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chicken

Danish Braid – I’m no longer afraid!

June 29, 2008

Such a corny title. But so apt.

Pastry has always intimidated me. I always thought that only pro-bakers or high end machinery could give some good pastry dough. Luckily for me; this myth was shattered after I made a Danish Braid for this month’s Daring Baker challenge.

This month’s challenge I hosted by Ben of What’s Cookin’? and Kelly of Sass and Veracity. I love the challenge they picked because it left a lot of room for creativity. We were free to fill the Danish Braid with anything we wanted. This way I made one sweet and the other savory.

This recipe is from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking. This video on YouTube is an informative watch.

DANISH DOUGH
(Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough)

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used very little since I’m not too fond of it)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with
your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

FILLINGS
SWEET: Apple
2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
juice of half a lime
1 tablespoon butter

Toss all ingredients into a pan and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Let it cool completely before using as a filling.

SAVORY: Cheesy Chicken
2 chicken Frankfurters
100g cream cheese
Cracked black pepper
1tsp garlic powder
2 piri piri chillies
Salt

DANISH BRAID
(Makes enough for 2 large braids)

What’s required:
1 recipe Danish Dough
Filling of your choice

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid. I then sprinkled some granulated sugar on the apple danish and some toasted black sesame on the chicken danish.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

{ 40 comments }

Mughal Flavours: Mutton Biryani

January 10, 2008

10 days into the month and finally a post! I know I’m very late, but wish you all a wonderful New Year ahead!

A few days ago, I made mutton biryani. I followed the recipe that I’d learnt from a chef at the Dumphukth Restaurant at the ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton. I made certain additions to it, like adding more spices (always a good thing). Also, the biryani can be made of mutton, beef or chicken. Pick your favourite. It takes a while to prepare it all at one go, so what I usually do is keep the birasta ready, or better still marinate it the night before (this is what I do when I have to rush to office the next day).

Here is my version of the recipe:

Mutton Biryani

Ingredients:
1 kg Boneless mutton
5 medium potatoes cut into 4 and deep fried till partially cooked.
3 tomatoes, diced

Marinade:
1½ cups yoghurt
1 cup birasta (browned onions – read ahead for the method of browning)
¼ cup oil
2 tsps Garam Masala powder
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
3 black cardamoms
3 star anise
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
2-4 bay leaves
1 cup coriander/parlsey leaves (chopped)
1 cup mint leaves (chopped)
10 slit green chillies (or to taste)
3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste

For the Rice:
1 kg Basmati rice
1/4^th tsp saffron, dry roasted for a few seconds and then dissolved in a little milk
Few drops of rose water
Few drops of kewra water (screwpine essence) – they add to the fragrance of the Basmati rice, but it’s okay if you don’t have it.
Salt to taste
½ cup ghee (clarified butter)
A few table spoons of the mint and parsley mixture as well as some browned onions.

Browning onions:
Using a mandolin slice about 6 medium onions (these will reduce after frying). Salt it and let it stand for a few minutes. Squeeze out the excess water. Deep fry until the colour is that of almonds. Be very careful, you might be tempted to fry it for a few seconds more, but don’t! They will continue to cook and become dark, even after they’re out of the fryer. This is called a birasta. This tastes wonderful when made properly. A little extra time, and you’ve got yourself burnt onions and a little less time will give you a lumpy mass instead of separate strands. I tend to much on them while I’m cooking so I always make a little extra.

Cooking the biryani:

Prepare a marinade with all the ingredients and marinate the mutton for at least 1 hour.
Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.
Boil water and add rice to it. Add salt, rose water and screwpine essence.
Place marinated mutton in a thick bottomed pan, add the tomatoes and potatoes and cook for about 15-20 minutes (if you’re using chicken, you don’t need to cook it at this stage).
Cook rice till it is 70% done. Strain and while it’s still steaming, spoon layers of rice over the mutton and sprinkle with mint, coriander and browned onions and saffron milk between the layers.
Pour the melted ghee over it evenly.
Cover this with a lid and place some heavy weight on it so that no steam can escape.
Let it cook for about an hour.
Garnish with fresh coriander, mint, fried cashews and birasta.

Raita

2 cups yoghurt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
A handful of chopped coriander

Mix all the above ingredients together and keep it refrigerated.
Serve steaming hot biryani with the cold raita.

22nd Feb, ’08 edit: I added black cardamom and star anise this time to the recipe, and it made it so much more fragrant!

{ 11 comments }

7 Experiments

December 31, 2007

Yes I managed to complete my December POA. Most dishes turned out to be brilliant, some mediocre and some (just one actually) simply appalling. I made some in beginning of the month (chocolate chunk cookies, chicken quesadillas, Lasagna) and rest of them were last minute. Some were a breeze to make and required simple assembling of ingredients, while some required a mix of a dozen spices and other ingredients. I followed some recipes to the T, some were made on the whim and some were modified depending on availability of ingredients and taste. Here is an account of each of them (sit back, you’re going to be here a while!)

Focaccia:

This is my favourite. I always like baking Focaccia. I put a lot of toppings on this and this turned out to be a meal in itself. I used the recipe from Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads for reference.

Ingredients:

500g strong white flour
15g active dry yeast
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
300 ml water
Olive oil
Sprigs of rosemary water

Toppings: Black olives, rosemary sprigs, thinly sliced tomatoes, deep fried garlic, onion rings, rock salt and mozzarella cheese.

