Quick Portuguese Custard Tarts

For a long time now, I wanted to try  these famous Portuguese tarts. I opted for quick version with puff pastry. Everyone was delighted with the taste; only non-satisfying fact was that they were not crispy the next day. Next time, I'll make them with short-crust pastry instead, so they can stay good for a couple of days at least.
I got 24 small and 12 (muffin size) large tarts.

Ingredients: 
4 sheets puff pastry (cinnamon and icing sugar for sprinkling them)
1 ¾ cups whole milk
¼ cup cream
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
4-5 Tbsp white sugar
Pinch of  salt
2 tbs Plain flour
2 strips lemon peel
½ tsp vanilla extract
-icing sugar, for dusting
Method:
Take the puff pastry out of freezer; cover with a cloth and let it defrost.
Mix egg, yolks, sugar, flour and a little milk into a smooth paste. Add the rest of milk, vanilla and lemon peel and cook, stirring  until thick (take out the lemon peel later). (I microwaved it for 4 minutes, stirring it every 30-40 seconds). Let it cool slightly. Preheat oven to 180*C, fan forced.
Put 2 sheets of dough next to each other; Sprinkle them with cinnamon and icing sugar. Roll them together into a 'sausage'. (I cut this dough into 24) . Repeat with other 2 ( this time I cut the dough into 12 pieces).
Press each 'dough disc' into the muffin hole. Fill dough bases with prepared custard; small with 1 full teaspoon, large with 1 tablespoon (or more) of filling. Place in oven, bake for 5 minutes, then lower temperature to 160*C and bake another 10-15 minutes. Take out, cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with icing sugar. Enjoy!

Portugalski Brzi Puding Tartići

Vec dugo vremena zelim da isprobam ovaj poznati Portugalski desert. Odlucila sam se za brzu metodu sa lisnatim tijestom. Svi su bili odusevljeni ukusom; jedina nezadovoljavajuca komponenta je bila ta da sljedeci dan nisu bili tako hrskavi. Sljedeci put cu ih sigurno praviti sa prhkim tijestom, tako da se u njima moze uzivati i sljedecih nekoliko dana. 

Od ovog recepta, dobila sam 24 mini i 12 mafin-velicine tartica.

Potrebno:

4 lista lisnatog tijesta (25 X 25 cm) + cimet i secer u prahu  za posuti

1 3/4 solje mlijeka

1/4 solje slatke pavlake (35% masnoce)

1 jaje

3 zumanca

4-5 K secera

prstohvat soli

2 K brasna

2 komada korice limuna

1/2 k vanila ekstrakta

- secer u prahu za posipati po povrsini

Nacin:

Izvadite lisnato tijesto iz zamrzivaca, pokrijte cistom krpom i ostavite da se odmrzne.
Pomijesajte jaje, zumanca, secer i brasno sa malo mlijeka. Dodajte preostatak mlijeka, vanilu i korice limuna (koje cete kasnije izvaditi) i skuhajte puding, mijesajuci dok se ne zgusne. (Ja sam smjesu stavila u mikrovalnu pecnicu na 4 minute, vadeci svakih 30-40 sekundi i mijesajuci). Ostavite da se prohladi. 
Zagrijte rernu na 180*C  (sa fenom).
Sastavite  po 2 lista tijesta (znaci 25 cm X 50 cm, ako rezete vece tijesto), pospite sa cimetom i secerom u prahu. Zarolajte u rolnu po duzini, tj 'rolna' treba da je 25 cm duga. Izrezala sam ovo tijesto na 24 diska (za mini- mafin kalupe). Ponovite sa ostala 2 lista - ove sam izrezala na 12 (za normalnu velicinu mafin kalupa).
Pritisnite tijesto u kalupe, zatim ih filujte; Male sa po 1 kasicicom / zlicicom pudinga, velike sa 1 kasikom / zlicom ili  vise. Stavite u rernu i pecite 5 minuta, zatim smanjite temperaturu na 160*C i pecite jos 10-15 minuta. Izvadite tartice, prohladite i pospite sa secerom u prahu. Uzivajte!

 My hens checking out what I do with their eggs! 
 Moje koke provjeravaju sta ja to radim sa njihovim jajima!

