PESTIÑOS, A SWEET FOR DUAL HOLIDAYS

 

For whatever holiday you're celebrating: pestiños are honey-glazed fried pastries.

This year both Christmas Eve and the first night of Hanukkah fall on December 24. This recipe for pestiños, honey-glazed fried pastries, is perfect for both holidays. 

In Spain, where nowadays most Christmas sweets are store-bought, pestiños are one of the few that are still homemade. Family and neighbors might gather on a chilly evening to roll, shape and fry pieces of a simple dough. Children can help with the dough, though frying is left to the grownups. 

Ready for 1st night of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah, the "festival of lights," is a Jewish holiday that marks the victory in the 2nd Century BCE of the Maccabees over an occupying force and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the re-lighting of the menorah. Miraculously, the olive oil for the menorah, enough for a single day, lasted for eight days and nights. For that reason the holiday is also a celebration of olive oil when it’s traditional to serve fried foods, both sweet and savory. 

Serve pestiños for a tree-trimming party.

How to serve pestiños? For a Hanukkah party serve the pestiños with pomegranate or grape juice (with or without vodka); mulled wine or hot apple cider. They're equally good for a Christmas tree-trimming party with eggnog.

In Spanish homes, when friends come to visit during the holidays, it’s typical to serve a platter of homemade sweets such as pestiños as well as store-bought mantecados and roscos, accompanied by sweet Málaga wine, aguardiente (anise liqueur) and Spanish brandy de Jerez. 

It's an occasion to catch up on family news and marvel at how much the children have grown, to view the Belén, Nativity scene, and compare recipes for for Noche Buena, the  Christmas Eve festive dinner.

Pestiños are also good for breakfast or afternoon snacks with coffee, hot chocolate, tea or herbal infusions. For dessert, serve pestiños alongside a winter compote of apples and pears stewed with raisins and figs. 

Honey-Glazed Fritters

Pestiños

Serve pestiños for breakfast, snacks, dessert, parties.

These little pastries are fried in oil then dipped in warmed honey to glaze them. Olive oil in the pastry dough is traditional and adds flavor. Olive oil also is best for frying but less expensive sunflower oil (aceite de girasol) can be used instead. 

After dipping the fritters in honey let them dry on a rack for 30 minutes. They will soak up some of the honey but will still be somewhat sticky. If you prefer not to finish them with honey, instead dredge them in sugar while they are still hot. Place the fritters on a rack to cool. 

The dough can be made several days before using and kept refrigerated. Once fried, the fritters are best soon after they are made but can be stored in an air-tight tin up to five days. 

Makes 40 fritters.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 strip of orange peel

1 teaspoon aniseeds

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour plus additional for rolling out the dough

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ cup orange juice

¼ cup white wine

Oil for frying (olive or sunflower)

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons water

1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Granulated sugar (optional)

Place the olive oil in a small saucepan with the strip of orange peel. Heat it until it begins to sizzle. Add the aniseeds and remove the pan from the heat. Let the oil stand 5 minutes. Skim out and discard the orange peel.

Cut dough in diamond shapes.

Place the flour in a mixing bowl and stir in the salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the oil with aniseeds. Stir some of the flour into the oil. Add the orange juice and wine and mix them into the flour.  

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it until smooth. The oil in the dough keeps it from sticking, so additional flour probably is not needed. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Pinch dough firmly.

Cover a sheet pan with baking parchment. Lightly flour work surface. Unwrap one of the balls of dough and pat to flatten it. Roll it out into more or less a rectangular shape 8 to 10 inches wide and as thin as a penny. Use a knife or pastry wheel to cut strips about 2 inches wide. Cut again on the diagonal, making diamond (rhomboid) shapes of dough. 

Pick up a piece and pinch together the two points that are closest together. Pinch firmly so the dough does not open when fried. Place each folded piece of dough on the sheet pan. Gather up any scraps and roll out again. Save a small bit of dough to use to test the oil temperature. (If desired the sheet of shaped dough can be refrigerated for several hours before continuing with the frying.)

