Apple Cinnamon Rolls

I remember when I was younger and we took family trips to the mall.  There were some days when we would order a large cinnamon roll from Cinnabon and go home and share it between four people.  Now, when I walk past Cinnabon in a mall food court, I must admit that the smell does tempt me but when I think about all the calories packed into one small dessert, I manage to resist.

However, I came across this recipe on a blog, I could caved in to my Cinnabon craving!  This roll seemed like the prefect combination of sweet without too many calories. Since I always have a supply of puff pastry in my freezer, I made these the very next morning for breakfast.  With the baked apple in the middle they are almost like a mix of an apple pie and a cinnamon roll.  Seriously, it was the perfect breakfast.  I want to make them again and share...so I don't end up eating all of them on my own!

Adapted from the Food Coma.

Makes 9 rolls

1 sheet of puff pastry
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into thin, long pieces
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Thaw out your puff pastry ahead of time, in the refrigerator. 

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Melt the butter in a bowl and use a pastry brush to coat the unfolded sheet of puff pastry.

3.  In a small bowl combine half of the powdered sugar and the cinnamon.  Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the puff pastry.

4.  Place the apple slices at one end and roll up the puff pastry into a log shape.  Cut into one inch thick pieces and place on a baking sheet.

5.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the dough is golden brown.

6.  Make a glaze for the rolls by mixing together the remaining melted butter with the remaining powdered sugar.  Pour over the rolls when they first come out of the oven and serve warm.

Enjoy!

~Rona

Mushroom Bites

I probably spent the majority of the weekend cooking...which I expected.  But in the end, we were able to have a fun party and celebrate my boyfriend's birthday as he deserved.

Of course the weekend was not without problems.  There were some unexpected transportation difficulties which almost made our apartment unreachable.  We were sitting around wondering why our friends were all so late!  Luckily most of them arrived after a tiring train ride (thank you, path) and for those that didn't, we got to see them the following day!  We are luck to have great friends who are willing to come to visit us!

I experimented with several new ideas this weekend.  The first is this mushroom puff, I found the idea online and then I made my own version of the recipe.  I actually made these twice since they were so good!  By combining soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and honey the mushrooms end up tasting salty and sweet at the same time which I love!  Also, I added heavy cream and egg yellow to the mushroom mixture to give it a slightly heavier consistency.  I really had fun making these pastries, I love the shape of them and I think they make a perfect appetizer.  The only tricky part is to drain as much excess liquid as possible.  When I was putting the mixture on top of the dough, the liquid started to get on the dough and I had to soak it up with paper towels.  I think it is inevitable that there will be excess liquid but it evaporates entirely while baking and the pastry doesn't taste soggy at all!  

This is another great puff pastry recipe!  I love how quick these pastries are to make once you get the hang of working with the dough! 

1 box of puff pastry dough
1 small carton of mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
about 1/8 cup of heavy cream
1 egg, separated

1.  In a medium sized frying pan, heat the olive oil.  Cook the mushrooms and yellow onion on low heat for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms soften.

2.  Add the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and honey and cook for another 5-10 minutes to let the liquid evaporate.

3.  Drain as much liquid as possible from the pan and transfer the mushroom mixture to a small mixing bowl.  Combine with the whipping cream and the egg white and let cool.

4.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper.

5.  Unfold the puff pastry dough and cut into roughly square shapes.  2 sheets of dough yielded 18 pieces for me.

6.  Again drain as much liquid as possible from the mushroom mixture.  Put about 1 teaspoon worth of mushrooms in the center of the dough.

7.  Fold 2 corners of the dough together and press them to keep it closed.  Fold the other 2 corners to the center and press the dough together.

8.  Coat the top of the pastry with the egg yellow.

9.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Enjoy!

~Rona

Samsa: Uzbek meat pastries

Samsa is a food that comes from Uzbekistan.  It is a dough pastry filled with meat and is commonly prepared with ground lamb.  In the US, at least on the East Coast, ground lamb can be hard to find and when it is found, it is usually expensive.  I instead use ground beef or possibly a mixture of ground beef and ground lamb.  It is flavored with cumin and I like to use a lot of it, both as ground cumin and cumin seeds. 

These little guys are so delicious.  I love to take one or two with me for lunch with some vegetables.  I just like to make sure that there microwave around to heat them up, they are better warm.  Yes, I am using puff pastry again.  I find it to be so versatile and really easy to use for different ethnic dishes, as well as appetizers, main dishes, and desserts.  And it is easy to work with!

Ingredients
1/2 pound of ground meat (Use ground beef, ground lamb, or a mixture)
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 sheets of Pepperridge Farm puff pastry dough
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon olive oil

1.  In a medium frying pan, cook the onion and garlic with 1 tablespoon of olive oil on low heat until the onion is soft.

2.  Add the ground meat to the frying pan, and cook the meat until browned.  It is okay if the meat is still a little red since it will also be baked.   To the meat, add the coriander, salt, ground cumin, and rub the cumin seeds between your fingers.

3.  Let the meat cool for about 20 minutes before forming the pastry, otherwise the puff pastry dough will not hold.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

To form the pastries:

4.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.  Separate one sheet of the puff pastry into 6 equally sized pieces.  The other 1/3 sheet of dough should be cut in half.

5.  Divide the meat into 8 portions.  Put one portion of the meat onto half of the piece of puff pastry.

6.  Fold the dough in half and push the ends of the dough together to close the pastry.

7.   Mix the egg yolk with a few drops of water in a bowl.  Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the pastry with egg.

8.  Cook for about 25-30 minutes until the dough is brown. Let cool and then serve warm.

Enjoy!

~Rona

Spinach Cheese Rolls

I tend to cook with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough really often.  Any time I host a dinner party or my family has guests over, I make these pastries.  Seriously, they are really easy to make, I have not met a person who didn't liked them, and I have given out the recipe for these many times!  I highly recommend making them!

However, after making the same recipe so many times, I started to think about alternatives and luckily found one right on the puff pastry box.  These spinach cheese rolls are also really good, and they are easy to modify to your taste: you can add less spinach and more cheese.  Also, depending on the cheese that I have in my fridge, I choose from a variety of parmesan, mozzerella, cheddar, or anything else!  And if you like food with more of a kick, you can add extra pepper and make them taste a little spicy.

Spinach Cheese Rolls
Adapted from Pepperidge Farm's puff pastry recipe
Makes about 18

2 sheets of puff pasty, leave at room temperature for about 30 minutes before beginning
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked in boiling water and drained
1 cup feta Cheese
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 egg yellow
Additional shredded cheeses (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Work with one sheet of pastry at a time and carefully unfold them so that the dough is flat.  If it is still frozen, the sheet may separate into 3 pieces, so it is better to wait until the dough softens.

2.  In a bowl mix the spinach, cheese, green onion, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and any additional cheese that you want.

3.  Spread the cheese and spinach mixture evenly over both sheets of puff pasty.  Roll the sheets and press down the dough at the end to seal it.

4.  Cut the roll of dough into about 9 pieces of equal size and lay them on the baking tray. Using a pastry brush, rub the sides of the rolls with egg yolk.

5.  Cook for about 30 minutes or until the sides of the rolls begin to brown.

Enjoy!
~Rona