Soak the yeast in warm water with a little sugar for 10 minutes (till it has become frothy).
Form dough with flour, water and olive oil and yeast. (I deliberately did not add salt to this as salt reduces the efficacy of yeast. Instead sprinkle rock salt generously before baking).
Let it rise for 1 hour. Place flattened dough on the baking sheet and let it rise for another hour.
Make indentations on the surface with the finger.
Brush with olive oil (I love my new silicone brush for this. It does the job and is so easy to clean. I’d recommend this instead of using the fibrous type).
Ok back to the focaccia – Put all the toppings except the cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes. Just when it looks almost done top it with the cheese and bake till it has melted.
Have it warm with a generous amount of butter!

Chocolate Chunk cookies:

I chose to make the thick and gooey chocolate chip cookies These were a lot of fun to bake. I must admit, I tweaked the recipe a bit, but the results were marvellous nonetheless (No major modifications, I halved the recipe and cut down on the chocolate).

The sad part was that one batch of cookies slipped from my hand and crumbled on the floor leaving me with only half the amount to enjoy.

I think it’s appropriate to say that my new year’s resolution is going to be to work on my photography.

Lasagna

I got the time to make an entire post on it earlier this month. You can check it out here

Chicken Quesadillas:

The mix of colours of the filing made it look very visually appealing.

For the flour tortillas, you can check out a step by step guide at La Gringa’s Blogicito However, that’s not the exactly the method I followed. I made my tortillas in a more local fashion (like making rotis) that you can understand about here.

Salsa:
2 big tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion
1 green chilli finely chopped
Juice of half a lime
Chopped coriander

Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate for the flavours to meld till the quesadillas are ready.

Filling:
Grated Monterey Jack/Cheddar cheese
Diced boneless chicken (marinated for an hour with garlic, olive oil and salt and then pan fried)
Sliced black olives
Jalapeños
Strips of yellow and red pepper
Oregano and salt for seasoning
Cherry tomatoes, halved

After filling the tortillas, heat oil in a pan and toast it. Serve it with the salsa.

Other things that could be added: kidney beans, corn.

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Jerk Chicken:

This was modified to quite an extent. Not the ingredients, but the cooking method. I needed to make this real quick, so didn’t have the time to roast it in the oven for 50 minutes. Instead, I pan fried it.

I used the recipe from Bon Appetit.

The vinegar made it a little too tart, but the chicken turned out to be very soft and moist.

Modifications made:

Used boneless chicken
Omitted the rum
Used a Scotch bonnet chilli sauce instead of the chillies, due to lack of availability.

Chocolate Chip Sponge:

By far the richest sponge I’ve made. And I didn’t use tiny choc chips but huge chocolate chunks.

I used the same recipe like every time, only difference being that instead of the sugar, I added the leftover mixture of icing sugar and almonds from the Yule Log challenge. This is what made the cake so rich; and of course, a generous amount of buttah! You can check the recipe here.

Fruit Ham Sandwich:

I feel I’m missing something here. I just don’t see how fruit with meat is a likeable mix. Even at the Christmas Brunch there was the traditional Roast Turkey served with assorted fruit sauces (apple, cranberry). I found it to be quite unpalatable. I guess it’s probably not acceptable to the heavily seasoned Indian palate. I enjoyed the turkey just by itself.

Inspired by Sticky Creamy Gooey Chewy I made the sandwich with the following:

Sliced cheddar
Thinly sliced apple
Chicken Ham
Apple preserve
Honey mustard

I couldn’t even finish my sandwich. But I’m glad I tried it.

{ 6 comments }

Soft, Juicy and Tender

November 24, 2007

Chicken breasts have been deemed to be very healthy by nutritionists. They are high in protein and low in calories. But what’s good for you, isn’t good for the grill! I have tried various cooking methods and marinates to get the chicken just right but despite all my attempts I didn’t always achieve the succulent and juicy flavours that I get when I eat at the local diner. In my attempt to find out perfect way of tenderising the meat I learned some valuable tips:

Chicken quality varies. You have got to find a good vendor.
Over cooking chicken dries it out, making it absolutely insipid. Cooking the chicken till the internal temperature is 75 C yields a moist chicken.
Cooking the meat with the bones gives it more flavour, as the moisture is retained.
Marinating it for a couple of hours always helps. Using a yoghurt base is a fool proof method (No wonder the Mughlai chicken is always so tender).
Chicken should not be boiled, only simmered.
Pound the chicken to an even thickness tenderises it, as well as makes it cook evenly.
Ginger is an excellent tenderiser. It has an enzyme that breaks away the tough protein. Be careful not to add too much, else the meat will get mushy.
Brining too is a good way to tenderise. But this should not be overdone, or the chicken will be too salty to the taste.

Just the other day I bought a couple of boneless chicken breasts to put my tenderiser to the test (I usually avoid the breast meat). The marinade consisted of garlic, Italian seasoning and salt. I then pounded it with the tenderiser and let it sit overnight.

This turned out to be more of a fusion experiment since I hadn’t decided how I’d be cooking it. The next morning I felt like making something that wouldn’t consume too much time. The quickest thing I thought would be to use Thai curry pastes that I had bought a while ago. (As much as I cringe about using ready pastes, I thought I’d give this new entrant in the market a try.) The curry turned out to be just okay and this only reinforced my faith in using fresh ingredients. But forget that, the point here is the chicken! Every piece of chicken was so tender! I was so proud!

{ 7 comments }

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