turmeric powder	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As needed
Oil	-	For Deep frying
Spring Onion	-	2 sprig

The Way: 

1. Clean & separate the cauliflower into medium sized florets
2. In a wide pan heat water, sufficient enough to submerge the cauliflower florets. Add turmeric & salt to it
3. When the water boils, add the cauliflower florets to it. Allow it to be in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. Then drain off the water completely. This process is to get rid of the small worms that are prevalent in cauliflowers 
4. In a kitchen towel, pat dry the excess water off the florets. Else they will absorb excess oil while frying
5. In a wide bowl mix maida, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, pepper & salt with water. Marinate the cauliflower florets in this for about an hour
6. Heat oil in a kadai & deep fry the marinated cauliflower florets & keep aside. Place the deep fried florets on a kitchen tissue to drain off the excess oil
7. Preserve the remaining marination mix to add in to the manchurian
8. In a kadai or wok heat 2 tbsp oil. Add chopped ginger, garlic & green chilly & saute
9. Add chopped onions & whites of the spring onions & saute till translucent
10. Now tip in the sauces - soya sauce, chilly sauce, tomato sauce & pepper powder
11. Add the fried cauliflower florets & mix well
12. Now add the remaining marination mix to the manchurian. If the quantity is less add in little corn flour and mix with water & add this to the manchurian & saute well
13. Remove from fire & garnish with the greens of the spring onion 

Cheers,

Chitz

Chicken Spring Rolls | Chinese Chicken Spring Rolls using Pastry Sheets

What's the first dish that comes to your mind when you hear 'Chinese' ? It must be 'Fried Rice' or 'Noodles', correct? Okay, now what's it that comes to your mind when I say 'Chinese Starter'. For me it's always 'Spring Rolls'. A visit to the Chinese restaurant is never complete without gulping this all time favorite of mine. And yes, not to for get the 'Sweet corn corn chicken soup'. I used to order this every other time, that my dad used to ask me, 'Why don't you try something new at least this time?' :D

My mom used to make these spring rolls for us at home. So I knew it was not a Herculean task, barring the vegetable chopping. I think that's the only time consuming factor in Chinese cuisine. Once that's done, the rest is very simple.  It is one of the all time favorites of Deeps too.. He simply loves them and would be in full praises when I make them. And he did come home very early from office yesterday. I am still not sure which one of these two is the reason, 'Not much work today' (as he said) or 'I am making spring rolls for evening tea today' (as I told him in the morn). Anyways we both enjoyed this little delicacies over a hot cup of tea.

Recipe from Ma

I Took:

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 nos

I Used:

Carrot	-	1 cup (refer notes)
Capsicum	-	1 cup
Beans	-	½ cup
Celery	-	½ cup
Chicken	-	1 cup
Soya Sauce	-	1 ½ tsp
Tomato Sauce	-	1 tsp
Chilly sauce	-	1 tsp
Worcestershire sauce	-	1 tsp
Sugar	-	½ tsp
Pepper powder	-	½ tsp
Ground paste	-	1 tbsp
Oil	-	For deep frying
Salt	-	As needed
Aginomoto	-	A pinch (optional)

To grind:

Ginger	-	1 tbsp
Garlic	-	1 tbsp
Chilly powder	-	1 tsp

The Way:

1. Chop all the vegetables. Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces (like chops)
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the chicken pieces. Add a little salt & pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes
3. Then add the ground paste and onion and mix well (Ignore the previous step for veg spring rolls)
4. After 2 minutes of sauteeing add carrot, beans, capsicum, celery and aginomoto and fry
5. Then mix in salt, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly sauce, worcestershire  sauce and the remaining pepper powder and saute in
6. The veggies should become crisp & crunchy. Do not over cook as they again have to be deep fried
7. The filling for the roll is ready. Allow it to cool and dry. Moisture content in the filling will make the wrapper wet which will suck in more oil during frying. Hence best to wait till the filling has cooled down with minimum moisture in it
8. Now off to the spring roll sheets. Defrost them to room temperature before using them. Use the sheets after defrosting as they will dry out & crack if left unattended 
9. Lay out one of the sheet. Place about a tbsp (depending on the size of your sheet) of the filling on one corner. Lesser the filling, the better. Over sized filling have a tendency to break apart in oil

1. Fold over that corner and roll in
2. Fold over both the left & right sides
3. Make sure there is very little or no air pockets when you fold in the sheet, as they can allow oil to get inside the roll
4. At this point you can freeze the rolls if required for future use. Make sure the rolls are placed one aside the other (not on top) & covered suitably to prevent drying while freezing
5. Heat oil in a kadai. Deep fry the rolls. Keep turning the over in oil till the turn golden brown evenly 
6. Place them over tissue paper to drain off the excess oil. Serve with tomato ketchup

Notes:

• You can include more vegetables like cabbage & cauli flower. I had run out of them. So did not use here
• Aginomoto is added to enhance flavor but comes with a list of side effects. So highly recommended to avoid

Linking this to 'Flavors of Chinese Cuisine' event at Julie's 'Erivum Puliyum'

Cheers,

Chitz

Pineapple Cheese Sticks

'Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise'. But what if you are not an early bird? Now obviously I am not one. And that comes with serious consequences for my food timings :-( Yeah, I don't like to skip a meal.. But at times weekends make me do that. And that's one lazy eve, I was struck with the idea of making these pineapple cheese sticks.

I remember having them as starters in an eat-in (forgot the name, maybe I should ask my mom, she will know!!) in Trivandrum, when I was a child.. I loved to wriggle them in my mouth for the perfect blend of the sourness of the pineapple, the salt of the cheese and the sweetness of the cherry.. Oooh.. That was quite a feast those days :-) 

So here is the recipe of the starter that did make me hungry after a while and lo, I was set off cooking the dinner :)

I Took: 10 minutes

I Used:

Pineapple (Canned or Normal)

Cheese

Glazed Cherry

Tooth Picks

The Way :

Cut pineapple into small cubes. I used the middle portion of the pineapple as they are more stiff and less sour. Cut the cheese also in the same shape as that of the pineapple. Cut the cherries into half. Onto each toothpick, insert the pineapple, followed by the cheese and then the cherry.

The sticks are now ready to be served :-)

Cheers,

Chitz

Sending to Nivedhanams - Know Your Dairy – Cheese event and Jagruti’s Cooking Odyssey"