Cravings

Everyone has them. Something in their mind tells them, "You NEED to eat this. You HAVE to eat this. THIS IS DELICIOUS, GO GET IT."

But new year, new resolutions, right? 

I'm trying to cut down so I'll make note of them as it happens. 

Today, I craved potatoes. Not a simple baked potato, which in all essence is healthy on its own, but fries, sliced, diced, doused in cheese or grease! 

I'm just proud that I opted for the tortilla chips instead of salt n vinegar.

Craving number two? a brownie or a cookie!!!!! Mmmmm....

I opted for the fruit cup. 

So to keep track, and for anyone who cares:

Treesa: 2
Cravings: 0

Vietnamese Savory Pastry

For the longest time, ever since I was a teeny tiny kiddo, I loved, loved LOVED Banh Pate So! It's a savory Vietnamese pastry that has light, flaky, crunchy layers on the outside with a small mound of delicious pork seasoned to perfection on the inside. I figured the meat would be easy to prepare. But it was finding where to get that flaky crust on the outside that eluded me. *sigh*

But now, I've finally figured out how to make it. And it's super easy.


(Photo credit to: http://explodingdog.com/ )


......Well, it was easy after I experimented quite a BIT. I picked up some tips and tricks along the way so you won't make the same mistakes I did. (Lucky you!)

Banh Pate So

Filling Ingredients:

- 2lbs ground pork
- 4 stalks of green onion thinly sliced OR 1/4 a white onion finely chopped (This is based on personal preference for you, I've tried both.)
- Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
- Salt (just one sprinkle)
- 3-4 tbs. Fish Sauce (I use the one with Three Crabs on the label)
- 3 tbs olive oil

Flaky Crust:

- 3 Boxes Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (keep in the freezer)
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 tsp water
- Handful of All-purpose flour

 

Baking/Cooking materials:

- Silicone basting brush
- Parchment paper
- Baking tray
- Frying pan
- Wooden board

Yield: 36 pastries

Mix the onion of choice, pepper, garlic powder, salt, fish sauce, and olive oil evenly with the ground pork together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow time for the meat to soak in all the flavors. Take out and roll in small round ovals about 1.5 inches long. You should be able to make 36 small pieces total.

Here's some of mine:

(they are quite lumpy >_<)

 

Heat a frying pan with about 1 tsp of olive oil on medium heat. When the olive oil easily slides around on the pan, take a spoon and scoop 4 pieces onto the pan, quickly flip over to the other side, then scoop them out onto a plate.

 

They should only spend several seconds in the pan, you don't want to overcook them, it will be too dry when they finish baking. The sides should all STILL be pink. Only the two sides that touched the pan would be that grayish cooked color, and even then just the top layer, not all the way through to the middle. Pork needs to be cooked thoroughly and this is just my way of ensuring it, otherwise it will spend a long time in the oven and your crust can get burned in the process. I suggested 4 pieces at a time but if you're a fast flipper, feel free to add more, just remember not to keep them in the pan for too long.

 

Here's what they should kind of look like:

 

 

 

When you're down to about 15 pieces of meat left to flip, take out ONE box of the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. Then continue to lightly sear the rest of the pieces.

 

While the meat cools, open the box of puff pastry you have out. Lightly flour the wooden board surface with all-purpose flour. This is to keep the sheets from sticking to the board when they thaw.

 

 

Take out the sheets and open them up to lay flat on the board. If it's still frozen and won't open, that's fine, just wait for a little bit and try again. The best time to work with this is while it's still slightly frozen, especially if it's your first time doing this because by the time you're done, the sheets will thaw and be waaaaaaaaaay too soft to manipulate perfectly. Be careful not to break them, though. If it breaks at where the sheet folds, then that's fine. Take a knife and cut each sheet at the fold, and then horizontally three times, ending up with 12 rectangles.

 

Like this:

 Repeat with the second sheet, so you have 24 rectangles. Pre-heat the oven for 400 degrees.

Scoop the meat piece onto the middle of  a rectangle , leaving space around the border. Pick up a second rectangle, gently stretch the pastry around all four sides, then place on top of the meat. Gently press the four sides of the top piece onto the bottom. Get a fork and press down on the pastry and pull in an outward motion to make scoring marks. Do this for all four sides. This will seal the pastry.

