Nutella, Pretzels and Shortbread. This is gonna be good

So this week was the Jewish holiday Purim. It’s the equivalent of Christian Halloween Costume wise. Unlike Halloween – there’s no trick-or-treating, but we have something else: it’s a mitzvah to drink until you drop. Yes, you’re reading correctly. Gotta love this holiday.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
Another thing about this holiday is that it’s customary to give your friends and family a goody-bag filled with candy and the traditional cookie – Hamantaschen, which literally translates as ‘Haman’s ears’ (did you really think we’d let a holiday go by without something to nosh on?). It’s also customary in a large crowd to have a raffle deciding who this goody bag will go to. I can still remember a school table packed with bright yellow, green and red cellophane-wrapped parcels, each with our name on it (noting who made it), and the raffle that followed. My best friend’s mom used to make the best bags, but somehow I was never the one to receive it.

BACK TO THE COOKIES
These are a kind of shortbread cookies filled with all kinds of yummy filings; the traditional version calls for a poppy seed filling, but you can fill it with whatever you want – chocolate, halva, peanut butter, etc. you can go savory too, of course, but this is a whole other discussion… So we’ll stick to the sweet part, if it’s ok with you.
The only thing you should look out for is making sure that it’s thick enough so it wouldn’t leak out of the sides of the cookie which can cause it to open and ruin the whole nicely-shaped-triangle you were working so hard on. The rule is: if you spoon a little on a plate and it keeps its shape – spreading just a little, you’re fine. If it flattens up – not so much. So how do you fix it? All you need is something to absorb the extra liquid.

PRETZEL TALK
Say you want Nutella filling (I know I do). Very runny. But you still want it. What you can do is add a thickening agent – which in this case is much easier than making roux, dissolving cornstarch etc.: to get the desired consistency, an addition of crumbled cookies, day-old pound cake crumbles and so on would work perfectly. In my filling – being a sweet-and-salty gal myself – I decided I want to try adding crumbled pretzel sticks.

BRAND DROPPING
Wow, Snyder’s of Hanover. Great job well done on your recipe tab. I didn’t quite expect it, given that the snacks category tends to sometime overlook the foodie recipe-searching community, but you did great with all the different options. The site goes from your usual suspects of pretzel bread-crumb alternatives through finger food to main course and dessert with lots of navigation options, and offers many recipes that actually include the product itself. Lots of topping-things involved, but many variations, so I’ll give them that. I also looked at Rold Gold’s website – another FritoLay brand (remember them from last time?). I guess being part of a larger group of brands can sometimes mean being in the background. There were only 5 recipes dedicated to the brand, 3 of which did not involve the use of the product itself. Maybe FritoLay considers the brand a ‘Milking Cow’ and does not want to invest too much into it. Whatever the reason, it could definitely use some serious touch ups.

RECIPE AWAY
*You can always not-use any equipment, but it’s just simpler in this recipe to use a mixer and a food processor. In any way, both methods are described.
*make sure you’re not stressed with time because the dough needs to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to get its act together.

Nutella and Pretzel Hamantaschen
Makes about 50 cookies, depends on the diameter of cookie cutter 🙂

From the pantry
For the dough, all in room temp:
3 cups (13.5 oz) AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (4 oz) confectioners sugar
1 stick and 6 TBS (6.5 oz) butter
1 L egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
1 cup Nutella spread
1/2 pack – about 4-5 oz of any kind of hard pretzels
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
*Piping bag would be nice if you have any.

For show
Some confectioners sugar to sprinkle

Get Mixin’

Make the dough: 

1. If you have a mixer (lucky you, what luxury to have in a tiny apartment!), start by beating the butter and sugar with the pedal attachment. If you don’t, don’t worry, just use a wooden spoon. Try going slow because the sugar is so light it will fly right out of the bowl (and here goes your measuring. And your recent cleaning efforts).
2. Add the egg + yolk, and the vanilla. Mix until well combined.
3. Add the flour and beat until incorporated (if you’re doing it manually and it starts getting harder with the wooden spoon, you can use your hands and knead it a little).
4. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling:

1. If you have a small food processor, grind the pretzels to very small pieces. You can leave some larger pieces for texture. If you don’t, take 2 (clean!) nylon bags, double wrap the pretzels and smack the hell out of the bag until the pretzels give up. Good way to let out some of those aggressions.
2. Put the Nutella and cinnamon in a bowl. Gradually add the pretzels. Don’t get it all in at once – you might end up with really condense texture. Remember the test? Spoon some to a place and see if it spreads just a little. If you have a piping bag – fill it up with the filling. No need for a special tip.
3. Heat the oven to 350f.
4. Roll the dough to 1/3″ thickness. Use a round cookie cutter or a regular cup to make rounds out of the dough. I used an 8″ cutter. Collect the dough leftovers to roll again and repeat the process.
5. Using a spoon or a piping bag, put about 1 tsp of filling on each round. Fold the dough to make a triangle and pinch the ends with your fingers.
6. Arrange on a sheet tray with about 1’’ space between the cookies.
7. Bake on the upper rack for about 15-18 minutes until the cookies are golden (my oven took full 18 minutes, but I know other ovens are probably better and require less time).
8. Share with all of your friends, and don’t forget the cellophane!

