Vegetarian Curry Puff with Puff Pastry

I'm sure anyone who had been living in Malaysia or Singapore for a while knows this popular snack!  This is probably the fastest and easiest way to make curry puff.  Instead of making the pastry from scratch, just use ready made puff pastry.  Simple and easy with curry potatoes fillings.

I would normally make two dozens of them, put six of them in a plastic bag, and freeze them.  Whenever I feel like having some, I just pop them in the oven, and I have hot yummy home-made curry puff in just 10 or 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

350g potatoes, peeled, cut into 1cm cube 

1 small onion, finely chopped

100ml water

1/2 tbsp curry powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt\

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cooking oil

275g ready made puff pastry, thawed (25 x 42cm)

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 degree C.  Line a baking tray with grease paper.

2.  In a pan over medium heat, add in 1 tablespoon of oil.  Stir fry the onion for about 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add in the potatoes and stir fry for about 1 minute.

3.  Mix the curry powder, chili powder, sugar, salt with water.  Add the mixture in the pan and cook the potatoes in low heat for another 10 or 15 minutes.  It's done when the potatoes are cooked through.

4.  Set the potatoes aside to cool.  Meanwhile cut the puff pastry to 12 rectangles.  Put 1/2 tablespoon to 1 tablespoon of potatoes in the centre of the rectangle.  Fold the pastry into half.  Press the sides of the pastry with a fork (as seen on the photo below). 

4.  Bake the curry puff for 10 - 15 minutes.  You can egg wash the top of the pastry with half of an egg mix with 2 tablespoons of milk.

  

Easy Strawberry and Ricotta Cheese Tart

These strawberry tarts made with puff pastry are quick and easy.  Cream cheese or mascarpone can be used instead of ricotta and they taste just as good! 

This is something for the time when you have friends over and you want something quick to fix but look impressive!




















Ingredients:
180g organic strawberry, cut
275g ready-made puff pastry, thawed
180g ricotta cheese

Sauce:
6 strawberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp strawberry jam


Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 200 degree C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2.  Cut the puff pastry into little squares.  I used a 25 x 42cm ready-made puff pastry and cut into 15 pieces 7.5 x 7.5cm square.  Fold the square pastry to form a triangle.  Using finger, tap a little bit of water at the edges so that they stick together.
3.  With a sharp knife, make a 1cm triangle border making sure not to cut through.

4.  With a fork, prick the centre of the triangle once or twice.  Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until they are puffed and brown.
5.  Remove pastry from oven, press down the little triangle in the centre and set aside to cool.
6.  Meanwhile, to make the sauce, blend the 6 strawberries until smooth.  Add blended strawberry, sugar and jam in a small pot and cook over medium heat.  Stir and cook for about 3 - 5 minutes or until the sauce thicken.
7.  Once the triangles and the sauce are cooled.  spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese in the middle of the pastry.  Top with strawberries and sauce.

Almond Pithivier

Pithivier (Pithiviers in French) is a round pie usually made by puff pastry.  It is said that this pastry originates from a town in France called Pithiviers.


Ingredients:
275g frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
50g flour
egg for egg wash, lightly beaten

Filling A:
50g butter
60g sugar

Filling B:
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tbsp orange juice
70g ground almond

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven at 180 degree C.  For the filling, beat A until well blended.  Add in B, mix until just combine, then add egg, flour and mix until well incorporate. 

2.  Cut out part of the puff pastry a 15cm circle as the base.  Spread filling on the base, leaving 2cm from the edge.

3.  Then cut out a 17cm circle for the top.  Brush egg on the edge of the pastry base and carefully lay the top over the filling.

4.  Seal and press the edges together with a fork, egg wash the top and line the top with the tip of a knife.

5.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar on top.

Asparagus, Cherry Tomato and Brie Tart

Yes, another asparagus recipe.  We're seeing asparagus for sale everywhere and we're eating plenty of them!  And some of the white asparagus are huge!

This tart is made from puff pastry.  Great for a light meal or for snack!

Ingredients:

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed

2 bunches asparagus, blanched

80g brie cheese, sliced

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 egg

2 tsp pure cream

2 tsp mustard

Freshly ground pepper

Serves 2 - 4

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2.  Place pastry on baking tray.  Using a knife, make a 2cm border around the edges of pastry, making sure not to cut through.  Refer to the picture below.

 3.  Using a fork, prick the centre of pastry a few times.  Bake for 5 minutes or until puffed and a little brown.

4.  Remove pastry from oven.  Press down the centre of pastry.  Arrange asparagus and top with brie.  Whisk egg, cream and mustard together.  Pour over asparagus and brie and sprinkle with pepper.  Bake for another 8 minutes or until pastry is golden.



Easy Apple Strudel / Apfelstrudel

Here's an easy version Apple Strudel using puff pastry.   I find puff pastry sheets are fun to work with and give nice finishing looks.  Also I can get them in almost every supermarket and that makes baking with puff pastry a lot easier and time saving.  I've omitted the raisins and use dry cranberries in this recipe.  For a beautiful finishing touch, dust some sugar powder on top.

 Ingredients:

1 puff pastry sheet (I use REWE 275g pastry sheet which is 25x42cm)

3 apples, peeled, cored and cut in small cubes

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp water

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup dry cranberries

1 egg mix with 1/4 cup milk for egg wash 

To prepare:

1.  Preheat oven to  200C.  Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

2.  Place the puff pastry sheet on a working surface dusted with flour.  Cut two pieces (25x8cm) as the base and two pieces (25x13cm) as the top.  For the top portion, fold the pastry in half lengthwise.  Using a sharp knife, make some cuts on the folded edge at 2cm intervals.

3.  To make the filling, place apple, water, 1 tbsp sugar in a saucepan and cook for 5 minutes.  Drain the liquid and set aside to cool.  Add in ground cinnamon, 3 tbsp of sugar and dry cranberries and mix well. 

4.  Lay the base pastry sheet on the baking sheet.  Place the filling at the centre leaving about 2cm on both sides.

5.  Lay the slitted pastry sheet over the filling and cover the filling completely.  Press the sides with a fork.  Repeat the steps with the remain pastry sheets.  Egg wash the top.

6.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom rack of the oven.