Nutella Bear Claws (made with Puff Pastry)

I saw the recipe for these Bear claws in Food Network magazine and they looked so tempting that I made them yesterday. The original recipe used Cookie butter (or Speculoos), but I used Nutella because my kids like it.

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Curry Puffs/ Veg Puffs (made with Puff Pastry)

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Movie Night Snacks

Dish: Curry Puffs/ Veg Puffs

Curry puffs or veg puffs used to be my favorite bakery item during school and college days. Egg puff was also ordered very frequently. After coming to the US, I learnt that they can be easily made at home using frozen puff pastry.

So for Day 2 of 'Movie night snacks', I made us some curry puffs and served them with good old ketchup :-) We watched a movie too while eating the snack, but now I don't remember the name of the movie. I used to have real good memory and knowledge of films when I was in India. But now, all the movies seem the same and I get confused between the actors. Also we've lost patience and interest in watching the long Indian movies. So most of the movie, read songs and fights, are seen in fast forward.

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Homemade Palmiers

BM# 51 -- Baking Marathon: Day 24

Bake of the Day: Palmiers

We are slowing inching towards to the end of this marathon. Can't believe that we have been baking non-stop for the whole month of April -- it almost makes me sad that we won't be having this much fun baking, posting and enjoying each other's posts.
Today's bake, Palmiers, are so easy to make if you have store bought puff pastry sheets. I have seen quite a few recipes online to make quick puff pastry at home -- like this one by Gayathri. But I can't dare to make it at home, it seems to be a lot of work AND lot of butter. I guess I'm OK with the store bought puff pastry sheets that have same quantity of butter and even more other unnecessary ingredients.

Palmier (palm tree in French) or elephant ear is a heart shaped French pastry made in heart shape or palm shape. They are like the 'little hearts' we get in India. Costco sells a big box of them and I'm always tempted to pick them up, but knowing that they are very simple to make, I always end up not buying.

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Tomato & Cheese Tart

Why does summer go so fast and winter seems to linger foreveeeeer??? But I’m not complaining, I like fall (and even spring), get to see the gorgeous changing colors. I hope we can take some time and visit some scenic place with beautiful fall colors. Are you reading this Mr. H??

Anyway coming to the recipe, I watched Ina Garten make it on FoodTv in the afternoon and I made it for our evening snack that same day. This is probably the first time ever that I made a recipe so quick after watching the show. The only change I made was the type of cheeses used, Ina used parmesan & feta; I used asiago & mozzarella. For the original recipe, click here.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s Back to Basics
Ingredients (makes 4 5” tarts):
Puff pastry sheet – 1, thawed according to pkg instructions
Onion – 1 large, thinly sliced
Garlic – 2-3 cloves
Thyme, fresh – 1 tsp
Tomato – 1 medium, cut into thick slices
Asiago cheese – ¼ cup, grated
Mozzarella cheese – 2 tbsp, grated
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
  
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a skillet; add onions and garlic and sauté on medium flame until lightly caramelized.
  
• Add thyme, salt and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  
• In the meantime, open the puff pastry on lighly floured surface and roll it into 11”x11” square (approximately). Using a 5” round plate (I used a small steel plate) as your reference, cut the pastry into 4 circles with a sharp knife. Place the circles on a parchment covered baking sheet; then score a ¼” border around each pastry circle, this will create the slightly raised edge to the tart once baked.
  
• Prick the pastry inside the scored line with a fork and sprinkle 1tbsp asiago cheese in the inner circle.
  
• Place ¼ of the onion mixture in the center (inner circle), sprinkle mozzarella cheese and place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Sprinkle the tomato with salt and pepper. Finally using a peeler, make big shards of asiago cheese on top of the tomato.
  
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.