Bananas, meet Condensed Milk.

A few weeks ago we were invited for drinks and light dinner at a friend’s house. The kind of friend who doesn’t want you to bring anything. Now, as a chef, it is very hard to show up empty handed or holding a bottle of wine. But if I do bring something, I always also try not to over-do it, as it’s not my show after all. So of course – dessert is always the classic choice.

After a short interrogation I discovered their favorite sweet ending for a meal was Banana Pudding. Great choice for the cold nights of NYC. Having made a couple of puddings, I’ve decided to try a recipe that’s a little different this time. Unlike my usual cream-based puddings, I thought of trying to apply some short cuts and use Condensed Milk. The thickness of the condensed milk provides with that richness you want to feel in puddings, and if you use pre-mixed vanilla mixture, well – you’ve just cut half the work!

Let’s talk condensed milk.
Condensed Milk. Nestles under “other dairy” section. Not the sexiest sounding category.

Sold as a canned product which does not require refrigeration, It’s usually found somewhere on the baking shelves, right next to Wondra and almond extract (and if you ever shopped for it, you know you have to really look – it’s usually higher/lower than eye-level: marketers have better-selling items to put within your natural reach).

It’s one of those things that you don’t necessarily have in your pantry; some cultures use it more than others, for traditional recipes like the Mexican ‘La Lechera’ cake or the Brazilian candy ‘brigadairo’; it’s also used as a short-cut in pies and pudding recipes, acting as a great thickener-sweetener, a combined quality that is rarely found in many ingredients. Basically, it’s a great way to get away with some steps in baking/cooking procedures; using it will save you a couple of hours of waiting for milk to reduce to a thick, sticky, heavenly consistency which is necessary for certain dishes.

Like many commodities, these products aren’t really being promoted in any kind of ATL advertising; I don’t recall any commercial for these items, actually. But as mentioned, most people look online for inspiration anyway, so let’s check the brands websites, shall we?

Brand-Dropping
Eagle Brand – who is manufacturing only Condensed/Evaporated milk products – is doing a great job in giving some creative ideas as to how to use their products in various recipes. Nestle’s brand Carnations, on the other hand, means well – but directs you to a broken link (hey Nestle guys, I’m sure you have some good stuff in there, please look into it!). Nestle have another brand, La lechera , and here they have a whole website dedicated to product-use ideas that features both brands (and many more). Nestle is also doing a great job connecting the website to all of its social outlets: Pinterest, Facebook and Tweeter. The only thing with this site, is that it involves many different products and their own recipes, so if you happened to buy this one product – condensed milk, and want to know what you can do with it, it doesn’t let you sort by product but by other navigation options. Under the brand page itself, because there are more products rather than only sweetened condensed milk, some recipes may seem like they utilize it but actually call for other products of the brand, like milk powder or evaporated milk (do not mistake it for sweetened condensed milk!)

So, generally, I was pleased with what I found around the culinary marketing of this product. Now, without further a due, my Banana Pudding recipe for you all to try. I tried a different plating option, which I think is nice and interesting. In this recipe I caramelized half of the banana, and left the other part whole, to support the plating. This gives an additional texture and flavor source to the dish, and invites you to “play” with your food a little, just for fun.

NYC-Winter Glazed-Banana Pudding
Serves 4

From the Pantry
5 bananas
¼ cup maple syrup
1 container (14 oz) condensed milk
1 package instant vanilla pudding
2.5 cups milk
1 pint (4.73ml) container heavy cream

For show:
½ package Vanilla wafers/cookies (I made it myself..)
The bananas from before (see below).

Get Mixin’:

Make the pudding:

1. Take one banana. Mash it up well, preferably in a food processor, to a paste.
2. Mix the instant pudding with the milk and condensed milk. Add the mashed banana. Set aside to firm up, about 20-30 minutes in the fridge (or outside on the fire escape if it’s 7 degrees out and you have no room in your tiny little apartment).
3. Whip the heavy cream until firm peaks appear, but be careful not to overwhip it – it will become butter and there’s no turning back from there… (What are firm peaks? When the whipped cream holds its form and don not budge when you test it. Use any utensil like a spoon or a fork. Just take a little bit out of the bowl to see if it holds).
4. Gently incorporate the whipped cream into the pudding mix. Start with 1/3 of the batter. When incorporated, add the rest.

Glaze the bananas:

5. Take the rest of your 4 bananas. Peel half way. Cut each half way down to nice discs.
6. Heat a non-stick pan. Add the maple. When it starts to bubble a little, add the bananas in batches. Flip bananas when it turns nice and golden.
7. Set aside to cool.

Plate it!

• Put some of the pudding in a piping bag. If you don’t have any, you can use a spoon.
• Arrange one banana, peel and all, on a plate. Working from the banana side to the top, use your spoon or piping bag to pour some pudding, about 1 tablespoon. Add one glazed banana disc. Continue until you get to the banana top – about 3-5 banana discs.
• Put some vanilla cookies on the plate. You can put some pudding underneath it to give it some moisture.
• Dig in, and don’t forget to take a bite out of the raw banana – it’s the texture mix that makes this so much fun!