Sarah Goes to the Hospital and Other Thrilling Tails

Hello Everybody!
Due to my schedule insanity, this post will have to fill in the gaps of the last (two? three?) un blogged about weeks. If only I could fill in the gap on my finger…but I’ll get to that shortly. I believe I have already blogged about making two types of laminated dough (doughs with layers of fat rolled into it and folded in onto itself to create hundreds of layers of dough and butter/lard/shortening) namely Danish and croissant. The crux of the last few weeks has been a third laminated dough, the most widely used dough in a kitchen.
Lauded for its transformative properties, its abilities to straddle the line between savory and sweet and its visual heights is the Puff. Puff pastry is something found in many home cook’s freezers. Why would you make it yourself when you could easily find it in your grocer’s frozen section? Because chef tells you it’s a must. And then she tells you it’s actually more cost effective to buy it in most cases because it takes a long time to make. Truthfully, if you want really astounding height and even rising, you should make it yourself- but for what you would mainly use for, you could BUY IT. Being the fancy pastry students that we are, we made puff pastry three ways; a fast puff, a classic puff and a machine puff. I won’t go into the nitty gritty of making puff pastry because it is very similar to making croissants, just without the yeast. Besides, I have more gruesome tales to share.
One classic dessert you could make with puff pastry is a napoleon. Napoleons, for the uninitiated, are layers of crisp puff pastry, layered with pastry cream and sometimes berries, topped with either powdered sugar or glazing fondant. They are generally regarded as delicious (by me and my family) and are a cinch to make. They are not, however, a cinch to cut if you want to maintain the beautiful and delicate layers. To do so, you need to use a long, sharp, serrated knife. I was packing up a classmate’s napoleon for her as she washed dishes- (who wouldn't swap cutting napoleons for dishes?), when I carelessly cut my finger. I had cut myself before, and no one was surprised to find me heading to the first aid kit. Luckily, I have two ex-nursing students in my class and they were able to place bandaids on my finger like pros. Chef spotted some blood on the floor before I was able to clean it up and insisted I remove the bandages and show her my cut, then hailed in another chef to ask her opinion. The consensus? HOSPITAL. I put up a fight until chef held up one of her fingers and told me how she no longer has feeling in it because she didn’t make it to the hospital in time. A classmate gave me a lift to Bellevue (a lovely hospital) where I was super glued back together (literally- I didn’t want stitches and asked instead for Derma-Bond. I would recommend stitches). I came in my uniform and was asked by no less than five members of the hospital staff why I hadn’t brought them any treats- they are used to seeing people in the culinary field and were disappointed that I had left my napoleon back at school.
My finger is on the mend, and I was back in school this week in time to make Sfogliotelle, Cannoli and Breton. I would describe these foreign treats (Sfogliotelle and canola are Italian, Breton is from Brittany) but my half hour lunch break has expired. Suffice it to say that Sfogliotelle are as interesting to make as they are to spell, and require lard -Look out for an upcoming experiment using Crisco and butter as substitutes. Cannoli are awesome and probably the next trendy sweet treat and Breton is pleasant enough but not all that exciting (I hope I haven’t offended those of you hailing from Brittany).

-Power Puff Girl

Fun fact: I was not allowed into the adult wing, but was made to use the children’s emergency ward because I wasn’t yet 25. A special thanks to my Mom for picking me up!