CHEESE SAMBOUSEK

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Cheese Sambousek image

Small, cheese-filled pastries, eaten as snacks. This recipe comes from the book "A Baker's Odyssey" by Greg Patent. It was recently featured on NPR.

Provided by Susiecat too

Categories     Lunch/Snacks

Time 1h30m

Yield 24 pastries, 12 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 16

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned into the cups and leveled)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1/2 cup cool water
2 teaspoons cumin (optional) or 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
1 large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt for egg wash
sesame seeds, for sprinkling
12 ounces cheese, shredded (use sharp-flavored cheese for best results)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 large egg yolk, beaten with
1 teaspoon water, for egg wash

Steps:

  • First make the dough:.
  • Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process for 5 seconds.
  • Add the butter and pulse 10 times, or until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal.
  • With the machine running, add the water in a steady stream, taking about 10 seconds to do so.
  • Process for 1 minute. The dough will gather into a ball and form a mass that whirls around the blade. Feel the dough. It should be smooth, soft, elastic, and no longer sticky.
  • If necessary, adjust the texture with droplets of water or small amounts of flour, processing a few seconds after each addition. If you want to add seeds to the dough, knead them in by hand on your work surface.
  • Divide the dough into 24 pieces and shape into balls (3/4 ounce each).
  • Cover the balls of dough loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
  • Next, the filling:.
  • Place the cheese, salt, cayenne, egg, and egg white in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse very rapidly 20 to 30 times, until the mixture just begins to gather into a mass.
  • Turn out onto a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and pat into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle.
  • Cut the cheese mixture into 1-inch squares.
  • Adjust two oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F
  • Line two 14 x 17-inch baking sheets with silicone baking pan liners or cooking parchment.
  • To shape the sambouseks, pat a ball of dough into a 4-inch circle on your unfloured work surface.
  • Place a square of the cheese mixture slightly below the center of the circle and pat it into a semicircular shape, leaving a bottom border of dough a scant 1/2 inch wide.
  • Fold the top half of the dough over the cheese and press the edges firmly to seal.
  • Use a fingertip to crimp the edge of the dough back on itself, forming a fluted border.
  • Place the sambousek on the prepared sheet.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough and cheese, placing 12 sambouseks about 2 inches apart on each sheet.
  • Paint the sambouseks with the egg wash.
  • Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
  • Rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back once during baking to ensure even browning. Use a wide metal spatula to transfer the sambouseks to wire cooling racks, and serve warm or at room temperature.

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