Roll, cut and shape the second ball of dough in the same manner.

Put oil in a pan to a depth of 1 inch. Heat on medium-high. Drop a small ball of dough into the oil. When it begins to sizzle, the oil is hot enough (360ºF). Add the pieces of dough without crowding the pan. When golden-brown on the bottom, carefully flip them to brown the reverse sides. Skim out the fritters and drain on paper towels. Continue frying remaining pieces of dough.

Dip in warmed honey.

 Place the honey in a pan with the water. Bring it to a boil and remove from the heat. Set a rack over a sheet pan to catch drips. One by one dip the fritters into the warm honey. Place them on the rack. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Allow the fritters to dry. They will soak up some of the honey but will still be somewhat sticky. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.

Recipes for winter compotes to serve with pestiños:

Sweet Potato-Molasses Compote.

Quince Compote.

Sherried Fig Compote.

Fruit Compote in Grape Syrup.

Pear Compote with Málaga Wine

More fried pastries:

Crispy "Ears" for Carnival.

Fried Turnovers with Sweet Potato Filling.

Sweet and Crunchy Fried Bread.

HOLIDAY BAKING, WITH OLIVE OIL

 

Extra virgin olive oil, for baked goods.

        Did I mention that I came home from the mill with 22 liters of new extra virgin olive oil, the rewards from picking my own olives? I’m using olive oil in my continuing quest to convert old favorite recipes for baked goods from butter and “shortening” to olive oil. That seems especially appropriate this week as it is Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights (Dec. 10-18), when olive oil is part of the celebration. 

     Olive oil—and eating foods cooked with it—is part of the celebration to commemorate the lighting of the menorah in the re-dedicated Temple of Jerusalem in the 2nd Century BC.The olive oil for the menorah, enough for a single day, miraculously lasted for eight days and nights.

     This recipe is for Fig Brownies, a favorite of my friend Charlotte who used to make them for every special occasion. Back in the day (some 30 or 40 years ago), Charlotte had heaps of dried figs every autumn. Her gardener picked the figs from a couple of enormous fig trees near the house. He spread them on thatched mats placed in the sun and elevated to prevent bug infestation. Once they were dry, he packed the figs in seretes, baskets woven of strips of palm fronds, and took them to the press. Once tightly cinched and pressed, the figs kept very well for several months. 

Char used the recipe for Butterscotch Brownies (aka Blondies) in the Joy of Cooking, adding chopped figs to the batter. Adapting the recipe some more, I’ve taken the “butter” out of butterscotch, substituting extra virgin olive oil. These fig brownies with a Spanish accent would be a lovely addition to any holiday—Hanukkah, solstice, Christmas, New Year’s, Three Kings.

Olive oil instead of butter makes a moist and chewy brownie. Like "blondies," these fig "brownies" have no chocolate.

Olive oil lamp--a wick floats in olive oil with water below. 

Fig Brownies
Brownies de Higos Secos (Sin Chocolate)

You will need about 12 ounces dried figs. Remove stems and chop the figs coarsely to make 2 cups. Macerate them in a little sweet wine (I used Pedro Ximénez from Montilla-Moriles) or, if you like the flavor, aguardiente, anisette liqueur.

When baking with olive oil, I like to use spices that might not be used in traditional recipes with butter. Here, I’ve used cardamom and a tiny bit of aniseed. Aniseed, so typical of Spanish sweets, complements the figs beautifully. Cinnamon and nutmeg would be good too, or ginger and allspice. 

These brownies can be eaten out of hand (kids love them) or plated with a dollop of whipped cream, crême fraiche or vanilla ice cream. 

Makes 18 (2 ½-inch squares).