Beef Wellington

Recipe is from one of my favourite cooking programs - 'The cook and the chef' 

Here is the link:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s2030146.htm

Ingredients:

1 beef fillet
1 packet puff pastry
Butter
1 onion, finely chopped
500g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Thyme
Parsley
50 ml white wine
Pepper
Salt
1 egg
Crepes- (or use your own recipes
125g flour
15g sugar
Pinch salt
1 egg
250ml milk
30g melted butter (nut brown)
Oil and butter for frying

Method:

Season the beef fillet with salt and pepper. Seal in a roasting pan or on a flat top grill until all sides are browned. Set aside.
Melt a little butter in a pan and saute the onions until soft but with no colour. Add the mushrooms, bay leaf, wine and a little fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook down until cooked and there is no moisture. Remove the bay leaf and add fresh parsley.
Make crepe mixture-
Sift the flour into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Beat together the eggs and milk. Mix flour and egg mixtures together and add the butter. Set aside to thicken for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Brush a crepe pan with the oil and butter and heat the pan. Ladle a little crepe mix into the pan and quickly swish around to cover the base. Cook briefly on both sides but without getting any colour on the crepe. Set aside. Keep going until you have at least 6 crepes (or 4 large). You may also add a sprinkle of chopped parsley to the crepe batter if you like.
To assemble the Beef Wellington-
Lay out a piece of puff pastry long and wide enough to enclose the beef fillet. Cover with crepes (this soaks up the beef juice and stops the pastry from going soggy on the bottom). Place a layer of mushroom mix in the centre, then place the beef fillet on top. Roll over the crepes and pastry and neatly seal with eggwash. Place on a baking sheet. Decorate the pastry with shapes if desired. Eggwash the top and refrigerate for 10 minutes to recool the pastry then bake 220C for 15 minutes. You will need to increase the time for an extra 15 minutes if you are cooking a full Beef Wellington.
You should have a nice medium pink beef fillet. If you have a thermometer cook to about 65-67C in the centre of the beef. Serve with a nice rich beef glaze or red wine glaze.

'Velington' govedina

Recept je sa jedne od meni nadrazih kulinarskih emisija 'The cook and the chef'.

Evo linka:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s2030146.htm

Sastojci:
1 govedji file
1 pakovanje lisnatog tijesta
maslac
1 crveni luk, sitno sjeckan
500 gr sampinjona, sjeckanih
1 lovorov list
timijan (majcina dusica)
persun
50 ml bijelog vina
so i biber
1 jaje
Palacinke- (ili napravite prema sopstvenom receptu)

125 gr brasna
15 gr secera
prstohvat soli
1 jaje
250 ml mlijeka
30 gr istopljenog maslaca
ulje i maslac za przenje
(trebate imati 4 vece ili 6 manjih palacinki)

Method:

Posolite i pobiberite govedinu, proprzite je na tavi sa svih strana, dok ne porumeni. Ostavite po strani.
Istopite malo maslaca, propirjajte luk, dodajte gljive, vino, lovor i timijan. Zacinite i pirjajte dok tekucina ne ispari. Izvadite lovor dodajte persun.
Napravite palacinke.
Slaganje-
Postavite lisnato tijesto dovoljno veliko da moze omotati cijeli komad govedine . Pokrijte sa palacinkama.  
Postavite sloj sampinjona preko, zatim govedinu. Zamotajte sa slojeve palacinki  i lisnatog tijesta, 'zalijepite' ih sa umucenim jajetom. Postavite u posudu za pecenje, premazite jajetom i ostavite u frizider na 10 min. U medjuvremenu ukljucite rernu na 220*C. Pecite oko 30 min (za cijeli veliki komad). Meso treba da ostane ruzicasto, tj termometar uboden u centar mesa treba da pokaze 65-67*C. Servira se sa nekim vinskim umakom (po zelji).

Puff Pastry Twists

I always have Puff pastry in my freezer. It's so versatile and easy to make a quick snack with it...Just use a bit of your imagination, and a delicious, crunchy (savoury or sweet) finger food is on your table in no time.

Ingredients:

2 puff pastry sheets

1 egg white, beaten

grated Parmesan

poppy seeds

sesame seeds

Method:

Take pastry out of freezer. Switch oven to 200*C. Spray a baking sheet with oil.

When's pastry defrosted, brush one sheet with egg white, sprinkle with Parmesan. Put another sheet over it; press slightly with a rolling pin. Brush top side with egg white, sprinkle with poppy seeds. Use rolling pin to slightly press the seeds into pastry. Turn over, do the same with sesame seeds. 

Cut pastry into fingers. Twist each and place onto baking sheet. Place into oven and bake for 5-8 min, or until slightly golden and crunchy. Serve while still warm. 

Uvrnuti štapići od lisnatog tijesta

Uvijek imam lisnato tijesto u zamrzivacu, jer je tako prakticno i lako za brzinsku pripremu (slane ili slatke) hrane. Uz malo maste, na vasem stolu je za cas gotov 'snack'.

Potrebno:

2 lista lisnatog tijesta

1 bjelance, lako umuceno

Parmezan, rendani

Mak

Sezam

Nacin:

Izvadite tijesto iz zamrzivaca. Ukljucite rernu na 200*C; pripremite veliku plitku tepsiju.

