Puff Pastry from SCRATCH! to Homemade Baked Brie!

Hello everyone and welcome back to another brand new episode of Nikoli's Kitchen! This week I pulled a last-minute swerve and instead of talking about Top Round, I opted to make my own puff pastry and turn that into baked brie topped with a decadent blueberry compote and candied pecans. It was a long and tough journey at times, but I really think if you've never tried making your own puff pastry before you definitely need to. Also this week, I talk about this month's patreon charity- the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention- and what it meant to watch the film Brittany Runs a Marathon. 

The original Puff Pastry recipe can be found at https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-puff-pastry-222312. I followed it pretty much to the letter, aside from not having a pastry scraper! 

If you or someone you know is experiencing crisis, don't wait. You are not alone and there is help available. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at ## 800-273-8255.

This week's promo: Brook Reading Podcast

 

Featured Recipe Timecodes

24:00 - Introduction
25:35 - Homemade Puff Pastry
31:26 - Baked Brie
33:22 - Blueberry Compote
34:22 - Candied Pecans

 

Featured Recipe for this Episode

Puff Pastry

This recipe is from https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-puff-pastry-222312. In the blog she goes much more in-depth about the process of making it so please check it out!

2 c all-purpose flour 
1 t salt
2/3 c ice water
1 c or 2 sticks unsalted butter

Combine your flour and salt together and then form into a mound on your workspace/counter. Form a trough down the center. Sprinkle 1 T of water into the trough and begin fluffing the dough with your fingers, scooping it up between them. Continue this process until the flour clumps together in large pieces and holds together when pressed. The idea here is not to form a lot of gluten, so you're not trying to combine these and work this dough together like a normal bread dough.
Press the lean dough into a square and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Cut your sticks of butter in half lengthwise, and then halve those two pieces so you have four shorter, flatter sticks of butter from each stick.
Sprinkle with 1 t of flour and begin pounding the butter with a French rolling pin to soften it. 
Once flattened, use a pastry scraper to gather it up into a mound again and sprinkle with another t of flour. Continue repeating this until the butter is pliable and does not break when you fold it over onto itself. NOTE: it is very important not to touch the butter with your hands if you can help it because it will melt from your body heat.
Form the block of butter into a 4" square and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Roll out your lean dough into a 7-inch square.
Place the butter block at a 90-degree angle to the dough and fold over the corners so they meet in the middle. Pinch your seams closed.
Flip the dough over so the seams are down. Roll it out into a rectangle roughly 12" x 6". 
Fold the top third over, then fold the bottom third over, like you're folding a letter. 
Turn the folded dough 90 degrees and roll it out again into a 12" x 6" rectangle and fold it again. Re-wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Repeat this process again 2 more times and refrigerate it again for another 30 minutes.
Repeat this process two final times. Wrap the dough- which should be quite smooth and easy to roll out- and refrigerate for an hour (or overnight).

 

Blueberry Compote

1 pint (approx 11 oz) blueberries
Zest & Juice of 2 lemons
1/3 c light brown sugar

Add these ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over mid heat.
Reduce heat to mid-low and cover, simmering for 15-20 minutes or until very soft.
Remove the cover and return heat to mid. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or until your liquid thickens. You don't want to cook off all the liquid here.
Remove from heat and allow to cool, then transfer to a container to refrigerate.

 

Candied Pecans

4 c pecans, shelled and halved
1/2 c light brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
1 egg white
1 t vanilla extract
1 T water

Preheat the oven to 300°.
Begin by combining your egg white, vanilla, and water in a bowl. Whip these into a meringue with a hand mixer or whisk until stiff peaks form.
Add your pecans and toss them gently until well-coated.
In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon and brown sugar and then add this to the pecans, again tossing them to gently coat them.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and layer your pecans in a single layer.
Bake for 40 minutes at 300°. At 20 minutes, stir them around. 
Allow to cool and then store in an air-tight container.

 

Baked Brie

Puff Pastry Dough
16 oz Brie
Egg yolk
Water

Preheat the oven to 425°.
Roll out your puff pastry to approx 1/8" thick.
Place the brie at the center of the pastry. Trim off any excess pastry and fold in the corners to the center of the cheese, pinching the seams shut as you go (a little water can help with this). You don't want to overlap too much of your dough as it won't get cooked through before everything else is done.
Combine egg yolk and water in a small bowl and brush over the pastry. 
Use any excess dough you have to make small pastries to dip in your baked brie.
Bake for 10 minutes at 425°, then reduce the heat to 375° and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is a nice, dark, golden brown color. 

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Top with blueberry compote and candied pecans and enjoy!

 

Important Links

(All links open in a new window)

Main Website
Subscribe on Patreon!
Livestream for the Cure
Join my Discord Community!
Podcast RSS Feed
Like my Facebook Page!
Follow me on Twitter!
Follow me on Instagram!
Join my Facebook Group!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
Follow me on Twitch!

 

Listen on

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Pandora
TuneIn Radio
iHeart Radio
Spreaker
PlayerFM
Stitcher
Podchaser

 

Guest Appearances

I had the pleasure of guesting on Two Peas on a Podcast recently to talk about Holiday Foods! Please check it and Gerald out at https://twopeasonpodcast.podbean.com/e/top-5-holiday-foods-134/.

Check me out on Netflix 'n Swill with Dan and Caleb talking about David Fincher's Mank! https://www.netflixnswill.com/nnspodcast/226

Tune in to December 2020's Rabbit Ears TV Podcast with Ashlee and Shawn Ennis as we talk about our love of Parks & Rec! https://www.netflixnswill.com/rabbitears/2020/12/24/parks-and-recreation

I got to channel my inner book nerd and sit down with Melissa of Brook Reading to talk about Eugene O'Neill's "A Long Day's Journey into Night!" It was split up over two episodes you can find at https://www.spreaker.com/user/brookreading/episode-124 and https://www.spreaker.com/user/brookreading/episode-125! 

 

Credits

"Daybreak," and "The Climb" from Music for Makers. Sign up and get a royalty-free song delivered to your inbox every Monday at www.musicformakers.com!

"Aeon," "Ali," and "Starlight Memories" by Lucas King. Find this and more amazing music by Lucas and subscribe to him on YouTube by visiting https://www.youtube.com/user/LucasKingPiano!