I don't know why we only use puff pastry around the holidays. It's such an easy and wonderful thing. Throw a square on top of a pot pie, and now it's elegant. Wrap it around a little sausage and you've got yourself a pig-in-a-blanket that speaks with an accent.
In France, puff pastry, or pâte feuilletée, is one of the most basic of pastry doughs, and it's always in season, available at the grocery store in the refrigerated section, pre-made, rolled out in a circle, ready to be placed right into your tart pan.
Thankfully, puff pastry is widely available in most grocery stores' frozen food section here in Dallas and around the U.S. But read the box carefully: You'll want the all-butter kind (Trader Joe's makes a terrific one). Otherwise, don't bother. The butter between the layers is what makes puff pastry so delicious.
Try the 'rough puff'
If you want to make it at home, it's not as hard as you'd think, thanks to a "rough puff" recipe that allows you to skip the usual hours of refrigeration between making each of several turns. I made rough puff for the first time over the summer and couldn't believe how easy it was. Could I just skip all of those steps, all of that waiting, and have something that mimicked the real thing? Yep.
Made only of flour, butter, salt and water, puff pastry is like our pie dough: Everything must be measured precisely and kept super-cold, but it's assembled differently. Its magic is in the execution. Layers, crisp and elegant, are the result of making it either the old school way, with several turns and cooldowns in the fridge, or the quick-and-easy rough puff way. After I made the rough puff a time or two, I was convinced. I'll take quick and easy every time.
I used both store-bought puff pastry and the rough puff in these recipes. You can use either dough for any of these, but give the rough puff a try, then you can make it when the store-bought puff pastry disappears.
Rough Puff Pastry
5 ounces (140 grams) European butter, such as Kerrygold
4.4 ounces (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2.1 ounces (60 grams) water (weigh this, too)
Grate your fridge-cold butter with a cheese grater and gently put it in a piece of plastic wrap, then into the freezer. I know this sounds weird, but it helps keep the pastry super-cold when you're rolling it out later. Put the flour and salt in the freezer, too.
Measure the water and put this in a jar in the fridge to keep it cold.
Make the pastry: Put the cold flour and salt in a bowl. Add the grated butter from the freezer. Using two knives, slice through the butter until you have small grated pieces throughout.
Make a well in the center. Pour in the water. Using your knives, bring it all together, cutting and mixing, until the dough starts to come together.
Dump this out onto a very lightly floured board. Knead it a few times so it comes together.
Now, working quickly, assuming that it is still very cold, go for your turns. Roll out the dough into a 10-inch-long rectangle, fold the top inward, toward you. Brush off any excess flour. (This is very important, because any additional flour will make the dough tough.) Now, fold the bottom up and over the layer that you just folded. Brush off the flour. Turn it to the right one-quarter, so it looks like a book.
Roll it out again, until you reach 10 inches long. Try to keep your rectangle as neat as possible as you do this, evening up the sides as you go. Repeat the folds, top-down, brush off, then bottom, folding up, brushing off. That's two turns. If your dough is getting warm, put it into the fridge to rest and cool off; otherwise, keep going for 2 to 3 more turns.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to roll it out. You may also freeze it in a plastic freezer bag. Be sure and let it thaw in the fridge for a day before you roll it out.
Makes enough for 1 tart or 2 dozen palmiers.
SOURCE: Adapted from recipes by Clotilde Dusoulier and Lucy Vanel
Palmiers
1 recipe Rough Puff Pastry or 1 sheet of store-bought puff pastry
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, such as demerara
Roll out the pastry to a rectangle that's 10 to 12 inches long by 6 inches wide. You're going for a fairly uniform shape, and a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Sprinkle the sugar evenly on the pastry and, with your rolling pin, press it into the dough.
Now make your curls on each end: Roll the dough halfway to the center from each side until it meets in the middle. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes or so to firm up so it's easier to slice.
Using a serrated knife, slice the dough into 1/4-inch pieces. Lay them on a parchment- or Silpat-lined cookie sheet. Return to the fridge for another half-hour to firm up and keep their shape when baking. I like to gently press the palmiers down to flatten them. I just use my fingers.
Heat oven to 425 F.
Bake the palmiers for 16 to 20 minutes or until browned. Let cool before eating. These are best the day they're made, but they also keep very well in the freezer. Because there's so much butter in them, they can be eaten right from the freezer.
Makes 2 dozen.
Puff Pastry Squares with Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes
4 ounces goat cheese
8 sundried tomatoes in oil
1 teaspoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 sheet Rough Puff Pastry
1 egg
Put the goat cheese, tomatoes, cream and thyme leaves in a food processor. Pulse until creamy. Taste for seasonings and set aside.
Unroll the thawed sheet of puff pastry and place it on a lightly floured board. Using a rolling pin, press out any curls around the edges so it's flat and even. Use a ruler and slice into 2-inch squares. Trim the excess. Put half of the puff pastry squares in the fridge to stay cool.
Put the squares on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place 1 teaspoon of the goat cheese-tomato mixture in the center of 15 squares, leaving room around the edges so you can seal them.
Whisk 1 tablespoon of water with the egg and, using a pastry brush, brush the edges of all of the little squares. This will act as the glue for the top layer.
Get the other layers out of the fridge and place them on top, gently pressing the edges to seal them. Use the tines of a fork to press down around all four sides to join the layers. Brush the tops with the egg wash, too. Place back in the fridge.
Heat oven to 375 F. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown. Serve warm.
Makes 15 squares.
Pinwheels with Tapenade
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 heaping tablespoons tapenade, homemade (recipe follows) or store-bought
Heat oven to 375 F.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured board so it's flat and even. Spread the tapenade over the pastry. Roll it up like a wheel. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm before slicing.
Slice into 1/4-inch discs and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until brown. Serve warm.
Tapenade: Put 1 cup black olives, such as Kalamata, 1 garlic clove, germ removed, 8 basil leaves, 1 teaspoon drained capers, 1 teaspoon anchovy paste and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor and pulse until combined. Stir in 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño. Serve right away or cover with a thin layer of olive oil and keep in the fridge. Makes about 1 cup.
Makes 30 wheels.