Kada se tijesto odmrzlo, jedan list premazite bjelancem i pospite Parmezanom. Preko njega prebacite drugi list i lagano oklagijom pritisnite povrsinu. Sada premazite vrh tijesta bjelancem i pospite makom. Utisnite sjeme oklagijom, zatim preokrenite tijesto i na drugu stranu nanesite sezam na isti nacin. 

Izrezite tijesto na trake, pa svaku uvijete oko svoje ose. Postavite na tepsiju i pecite 5-8 min, ili dok stapici ne postanu zlatno-zuti i hrskavi. Sluzite toplo.

Vanilla Slice

Cake-shop vanilla slice; Recipe that always works.

Ingredients:
2 sheets puff pastry (25 X 25 cm)
2 cups milk
2 cups thickened cream
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup custard powder
1/2 cup corn flour
60 g butter
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
icing sugar for dusting
Method:
Place puff pastry on baking dish (covered with baking paper), pierce with fork in a few places. Cover with another baking paper and flat baking sheet and bake 10 min on 170*C. Take out and trim to size of your square tin (usually 22-23 cm), which is lined with paper allowing a 2cm overhang on all four sides. Place one baked puff pastry onto bottom of square pan.
Place milk (minus 1 cup), butter, thickened cream, sugar and vanilla to heat. Mix custard powder, egg yolks and corn flour with 1 cup milk. Pour into heated milk, bring to boil, stirring all the time and cook until thick (3-4 min). Pour over prepared pastry. Place another sheet of pastry on top and press slightly. Let it cool, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours, before dusting with icing sugar and slicing.


Poslastičarske krempite / vanila šnite

Potrebno:
2 lista (25 X 25 cm)lisnatog tijesta
2 solje mlijeka
2 solje slatkog vrhnja / kajmaka
1 solja secera
3/4 solje 'Custard' praha (puding)
1/2 solje 'Gustina'
60 gr maslaca
3 zumanca
1 k vanile
secer u prahu za posuti
Nacin:
Ispecite oba lista tijesta izmedju 2 ravne plohe, oblozene papirom - tako ce ostati relativno ravno. Treba vam 10 min na temp 170*C. Skratite peceno tijesto ako je potrebno, prema velicini vaseg cetvrtastog pleha (22-23 cm), koji je oblozen papirom za pecenje, tako da sa svih strana papir viri po 2 cm.
Stavite mlijeko (od kojeg ste oduzeli 1 solju), vrhnje, secer, maslac i vanilu da prokuha. Pomijesajte gustin, puding i zumanca sa preostalim mlijekom. Uspite u provrelo mlijeko, mijesajte i kuhajte dok se ne zgusne.
Postavite jedan list pecenog tijesta na dno pripremljene posude, uspite kuhanu masu, pa postavite i drugi list na povrsinu. Pritisnite blago rukama, i ostavite hladiti. Zatim smjestite krempitu u frizider na 3-4 sata. Prije rezanja i sluzenja pospite secerom u prahu.

Parisian Pastry

Evoking my memories from Paris...

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry (25X25cm)
8 teas jam
1 teas corn flour
icing sugar for sprinkling
(or Nutella, thick custard...for filling)
Method:
Take the dough out of freezer, and let it defrost.
Mix jam and cornflour well, heat in microwave oven until start bubbling. Let it cool.
Divide puff pastry into 8 equal pieces. Cut surface of 4 of them, so it represents a 'mesh' (2 rows of 2 cm cuts with a space of 1 cm; In between those cuts, from middle to middle make another row of cuts). Use pastry cutter for 'mesh' effect if you got it.
On whole pieces of dough put some of thickened jam: place 'meshed' part, press the edges with your fingers.
Bake 10 min, on 200*C; dust with icing sugar and enjoy!




Pariška peciva

...evociranje sjecanja na 3 dana u Parizu

Potrebno:
1 list lisnatog tijesta (25X25cm)
8 kasicica dzema po zelji
1 kasicica gustina
malo secera u prahu
(ili Nutela, gusci puding...za punjenje)
Priprema:
Izvadite tijesto iz zamrzivaca, ukoliko takvo koristite.
Pripremite nadjev za peciva: dzem i gustin pomijesajte, pa ga ‘zgusnite’ . Dovoljno je da kratko prokljuca (mikrovalna ili na ‘vatri’). Ostavite hladiti! U medjuvremenu podijelite lisnato tijesto na 8 jednakih dijelova. Jednu polovinu svakoga dijela narezite na ‘mrezu’ – napravite proreze 2 cm dugacke, sa razmakom od 1cm. Treba da dobijete 2 reda proreza. Izmedju tih proreza (od srede do srede), narezite druge – tako kada tijesto blago rasirite dobijete efekat mreze. Pri tome pazite da ivice tijesta ne prorezete!
Na citavi dio tijesta nanesite po malo gustog dzema, pa preklopite sa narezanom polovicom. Krajeve pritisnite prstima.
Pecite na 200*c 10-ak minuta.
Pospite secerom u prahu i uzivajte!
Posluživanje
Ovakva brzinska peciva mozete puniti guscim pudingom, Nutelom…
Najbolje ih je konzumirati dok su jos topli.

