Strawberry Danish Pastry

I know. This Daring Baker's Challenge was a long time ago, but better late than never, right? I saw this recipe on thedaringkitchen.com few months back and just got around to it. The pastry is definitely worth the time and trouble of making. Don't get discouraged by the length of the recipe. It really isn't too difficult and is so worth it in the end. My husband requested I make it again with a sweetened cream cheese and strawberry jam filling. We both liked it more. I think the cream cheese filling also prevented the jam from leaking out of the pastry dough prior to baking.


The recipe below makes enough dough, filling, and glaze for 2 pastries. Keep in mind I substituted a scant mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves for the cardamom, given it costs close to $15 a jar.  Yeah, way too many pennies to spend for one spice, and the pastry turned out delicious with the substitution anyway.  I also used vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean which was nearly $20 for a jar with 2 beans inside.  The cardamom and vanilla bean probably give the pastry dough a more intense vanilla and cardamom flavor, but I just saved myself $35 dollars by substituting those items for things I had on hand; and like I said, the pastry was delicious in every way.   


Danish Dough:
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean split and scraped
2 large eggs
1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
3 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt


Butter block: 1 cup cold, unsalted butter mixed with 1/4 cup flour


Combine yeast and milk in a large mixing bowl that has been fitted with a mixing attachment. Mix on low speed and slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Once ingredients are mixed thoroughly, remove the mixing attachment and install the dough hook to the mixer. Sift salt and flour together, and add to wet ingredients 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium until thoroughly mixed and dough is smooth. You may need to add more flour if the pastry dough sticks to the sides of the bowl. Add flour, a little at a time, until the dough clings to the dough hook. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.


Butter block: Mix butter and flour on medium speed for about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for another minute or until smooth. Set aside, allowing mixture to almost reach room temperature.


Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a rectangle about 18x13 inches, 1/4 inch thick. If the dough is sticky, dust it with flour. Spread the butter block evenly over the center and right third of the dough. Fold the left (unbuttered) third onto the center and the right third on top. This marks the first of four "turns." Return the dough to the baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.


Put dough on a lightly floured surface, with the open ends to your right and left (like a 8.5x11 piece of paper turned horizontally). Roll the dough into another 18x13 inch rectangle. Fold the left third over the center, and the right on top. Keep in mind the entire butter block was used in the first turn, so no butter will be added for the remaining turns. Return the dough to the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. This completes the second turn.


Continue rolling out, folding, refrigerating until you have completed 4 turns. After the final turn, refrigerate the dough at least 5 hours, overnight if possible. After the final refrigeration, the Danish dough is ready. Remember you have enough for 2 braids, so you can either use both now, or use one and freeze the other.


Filling (for 2 pastries):
3 cups strawberry freezer jam
2 large egg whites, beaten for egg wash


Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Roll the Danish dough into a 15x20 inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick. If the dough seems to shrink back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes and try again. The closer the dough is to room temperature, the less elastic it will be. Place the dough on the baking sheet. Using a pastry wheel or a knife, cut the dough on one of the long edges in parallel 1 inch wide, 5 inch long strips. Repeat on the other side, making sure to align strips with each other. Spoon the strawberry filling down the center of the dough.


Starting with the bottom, fold the center pieces of dough over the filling. Now fold the cut strips of dough over the filling, right over left in a braided fashion. Trim and extra dough and tuck the edges underneath. Whisk the egg and brush lightly on top of pastry. Sray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap and use it to cover the pastry.


Proof at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then turn the baking sheet 180 degrees so the pastry is evenly baked. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Drizzle the top of the pastry with glaze and serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!


Orange Vanilla Glaze (for 2 pastries):
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk or orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange, finely chopped


Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth.

Printable version of Strawberry Danish Pastry

Banana Bread

I had really, really ripe bananas this morning and decided to make banana bread. My mom's recipe is my favorite, but I adapted it a little today. I put two batter filled loaf pans in the oven to bake this morning before the babe woke up. Let me tell you, the smell banana bread baking in the oven first thing in the best!

4 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups mashed bananas (about 7 ripe bananas)

4 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl, set aside. Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl. I have a kitchenaid, so I just put the bananas in the bowl and mixed them with the flat paddle attachment until they were mashed. Stir in eggs, sugars, spices, butter and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well. If desired add walnuts and stir. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Printable version of Banana Bread

Beef Pulkogi (Korean Barbecued Beef)

Pulkogi is marinated beef or pork that is grilled, served with steamed rice and wrapped in Romaine lettuce leaves.  My husband lived in Korea for two years so every now and then he gets a craving for Korean food.  He received this recipe from a friend in Korea.