2 cups chopped dried figs

¼ cup dried cranberries (optional)

3 tablespoons sweet PX wine

1 ¼ cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

2-3 aniseeds, crushed

½ cup extra virgin olive oil + more to oil the baking pan

1 ½ cups light brown sugar

3 eggs

¾ cup chopped nuts

Combine the chopped figs and cranberries in a small bowl. Add the sweet wine and allow to macerate for at least 10 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a rectangular baking pan (approximately 8 X 13 inches) and line it with baking parchment.

Sift the flour with the baking powder, soda and salt. Add the cardamom and aniseed to the flour.

In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with the brown sugar until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour mixture until batter is completely smooth. Fold in the figs and cranberries. Fold in the nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Loosen the edges of the brownies and turn them out on a work surface. Peel off the parchment. Use a serrated knife to cut into (approx. 2 ½-inch) squares.  Brownies keep up to a week in an air-tight container.

More recipes for baking with olive oil:

Apple-Almond Olive Oil Crumble.

Orange-Saffron Olive Oil Cake.

Olive Oil Carrot Cake.

Pear Cake with Olive Oil.

Almond Torte.

Crispy Olive Oil Cookies.

Date-Nut Bars.

Fig Pudding.

Olive Oil Pie Crust.

3 versions olive oil pastry dough.

Banana bread with olive oil: 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 3 large ripe mashed bananas,  2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt,  1 cup chopped nuts. Beat oil and sugar. Beat in eggs, then mashed bananas. Stir in dry ingredients and nuts. Bake at 350ºF. 

Peanut butter cookies with olive oil: Beat 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Beat in 2 eggs. Add 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend in peanut butter. Form balls, press onto baking sheet. Bake 400ºF. 5-10 minutes. 

PAT ‘EM, ROLL ‘EM, THROW THEM IN THE OLIVE OIL—CROQUETTES!

It's a croquette party! Top are cheese-potato balls, bottom right are mushroom croquettes; bottom left are ham croquettes.

Golden-brown and crispy on the outside, meltingly soft on the inside and packed with flavor, a good croquette is a joy to bite into. Croquettes appeal to all the senses, they go with every drink. Genuine crowd pleasers, croquettes are perfect for holiday parties.

Oh joy! Jugs of new olive oil ! Let's fry!

 Spain being the great land of olive oil, it comes as no surprise to find that fried foods top the tapas charts. Although, because olive oil is expensive, truth be told, many cooks use lesser vegetable oils. Perhaps this is false economy, as foods fried in olive oil absorb less oil than if fried in other oils. That means the oil lasts longer and it makes for less greasy food. Another advantage: olive oil used for frying can be strained and reused four or five times, whereas other oils begin to break down and really shouldn’t be used more than twice.

Don’t use your delicate and most expensive extra virgins for frying, for the simple reason that many of their flavour qualities are lost at frying temperatures. Best are extra virgin oils from Andalusia made from the very stable Picual olive.

Fryer basket.

You can fry croquettes in either a deep-fat fryer or a deep skillet. I’ve just bought a frying pan with a basket, to make removing the fried food easier. You need enough oil to completely cover the croquettes while they are frying.

Fry food in small batches, without crowding, and allow the oil to return to frying temperature before adding a new batch.

Heat olive oil to a temperature of 180ºC / 360ºF. The oil will be shimmering, just beginning to waft a little smoke. At this temperature a crust forms on the surface of the croquette, so the oil doesn’t penetrate it, but it doesn’t brown too quickly, allowing the interior of the food to cook thoroughly.

Have ready a platter lined with paper towels. Skim croquettes out of the oil and allow them to drain a few minutes.

After frying, cool the oil, strain it and store in a dark place for using again. Olive oil, which is rich in antioxidants, can be used up to four times.

Crisp on the outside, molten inside.

Croquettes are best served straight out of the frying pan, so the golden-brown crust is crisp and the filling molten. While they require last-minute frying, the croquettes can be shaped and breaded well in advance. Put them in the fridge until ready to fry them or else freeze them on a tray. Once frozen, store the croquettes in plastic bags. Do not thaw before frying them.