Beef & Kumara Pie, Country Style

From "The Australian Women's Weekly".
It takes long time to cook it, but it's soo worth it.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
50 g butter
1/4 cup water
1 egg, beaten
2 sheets puff pastry
Filling:
700 g Kumara (sweet potato)
1 kg chuck steak, diced
1/4 cup oil
2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup fresh oregano
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 cup red wine, dry
3 cups beef stock

Method:
First make filling, as it takes long to cook -Dice kumara and bake in an oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, dice meat and brown it in an oiled pan. Remove meat aside, then cook onions, garlic and oregano. Add flour, cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat, add other ingredients and meat, stir. Return to heat and cook for 1 hour. Cool and add kumara. Filling is ready.
Make dough, roll out and line a 22 cm flan tin. Blind bake 15 minutes with beans or rice, then remove weight and bake for another 10 min. Spoon filling into pastry case. Place one sheet of puff pastry on top, press edges and cut around. Make strips from other sheet of pasty and place them on top, making lattice shape. Brush with egg, and bake for 30 minutes.


Govedina i slatki krompir u tijestu, Seoski nacin

Potrebno:
1 1/4 solja brasna
50 gr putera
1/4 solje vode
1 jaje
2 lista lisnatog tijesta
Punjenje:
700 gr slatkog (narandzastog)krompira
1 kg govedine za dinstanje
1/4 solje ulja
2 srednja crvena luka
4 cena bijelog luka
1/3 solje svjezeg origana
1/2 solje brasna
1/3 solje gustog paradajz pirea
1 solja suhog crvenog vina
3 solje govedje supe

Nacin:
Najprije naprevite punjenje- Izrezite krompir na kocke i pecite ga u rerni 20 minuta.
Zagrijte tavu, nauljite pa proprzite sjeceno meso. Izvadite meso, pa na istu tavu dodajte luk, bijeli luk i origano, proprzite. Dodajte brasno, promijesajte dok ne dobije boju. Dodajte ostale sastojke i meso i kuhajte 1 sat. Prohladite i umijesajte krompir.
Umijesite tijesto, oblozite sa njim posudu za tortu velicine 22cm u precniku. Odrezite visak, pa pecite pritisnuto grahom (preko papira)15 minuta, izbacite grah pa pecite jos 10 minuta. Ubacite punjenje i poklopite sa lisnatim tijestom. Pritisnite prstima krajeve i odrezite visak. Od drugog lista napravite trake, koje cete poloziti preko prvog lista ukrsteno, premazite jajetom i pecite 30 minuta.

Punjenje se moze napraviti dan ranije.

Apple and Poppy Seed Galette

From Eric Kayser's book 'New French recipes'.
I was slightly disappointed with this, as pictures in his book show a lot more of apple/poppy seed filing. Next time I will double the apple/poppy seed mixture!

Ingredients:
3 green apples
65 g poppy seeds
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 sheets of puff pastry (250g)
Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan, add poppy seeds and fry them a minute. Add sugar and peeled and cored apples. Cover and cook for for 15 min.
Preheat the oven to 190*C.
Prepare a baking tray, cover with baking paper.
Cut 2 circles out of puff pastry (in original recipe it was 30 cm diameter; I did 25 cm). Place one circle on a tray, brush edges with a beaten egg. Spoon apple/poppy seeds mixture, and cover with another circle of puff pastry (make incisions in the top pastry half way trough). Press the edges, and brush with the egg.
Bake for 30 minutes.



Jabuke i mak u lisnatom tijestu

Napominjem da je ovo originalan recept; sljedeci put cu definitivno staviti duplu mjeru fila!

Potrebno:
3 zelene jabuke, oguljene i isjeckane
65 gr maka
2 kasike putera
1/2 solje (110gr) braon secera
1 jaje
2 lista lisnatog tijesta

Metod:
Proprziti mak na puteru, dodati secer i jabuke, poklopiti i dinstati 15 min.
Ukljuciti rernu na 190*C. Pripremiti pleh, obloziti papirom.
Izrezati 2 kruga u lisnatom tijestu (30cm po originalnom, 25 cm po mom nacinu).
Staviti jedan krug na pleh, krajeve premazati umucenim jajetom. Istresti fil, ostaviti 1cm bez fila oko ruba. Poklopiti sa drugim krugom tijesta, koje ste prethodno 'izrezbarili' za efekat. Pritisnuti krajeve prstima da se slijepe.
Premazati jajetom i peci 30 min.