Palmiers(Little Heart Biscuits)

Palmiers are a traditional French pastry made from rich, buttery, and flaky dough, but not too sweet and crunchy without being too hard.It looks alike Britannia little hearts biscuit which we used to buy in India. Palmier (pal-mee-ay) is the French word for a palm tree and these cookies are said to resemble palm leaf. I adopted the recipe from Ina Graten's"barefootcontessa".I personally don’t like cinnamon flavor to dominant my cookies and so I replaced the cinnamon with powdered nuts (Almonds, cashews). Here we go with the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Puff pastry sheet – 1
Sugar – 1/2cup(or per taste)
Powdered nuts – 1/2cup

METHOD:

Thaw the puff pastry. In a bowl combine the almond and cashews powder, and sugar. Unfold 1 sheet of the pastry and sprinkle the powdered nut sugar over the top. Then gently spread it with hands and roll the rolling pin over the surface to press the sugar in completely. Repeat the same for the other side too.

Fold the longest side of the pastry inwards by about 2cm and flatten with the rolling pin. Fold both sides over one more, sprinkle again and roll. Lastly fold it completely and roll the rolling pin over for the last time. See here for the step-by-step method. Trim the ends with a knife.

Now cut the folded pastry into thin strips. Then turn them onto one side and chill in for 15 mins. Bake them for 7-8 minutes (time varies depending upon the oven) so it’s better to check them in between, as they tend to be brown very fast due to the sugar. Remove from the oven and turn the pastries over. Bake for 5-7 minutes more or until golden.Let it cool completely. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Mushroom Dosa

There are so many varieties of dosa that we wouldn't know when to stop our counting.Most breakfasts in TamilNadu are made using the same idli/ dosa batter. Large quantities of batter are ground and stored in a refrigerator for about a week and make something new out of it everyday.This is another variety of dosa which i used to make once a week and my all time favorite too.Goes well with all type of chutneys especially coriander and mint chutney.

INGREDIENTS:

Dosa batter

(For filling)
Chopped mushroom - 1cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Green chili - 2
Chopped onion - 1/2cup
Chopped tomato - 1/2cup
Chili and coriander powder - 2tsp
Garam masala - 1tsp
Coriander leaves

METHOD:

Heat oil in pan add cumin seeds and allow to sputter.Than add chopped green chillies,onion and fry till onion get cooked.Now add the tomatos and saute it for a while.Add the chopped mushroom and close the lid.Let it cook for 5mins.After 5 mins add all the masalas and if necessary add some water and cook until the raw smell gone.Finally add some coriander leaves and remove from the fire.

Pour a ladle of batter on the Dosa tawa, spread it and add oil on the sides. After a few minutes turn it on to the other side. When done , Turn again and spread mushroom masala on one side. Bring the other side of dosa up and close the stuffing. Cook for another minute and serve with chutney.

I am sending this dosa as my entry to Srivalli's Dosa mela.