Continue until you have made 12 pastries. (If you're a fast worker, you can take out the other 2 puff pastry boxes, cut, fill with meat, and seal. If not, then right before you baste each batch, take out a box to thaw and when you put that batch in the oven, start making the next batch.)

Take the 3 egg yolks and add 3 tsp. of water. Mix with the basting brush thoroughly. This is going to be your egg wash. It will make your savory pastries look shiny and golden-brown and even more irresistible.

(I almost forgot to take a picture, this is after I finished the second batch of pastries, hehe!)

Cut a piece of parchment paper that covers the baking tray and place on top. I love parchment paper instead of foil because your pastries WILL NOT STICK to the paper! They come off easily after they bake.

Put the pastries on the tray, evenly spaced. Take your silicone basting brush and brush your egg wash all over the top of the pastry. Try not to make puddles of egg wash on your pastry, you want a nice even layer.

 

Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown, each oven can vary in baking.

 

 Remove from the oven when you see that all sides of the pastry have browned, and enjoy your piping hot pastry!!!!

 

Straight from the oven! Mmmm

 

One more picture, the one I Instagram'ed this time:

 

 

 

I know a lot of people share my love for this delectable treat, so I hope this helps you experiment on your own to make some as well. This is just my version, feel free to mix it up to your preferences and tastes (some people put in black mushroom strips). Try it and let me know how they turned out!

 

Thanks for reading! ^_^V

-Theresa
 

*******UPDATE: I did add more photos that will hopefully be helpful since I made another batch after posting this entry. ***********
 

Preview: Banh Pate So

My first recipe soon to be posted will be.........Banh Pate So! Stay tuned as I post my method of making this savory pastry of Vietnamese origins.

Have a wonderful day!
<3 Treesa

Back to the Blog....

After about eight years of abandoning the blogging concept, I'm back on the horse. As a result of my kitchen trials, various products of which were photographed and shared in a special album on my Facebook, I have been urged to create my own space for others to follow in my footsteps in the hopes of having similar tasty results. Or at least have a place where I can share the pictures of my attempts and others can salivate at the concept. ;) 


Food.........I named it "Experiments of a Food Enthusiast" because the things I post in this blog will be just that-my trials and errors in food, fashion, and life! The main focus WILL definitely be about the foods I'm interested in cooking, baking, or even trying at local eateries. Being a health-conscious (sometimes) person with limited time to cook/bake, I like to make sure the recipes I try are worth the time. What I usually do before trying a new recipe is research all similar ones in the web and pick and choose the parts I like. Then I put it together and voila! Some of them come out delicious, and some come out disgusting. But it's all an experiment so I learn from them and hope to improve the next time. Or better yet, you all can learn from MY mistakes. :D

As for the other part of the blog description, I like to dabble a hand in this and that.... 

Fashion.......I have been a tomboy since I was old enough to be conscious about what I wanted to wear (basically 10 years old). I can honestly say that I used to think that my "anywhere, anytime" outfit consisting of a white nike t-shirt, jeans (not skinny, bootcut, or flare), and tennnis shoes was super fashionable. Now of course when I have more time and means to actually LOOK into fashion, I'd like to hear comments and suggestions regarding my attempts to look fashion forward. I AM a lady after all! ^_-

 Life........well this is the all-inclusive factor to my blog. If ever there is a thing that I might try (sky diving perhaps) I'll post it here as well. I'm sure there are going to be some days where I don't feel like posting about food (gasp!) or fashion (nyeh.). By the way, I am a very expressive person and like to show that by making these web faces:  ^_^   :)   -___-' I feel like it helps capture my tone more since you're reading and not listening to me talk! 

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a professional blogger that gets paid for ads and whatnot so don't expect to see a super professional site all decked out in crazy awesome html layouts. Haha this is just a simple and humble page for whoever comes across it. 

Hopefully I kept your attention thus far and I'd appreciate your following me, your comments, and links back if you tried anything from my blog! I'm looking forward to posting some good stuff here. Leave me some love!
 


Have a fantastic day! ^_^
<3 Treesa




*This blog has not even been up and running for 24 hours yet and I've already recieved requests on what to make for the next post! O_O Crazyyyyyy