I purchased a beef roast and had the butcher cut it as thinly as he could. When I brought the meat home I trimmed the fat off and combined the meat and marinade. I divided the meat among 5 ziplock bags and froze them to prepare later. I actually forgot about them for several weeks. When realized the meat was in the freezer, I thawed one bag in the refrigerator and had my husband cook it on the grill. It was good, but not as good as the bag we tried a few weeks later. Each time we thawed and cooked a new bag of pulkogi we found the meat absorbed the marinade more and more, making it really flavorful and tender. The photograph above is pulkogi we made from the last bag. Hands down it was the best we have ever made. All the liquid from the marinade seeped into the meat, leaving no marinade to discard once the meat was placed on the grill. It was so tender and flavorful. We will definitely do this again.

I also found a recipe for spicy cucumber salad at for the love of cooking.  As a side note, every recipe I've made from said website is so good!  I've been in search of a spicy vegetable to pair with the sweet pulkogi; these two items were really good together.  Thanks for the salad recipe, Pam!

Pulkogi

3-4 pounds beef roast, filleted

1 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon Accent (I omitted this)

1 teaspoon pepper

5 green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 piece ginger, diced

1 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Trim beef of fat and cut into 3-4 inch pieces. Put meat in a mixing bowl, sprinkle sugar over top and stir until beef is coated in sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Combine Accent (if using), pepper, onions, garlic, ginger and soy sauce in a small mixing bowl. Turn broiler on high, put sesame seeds on a baking sheet and pour oil on top. Make sure all seeds are covered in oil. Put baking sheet in the oven and broil until seeds are golden brown. Add sesame seeds to soy sauce mixture. Pour mixture over beef and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Grill to desired doneness. You can also cook the meat under the broiler. To broil, spray tin foil generously with nonstick cooking spray and use the foil to line a baking sheet. Put the meat on the cookie sheet and place under the broiler. Cook to desired doneness, turning once or twice. The broiling method takes about twice as long. Enjoy!

Printable version of Beef Pulkogi

Taco Salad

I love, love, LOVE salad, and fortunately my husband does, too. Said husband brought a lovely box full of Roma tomatoes and Anaheim peppers home from work yesterday. A guy he works with has a great big garden and shared. Thank you! I must say garden fresh vegetables are the best, so all of you with gardens, I am pretty envious right now. I suppose I could dig up the bushes outside the house and garden away, but I'm pretty sure my Nazi homeowner's association would march the plants into oblivion and slap me in the face with a hefty fine. So until I can plan an uprising, no garden for me. Selling the place would work, too, I guess. Maybe I'll just plant a nice kiss of gratitude on husband's harvest-sharing colleague. The tomatoes and peppers were delicious!

On to the recipe. I'm not a fan of taco seasoning. At all. So I didn't use any to season the ground beef. Instead, I sauteed some onion, Anaheim pepper and garlic in a little olive oil and added it along with some salt, pepper and cilatro to the ground beef. It had a nice flavor; could have used a little chili powder and a dash of cumin, but all in all the meat was good. The ingredients and directions are below. Enjoy!

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 white onion, diced

1 Anaheim pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 pound ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

1 can black beans, drained

1 head romaine lettuce, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 cucumber, sliced

Shredded cheddar cheese

Lime wedges

Tortilla chips

*Salad dressing--I used tomatillo ranch, recipe below

Meat and beans preparation: Pour olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and pepper and saute several minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add crushed garlic and stir constantly for 60 second. Add ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until brown. Taste and reseason meat if needed. Add cilantro, stir, turn heat to low, and cover until serving. Cook beans according to package directions and keep warm until serving.

Salad preparation: Toss salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl. I like to shred lettuce into the bowl and put the other vegetables on top, tossing very lightly once everything is added. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Tortilla chip preparation: I made my own chips, but packged tortilla chips are just as good. If you want to make your own chips read on, otherwise skip to the salad dressing recipe below.

Move one oven rack to top position and turn broiler on high. Spray a cooking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. I put corn tortillas on a cutting board and used a sharp knife to cut them into strips approximately 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long; a pizza cutter would work well for this, too. Place the tortilla strips on the baking sheet and spray them lightly with cooking spray. Salt the tortilla strips if desired and put the baking sheet under the broiler. Broil for 5-7 minutes and then turn them. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

*Tomatillo Ranch Salad Dressing

1 jalepeno (remove seeds for milder dressing)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tomatillo, chopped

1 handful cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup milk

1 package ranch dressing powder (I used Hidden Valley)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

Put all but the last two ingredients in the blender and mix until pureed. Whisk in mayonnaise and sour cream. Chill until ready to serve. Dressing lasts up to one week covered in the refrigerator.

To serve: Layer tortilla chips, ground beef, black beans, shredded cheese, and salad on a plate. Drizzle with dressing and garnish with lime wedges, cilantro, and a few more chips.

Taco Salad