Guanti Andor Chruscik Food

CHRUśCIKI, CHRUSTY, FAWORKI: POLISH-STYLE ANGEL WINGS

Steps:

• Sift flour, caster sugar and salt into a bowl. Add egg yolks, vodka and sour cream.
• Knead together by hand (grease your hands first!), or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Form a smooth dough ball.Pro tip: Some recipes suggest placing a dough ball into a bowl, covering it with a cloth (or cling film) and resting it for 45-60 minutes in the refrigerator. By some accounts, the resting time improves dough plasticity. That said, this recipe was tested without resting, and it worked out just fine.
• Move the dough onto the worktop. Begin folding the dough over itself, giving a quarter-turn of the dough between each fold.
• "Beat up" the dough on each side with a rolling pin, the more violent you are - the better. As you do this, you will feel the dough become pliable and and easier to work with. Traditional recipes call for at least 20 minutes of such treatment, but let's be realistic here - try to do as much as you can.Pro tip: Do you own a meat grinder? Push the dough through 3 times, using the largest holes. Anecdotally, this process allows to skip the whole "dough beating" described above.
• Lightly dust the worktop with flour. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal parts, and roll one of them out - as thinly as possible. If you own a pasta maker, it will provide very useful here. Cover the remaining dough parts with a cloth, to prevent it from drying out.
• Using a knife or a pizza/pasta cutter wheel, cut out long strips, approx. 1.2-1.5'' (3-4 cm) wide. Then, cut them into shorter pieces - around 3.5-4'' (9-10 cm) long - cut straight or diagonally at the ends.
• Make a 0.8'' (2 cm) incision in the middle of each strip. Then pull one end through that hole to form a bow. Grab the ends, shake and pull them gently and set aside. Continue until you're out of strips.
• In a wide cooking pot or a large, deep skillet, heat up lard or neutral cooking oil. If you own a kitchen thermometer, aim for 350-355°F (180°C). If you don't, throw in a small piece of dough - if it rises and flows, that means it's hot enough.
• Fry only a few chruściki at a time, until they turn lightly golden - around 30-60 seconds per side. Watch them like a hawk, they're fried very quickly.
• Retrieve faworki with a slotted spoon and onto a paper towel. Dust them generously with icing sugar, as soon as possible. Don't wait for them to cool completely, sugar tends to stick better to warm pastries.

CHRUSCIKI WITH MRS. KOSTYRA

Steps:

• Put melted butter, eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, sour cream, salt, extracts, vinegar, and rum in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until mixture is pale, about 3 minutes. With mixer running, add zests. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add up to 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a fairly stiff dough forms.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead, dusting with flour if it seems sticky, until dough becomes smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Halve dough, and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature, 30 minutes.
• Working with 1 piece at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until very thin (about 1/16 inch thick). Using a straightedge as a guide, cut the dough into 5-by-1 1/4-inch strips. Trim ends on the diagonal.
• Lay dough strips vertically in front of you, and cut a 1 1/4-inch-long opening through the middle of each strip. Working with one strip at a time, push one end through the cut, then pull through to make a bow-tie shape. Transfer formed chrusciki to a large parchment-lined baking sheet, and cover with a clean, slightly damp kitchen towel. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Heat shortening in a large (6-quart) pot over medium-high heat until it registers 375 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer.
• Working in small batches of about 7, fry chrusciki, turning once with a slotted spoon, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Transfer fried chrusciki with slotted spoon to two paper-towel-lined baking sheets to drain. (Adjust heat between batches as necessary to keep oil at a steady temperature.)
• Just before serving, dust chrusciki with confectioners' sugar.

CHRUSCIKI I

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, egg, sugar, salt, vanilla, and whiskey. Stir in 2 cups of the flour. If dough is sticky, add the rest of the flour. Knead dough for 5 minutes; divide into three parts. Keep dough pieces covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Or, alternately, melt 2 pounds lard(see Editor's Note). Oil should be about 1 inch deep.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough until it's paper-thin. Cut into parallelogram (long diamond) shapes, and use a sharp paring knife to cut a slot in the centers. Pull one point of the diamond through the slot; set aside and repeat with remaining pieces.
• Fry 2 to 4 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pan, about 5 to 10 seconds on each side. The cookies should not be browned. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels; dust with confectioners' sugar when cool. Store any remaining cookies in an airtight container.