Archive for March, 2011
Today I would like to deviate a little form the norm. I know that many people, before Lent, like to over indulge. Eat, drink, be merry and party, before the Lenten season begins. Many people eat richer, fattier foods and meats and drink lots of alcoholic beverages on Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. They start up their deep fryers, get out their jambalaya pots, make gumbo, or crawdads, and drink until their heads hurt. My sister and I both decided that since Fat Tuesday will be on our deceased father’s birthday that we are both going to make Pop’s favorite dessert that day. Pop loved cream puffs. My mom used to make them for his birthday every year. Instead of a normal cream puff filling, she would make vanilla and chocolate pudding for the filling. So in honor of Pop’s birthday and Fat Tuesday here are two cream puff recipes.
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup pastry flour*, sifted
3 eggs
Cream Puffs II:
1 cup boiling water
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
Cream puffs are a very light and delicate and hollow pastry of French origin. Although they are a simple bakery staple to prepare, a certain procedure needs to be followed for success.
Sift the flour so that there are no lumps.
In a saucepan, bring water and butter to the boiling point. Add the flour, all at one time, and stir briskly using a heavy wooden spoon, stirring constantly and in a circle until the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan and form a ball. The mixture will become smooth, leaving the sides of the pan clean.
Stir over low heat to dry the mixture for 2 or 3 minutes. The mixture will lose its stickiness. Add the unbeaten eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in thoroughly before adding the next egg. The mixture should be smooth and shiny. (Note: This may be transferred to a bowl, cooled for 3 or 4 minutes, then beaten using a hand mixer.)
Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet (or use a large pastry bag with a plain nozzle to pipe the mixture).
Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slowly. (You can leave them in the hot oven with the door open for a few minutes).
When cool, use a very sharp knife to slice off the tops and fill with vanilla cream pastry filling (see below), chocolate or vanilla pudding, ice cream, flavored whipped cream, etc. Top with fruit sauce or drizzle with honey. Melt some chocolate or use chocolate curls. Or just sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top.
These same recipes can be used to make eclairs; the only difference is in the shape that is piped onto the baking sheet.
(*Pastry flour is a flour made from softer (or lower protein) wheat than all-purpose flour. It is useful in making products in which gluten development is not desirable, such as cookies and pastries. Gluten is the protein in flour that gives breads their “chewy” quality. If pastry flour is not available, you can make a reasonable substitute by combining 1/2 cup cake flour with 1/2 cup bread flour or 1/4 cup cake flour with 3/4 cup all-purpose flour for use in this recipe.)
Peanuts are actually a legume, like peas, lentils, or soy beans, not an actual nut. Peanut allergies have greatly increased over the past decade or so, especially in school aged children. The rise of children with a peanut allergy actually doubled toward the end of the 90′s and beginning of the 21st century throughout North America and the United Kingdom. Researchers have isolated 3 major peanut allergens, but have still not pin pointed the huge increase of people with the allergy. Oddly enough, people that suffer from peanut allergies are not necessarily allergic to other legumes, but odds are highly likely that they are allergic to tree nuts, like almonds, walnuts and cashews.
When it comes to deep frying foods, peanut oil is often suggested, for it’s high smoke point. A smoke point being the temperature at which cooking oil begins to break down and produce bluish smoke. Deep frying foods is a very high temperature process, it requires a fat with a high smoke point. Refined peanut oil has a 450 degree F, which is one of the higher end smoke points of the cooking oils. Most foods are deep fried at approximately 350 degrees F. so peanut oil fits this bill. 
Most highly refined peanut oils remove the peanut allergens. They have been shown to be relatively hypo-allergenic for the vast majority of peanut-allergic individuals and are typically vegan approved. Cold-pressed peanut oils may not remove the allergens and can be highly dangerous to people that are allergic. However, since the degree of processing is often unclear, caution and speaking with your doctor before trying refined peanut oil is highly advised. As the degree of processing of commercial peanut oil may be difficult to determine, avoiding deep frying with peanut oil or eating foods that have been cooked in peanut oil, is best.
There are other cooking oils out there with a high smoke point. Sesame oil, olive oil, sunflower oil and canola oil to name a few. Not all oils are always available in all areas and some are very expensive. To fill a large outdoor propane deep fryer with olive oil would be so expensive that it just is not worth it. Canola oil is a more readily available option and quite a bit less expensive than the olive oil.
If you are a person with a peanut allergy, but you love deep fried foods, just take care. There are many companies out there, like festival and fair people that still use peanut oil, refined or not. If you do not see a sign regarding the type of oil that they use in their fryers, better to ask, or just wait until you get home.
Frying oil can tend to be expensive. The higher grade, higher smoke point oils, like peanut oil, can be very pricey. When using larger outdoor propane deep fryers, you can be talking a big investment when buying oil. The use a a Cajun Fryer can reduce oil use by 70 percent.
The reason for this is the design of the Cajun Fryer. There is a burner/flue throughout the fryer unit. The burner is positioned 6″ above the bottom of the oil reservoir and is at a 45 degree angle or VEE. This prevents any food batter from collecting on the burner and allows it to fall to the bottom of the reservoir. Since heat rises, the bottom of the unit never gets any hotter than 120 degrees F. Any sediment from food and batter collects in the VEE below the burner tubes. Because of this, any food residue in the bottom will not scorch or burn. This helps keep the oil clean cooking after cooking. Fire burns inside the self contained burner tubes which run through the frying oil. Again, since heat rises, the cooking chamber is able to reach temperatures that are sufficient enough to deep fry any type of food while the reservoir below stays cooler.
When using a Cajun Fryer we still recommend that you change the oil after 25-30 normal cooking sessions and to strain the oil after every 5th cooking. The revolutionary design of the Cajun Fryer can actually double the life expectancy of your frying oil. This results in fewer oil changes and can help you recoup your investment quicker.