Croustades Food

JAM-FILLED CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; stir until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla seeds. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, mix together 4 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 stick butter on low speed until butter is incorporated and mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Add yeast mixture; mix until dough just comes together. Add eggs and yolk; mix until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes (do not overmix).
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, making sure to include any loose bits left at bottom of bowl. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together remaining 3 1/2 sticks butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Shape mixture into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle on a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 15 minutes or up to 1 day. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, a little over 1/4 inch thick, keeping the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Remove butter mixture from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until it is the same consistency as the dough. With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over two-thirds of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third over as you would a business letter, followed by the remaining third. This seals in the butter.
• Roll out dough again to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, then fold into thirds as described above; refrigerate 1 hour. This completes the first of three turns. Repeat rolling and folding process two more times, refrigerating at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each one: make one mark for the first turn, two for the second, and three for the third.
• Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 2 weeks (thaw in refrigerator overnight before using).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 20-by-16-inch rectangle, trimming edges if necessary. Using a ruler, cut into twenty 4-inch squares and transfer to one of three parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving an even amount of space between squares until you have two sheets with 7 squares each, and one sheet with 6 squares.
• Working with one square at a time, fold in half to form a triangle. Using a sharp pizza wheel, make a cut parallel to one of the short sides of the triangle, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the opposite short side. Make a second cut parallel to the opposite short side, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the first line. (Make sure lines do not meet.) Unfold triangle back into a square and brush egg wash along edges. Fold outer cut corners over to opposite inside corners. Press borders down to seal. Repeat with remaining squares. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill center of each square with 1 tablespoon jam, then lightly brush dough with egg wash. Bake, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Pastries are best served the same day.

MUSHROOM CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter (or spray with butter-flavored Pam) 48 mini-muffin tins.
• Cut a 2-inch round from each slice of bread and press into muffin tins. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until tender and the moisture from the mushrooms has evaporated. Sprinkle with flour; stir thoroughly, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add cream and stir constantly while bringing to a boil. Add wine, reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and stir in cayenne pepper, parsley and green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spoon mushroom filling into croustades and place on a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Heat in oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly.

CHICKEN CROUSTADE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• With a rolling pin, roll out each bread slice until thin. Cut out bread with plain round cutter 1 1/2 inches in diameter and flatten again with a rolling pin. Oil small muffin tins and place the bread rounds inside. Bake until golden. Store the croustade shells covered in a dry area.
• Reduce the cream by half and reserve until needed. Saute the chicken in 1 tablespoon oil until half cooked. Add the prosciutto and continue to cook until is thoroughly heated and chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the cream and black pepper, to taste; bring to a simmer. Add a little hot cream to the egg yolk to temper and add to pot, being careful not to boil. Add the cheese, basil, and parsley. Adjust seasoning. Fill the croustade shells; sprinkle with a little additional grated Parmesan and brown lightly under a broiler or salamander. Serve warm.

ASIAN CRAB SALAD CROUSTADES

Steps:

• FOR THE CRAB SALAD:.
• Combine the lime juice, brown sugar and fish sauce in a bowl, stir until the sugar has dissolved.
• If your sugar is quite hard, you can heat the mixture a little to make the dissolving easier.
• Finely chop the coriander, mint and kaffir lime leaves, deseed and de-vein the chilli and chop finely as well.
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and leave to infuse for at least 3 hours in the fridge. You can prepare this a day in advance, if you wish.
• Combine crab with the mayo/aioli and seaon with salt, pepper and a dash of tabasco.
• Shred the lettuce leaves thinly, then chop roughly.
• CROUSTADES:.
• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• Coat insides of 48 muffin (2" ea) pans, generously with butter.
• Using a 2-1/2" to 3" plain round cookie cutter; cut a round from each slice of bread. (Use the reminder bread for breadcrumbs).
• Use fingertips, press against muffin cups (and you create a little cup).
• Bake 8-10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool. (These can be stored in airtight container)
• TO ASSEMBLE;.
• Fill the shells up with shredded lettuce about half way, then top with about 1 tsp of the crab salad.
• Serve within 30 minutes to an hour so the bases don't get soggy.
• VOILÁ.
• The croustades (Rahm's) are available in most supermarkets in the UK and at Ikea food shops worldwide.

MUSHROOM CROUSTADES

Steps:

• For Croustade:
• Use a rolling pin to flatten each bread slice. Cut 3" (18 small) or 4" (12 large) rounds and gently fit into small or large muffin tins.
• Bake for 10 - 15 minutes at 425 or until golden and crisp. Cool on wire racks.
• Filling:.
• Melt butter in a large skillet and saute green onions for several minutes without browning.
• Stir in the mushrooms and mix well. Cook 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until moisture has evaporated.
• Remove from heat, sprinkle with flour and stir to coat the mushrooms.
• Gradually add the cream and return to heat.
• Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until thick.
• Stir in all the other ingredients.
• Transfer filling to a bowl, cover it and refrigerate until ready to use.
• To Serve:.
• Place croustade on cookie sheet and fill each croustade with mushroom filling so that it is slightly mounded.
• Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese and dot with butter.
• Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and then turn to broil and brown the tops lightly.
• Serve hot.

BOMB SHELTER CROUSTADES

Steps:

• First, make the croustades: generously butter small muffin tins, then cut a 3-inch round from each slice of bread and carefully fit into the muffin tins.
• Bake in preheated 400F oven for 10 minutes, or until rims are lightly browned; remove from tins and cool (may be frozen at this point).
• Now make filling.
• In a skillet, melt butter, then saute onions and mushrooms; stir and cook until all the moisture is evaporated.
• Sprinkle with flour, then stir thoroughly.
• Add cream, stirring constantly until it boils.
• Add wine, reduce heat, and simmer a few minutes longer.
• Remove from heat; stir in salt, cayenne, parsley and green onion.
• Transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until needed.
• To serve, preheat oven to 350F; spoon mushroom filling into croustades; lightly sprinkle with parmesan and place on cookie sheet.
• Heat in oven for 10 minutes, then put briefly under the broiler.