Spanish Pastry

Yes, these members of the bar-cookie family are as beautiful and delicious as the picture suggests! Spanish Pastry bears a resemblance to a Spanish torte, has the airy crunch of a French cream puff and yet the cream cheese frosting is as one would expect, uniquely American! A culinary hybrid perhaps? Regardless of its origin, this is a gem of a recipe and has been a party favorite (and a closet - last feast before the famine goody before starting a diet) choice for many years. My brother once said he would eat anything frosted with cream cheese frosting (we didn't put him to the test) but his wife rode a bicycle 2 miles to purchase the cream cheese for this recipe. Shared with me many years ago by a European woman who may have had her recipe cards clearly marked with the country of origin, these pastries are comprised of a unique pate choux body, layered on a shortbread crust, baked in 6 inch wide strips, cut into finger-sized cuttings, frosted and finally, garnished with almonds. Add some dried cranberries if you want a festive pop of color for either Christmas or Valentine's. Makes 36 servings.

Spanish Pastry
1 cup soft butter
11/2 cups flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 - 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tab. vanilla extract
sliced almonds

-(Shortbread) In medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup soft butter and 1 1/2 cups flour.  Blend until smooth (add 1 - 2 tab. water if mixture is not smooth.) On cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, pat shortbread into two, 12 by 6 inch strips.

-(Cream Puff Pastry/Pate a Choux) In medium sauce pan, pour water and add 1/2 cup butter and salt.  Bring to boil over medium-high heat until butter is melted.  All at once, pour in flour and stir over heat for 2 - 3 minutes until mixture pulls away from the sides and balls around the spoon as you stir.

-Remove pate a choux dough from heat and place in electric mixture.  Mix for about 2 minutes at medium speed, allowing some of the heat to escape.

-Stir in 1 egg at a time, beating well after each (for about 1 minute on medium-high speed).

-Mound half of pate a choux mixture down the center of each strip and using a knife or cake spreader, cover the entire surface of the shortbread layer with the choux mixture.  Sculpt into peaks.

-Bake in 380 degree oven for about 45 minutes, until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. (The pate a choux layer may collapse some upon cooling.)

-In a mixing bowl, combine butter and cream cheese until smooth and well blended.  Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla extract.  Frost cooled pastry and garnish with almonds.  Allow to sit for an hour or so or chill, then cut crosswise into finger length strips.  Makes 36 servings.

Pistachio Butter Chicken Balls

      We arrived in Amman, Jordan at 9:30 pm a few weeks ago. It had the right smell, a hint of cardamom somewhere underneath the predictably hypnotic scent of jasmine, the right juxtaposition of white limestone against red tile roofs, the right feel to the translucent air.  The traffic was appropriately jarring and the revived memories firing.  We were back in our home of 12 years and we were exhilarated and exhausted.  This trip tweaking decades-old memories, piqued our every sense as well.  Exhausted though we were, we could not ignore the sense of taste and hurried at that late dining hour to Fakr Al-Din's, an enchanting restaurant in an old Arab house in the 1st Circle section of Amman.  Proper, black-suited waiters with pleasant "Ahlan Wa Sahlans", led us to our table, garnished with an edible, whole veggie salad garden centerpiece, and the garlic sauce and sumac that rendered it sublime!

      Chicken balls, a Fakr Al-Din's speciality - perhaps invention -  was a surprise years ago when we first applied fork to crunchy chicken shell.  The resulting eruption of melted butter from its core was a surprise but the velvety mild, pistachio mixture lolled milky on our tongues. One is a serving and only on occasion at that.  It had been eight years since we had sampled one but with my successful experimentation at its creation, it won't be that long again!

Pistachio Butter Chicken Balls

1 ½ pounds ground chicken breast

1 egg

1 cup ground pistachios

¾ cup room-temperature butter

2 tab. minced parsley

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

-In food processor, grind shelled pistachio nuts until fine.  Measure out 2/3 cups of the ground pistachios and return to processor with butter then process for about 1 minute. Chill mixture for 30 minutes.  Form mixture into balls about the size of a small walnut.  Chill butter balls until ready to use.

-In food processor, combine chicken, egg, 1/3 cup ground pistachios, ¼ cup panko bread crumbs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Process until well blended.  Chill mixture for at least 1 hour.

-To form balls, take 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling. Working with damp hands, hold a butter ball in one hand and mold the chicken mixture evenly around the butter, sealing completely.  Roll chicken ball in hands to create a smooth ball. (You will need to re-dampen your hands every other ball.) 

-Roll chicken balls in panko crumbs, pressing crumbs firmly into the chicken layer to coat evenly and completely.  Freeze chicken balls several hours or overnight.  (Can be kept for up to a month in the freezer in a plastic bag or sealed plastic container.)

-Pour about 3 inches of vegetable oil into a small pot.  Heat over medium-high heat for several minutes until the surface of the oil is shimmering.  Add the frozen chicken balls and cook stirring frequently for 5 minutes until deep golden all over.  (Be sure the oil is not too hot.  The balls should take at least 5 minutes to cook to ensure the chicken is cooked through.  If you hear the oil start to splatter, butter is leaking out from the balls and you should remove that ball immediately.)  Allow to cool 5 – 10 minutes then serve.

-Makes 12 – 14 Chicken Balls.

Make balls of pistachio butter and mix

chicken mixture and chill both.

Wrap chicken mixture thinly

 around pistachio butter balls

and shape into smooth ball.

Roll balls in panko crumbs,

pushing to make crumbs adhere.

Place balls on baking sheet and freeze

  until solid, 6-8 hours or overnight.