Croquettes are sometimes served with a dipping sauce. I’ve got alioli (garlic mayonnaise) spiked with hot pimentón and a sweet-sour quince sauce. (Those recipes are at the end of this post.)

Here are three croquette recipes. Two start out with a thick béchamel-type paste, but made with olive oil instead of butter. The third one, with cheese, has a base of mashed potatoes lightened with whipped egg whites.

Three kinds of croquettes, with alioli and quince sauce for dipping.

Mushroom Croquettes
Croquetas de Setas

Use any wild or cultivated mushroom for these croquettes.

Makes about 5 dozen 1-inch croquettes.

Ingredients for mushroom croquettes.

2 cups milk
Sprig of rosemary or thyme
½ cup olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups chopped mushrooms (about 6 ounces)
¼ cup fino Sherry
1 cup flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups fine dry bread crumbs
4 cups olive oil for frying

Heat the milk in a pan with a sprig of rosemary or thyme.

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion until softened, 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry until the liquid is cooked off and they begin to sizzle. Add the Sherry and cook until liquid is cooked off. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Pour half the hot milk through a strainer into the mushrooms (discarding the sprig of herb). Stir or whisk until it thickens. Stir in the remaining milk and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Continue cooking and stirring until thick and smooth, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.

Spread the mushroom mixture in a shallow oiled pan to a depth of about 1 inch. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it lightly onto the surface of the mushroom mixture. Cool completely. (The paste can be refrigerated up to 2 days.)

Place beaten eggs in a shallow bowl. Spread half the crumbs in a shallow tray. 

Cut the mushroom paste into 1-inch squares. Roll them first in crumbs, then dip in beaten egg, then roll again in crumbs. Pat them gently to make rounded sides. Place on a tray. (Croquettes can be prepared to this point and chilled or placed on a tray and frozen.)

Place oil in a deep skillet and heat to 360ºF. Add croquettes in a single layer. Fry them until they are golden on the outside, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve croquettes hot.

 Ham Croquettes

Croquetas de Jamón

Chopped serrano ham.

Perhaps you’ve got a whole serrano or ibérico ham for the Christmas holidays. If, like me, you are hardly an expert in the fine art of slicing it (see http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/slicing-spanish-ham.html for more about slicing ham) ), you probably have plenty of ham scraps. Here’s the perfect recipe for using them up.

Heating some of the ham fat in oil flavors the oil.

This recipe comes from my book, TAPAS—A BITE OF SPAIN. I’ve left the ingredient measurements in metric, British and American measures.

Makes approximately 4 dozen 2 ½ -inch croquettes.

1 liter / 1 ¾ pints / 4 ¼ cups milk
140 ml / ¼ pint / ½ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
Chopped ham fat (optional)
4 tablespoons chopped spring onion, including some of green
Pinch of thyme
110 g / 4 oz / 1 cup plain flour, sifted
125 g / 4 ½ oz/ 1 cup serrano or ibérico ham, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
210 g / 7 ¼ oz / 1 ¾ cups fine dry bread crumbs
3 eggs beaten with 2 teaspoons water
4 cups olive oil for frying

Bring the milk to a boil and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the ham fat until fat partially melts. Pour the oil through a sieve into a heat-proof bowl. Discard the bits of fat.

Return the oil to the pan and sauté the onion without letting it brown, 2 minutes. Add the thyme and stir in the flour. Cook 2 minutes without browning the flour. Whisk in the hot milk, stirring hard as the mixture thickens. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and smooth, 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the ham, salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture in a large, shallow tray that has been lightly oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Cut the paste into cylinders.

Place half the bread crumbs in another shallow tray. Place the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl.  Working with part of the croquette mixture at a time (return the tin to the refrigerator), drop spoonfuls into the tray of breadcrumbs. Roll them in the crumbs to form 5-cm / 2 ½-in cylinders. (Use about 22 g / ¾ oz of the mixture for each croquette.)

Use 2 forks to dip each croquette in beaten egg, letting excess egg drip off, then drop the croquettes back into the crumbs. Sprinkle with some of remaining crumbs. Roll the croquettes in crumbs. Take care to completely coat the croquettes so that filling doesn’t leak out in the hot oil. As they are shaped and breaded, place them on a tray. Allow to dry for at least 30 minutes.

Place oil in a deep fryer or in a deep frying pan to a depth of at least 2 ½ cm / 1 in. Heat to 180ºC / 360ºF. Fry the croquettes in batches until they are golden-brown, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Ham croquettes.

Cheese and Potato Croquettes
Croquetas de Queso

Cheese croquettes with quince sauce.

Fried in olive oil, these croquettes are a good trade-off (for a dairy meal) for latkes (potato pancakes), a favorite dish for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival that celebrates oil (starts at sundown December 6).

The recipe comes from La Mancha where it is made, obviously, with Manchego cheese. Today, instead, I’ve used a semi-cured goat cheese from Cádiz. In fact, any cheese could be substituted. I’m thinking a smoky Idiazábal from the Basque country would be good too.

Cooking the potatoes unpeeled prevents their absorbing a lot of cooking water. They will be almost as flaky as a baked potato. Unlike the other croquettes, these do not need to be chilled. They should be fried off within a few hours of preparing the mix so that the egg whites don’t lose their pouf.

The croquettes can be fried up to 4 hours in advance and kept at room temperature. Place them on a baking sheet and reheat them in preheated 400ºF oven until hot, 10 minutes. Fried croquettes can be frozen for up to 1 month. Remove them from freezer 15 minutes before heating. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375º oven for 15 minutes.


Makes 50 (1 ½-inch) croquettes.


1 ½ pounds potatoes (3 medium)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ½ cups grated cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon minced scallion
½ teaspoon cumin seed (optional)
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of hot pimentón or cayenne
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
Olive oil for frying (about 4 cups)

Cook the potatoes, unpeeled, in boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Split them in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl, discarding skins. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and mash the potatoes with a fork or potato masher until fairly smooth.

Stir the cheese into the potatoes. Add the scallion, cumin, parsley, salt, thyme, and hot pimentón.

Separate 2 eggs. Place 2 whites in a clean bowl. Stir 2 yolks into the potato mixture.

At high speed beat the whites until stiff. Beat in the vinegar.

Fold half of the egg whites into the potato mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold in remaining whites.

Beat remaining 2 eggs and place in a shallow bowl. Spread the bread crumbs in a tray.

Use a teaspoon to scoop up a mound of potato-cheese. Drop it into the beaten egg and roll it to coat all sides. Lift it out with the spoon and a fork, allowing excess egg to drain off. Place the croquette into the crumbs. Continue shaping croquettes until the tray is filled. Spoon some of the crumbs over the croquettes and, using a fork, roll them to coat all sides.

Lift the croquettes out of the crumbs, patting very gently to shape into a ball. Place them on another tray as they are shaped.

Place oil in a deep skillet or fryer. Heat the oil to 360º. Fry the croquettes in 4 or 5 batches, turning them once, until they are golden-brown, 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Skim out and drain briefly on paper towels. Serve hot.

More recipes suitable for Hanukkah can be found here.

Cheese croquettes are puffy balls of potato.

For the quince sauce, cook 1 or 2 quinces, peeled, cored and sliced in 2 cups water with 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar and 1 tablespoon sugar until the quinces are fork tender. Drain, saving the liquid. Puree the quince in a blender with enough reserved liquid to make a smooth sauce. 

For the spicy alioli, whisk 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove crushed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon hot pimentón (pimentón picante) and 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar.