Kastengel--Savory Cheese Sticks

Santa don't want no cookies this Christmas Eve.  All that milk and sugar brings him down with a blood sugar crash, a Christmas day funk that lasts through New Year's.  So this year we're leaving him some kastengel and a glass of thick red wine, or maybe some scotch.

The Dutch didn't leave Indonesia much from 350 years of colonialism.  They were more interested in what they could take from the archipelago than in what they could contribute to it.  One thing they did leave was an appetite for kastengel.  Look at the ingredients and you immediately recognize they did not spring from the Indonesian islands.  Yet, kastengel are a favorite treat to celebrate Lebaran and other major holidays.  Cheesy, buttery, and utterly lacking in nutritional merit, kastengel make tremendous sense as a way to celebrate the end of a month of fasting. 

Kastengel are also a nice change from the overabundance of sweets following Ramadan and during the holiday season in the US.  Cookies are everywhere at this time of year.  Snickerdoodles, ginger snaps, candy cane meringues, almond crescents, and Russian tea cakes abound.  That Santa doesn't slip into a diabetic coma is a Christmas miracle in itself.  Leave a few kastengel in place of the usual cookies and Santa will be pleased.  He may even be extra good to you.

I had never heard of Nyonya Liem or Ibu Liem until Tjing asked me to make some kastengel, but a google search for kastengel resulted in her name appearing again and again.  So I adapted her recipe, simplifying its directions, and translating it into English.  I'm sure the cheddar cheese her recipe calls for is the Kraft processed cheddar that one can find fairly easily in Indonesia.  It makes a more decorative topping of the kastengel as it could probably be baked in a potter's kiln without melting.  A grated parmesan or other relatively dry cheese will produce similar results.  I used a mix of parmesan and a good English cheddar.

Kastengel ala Ny. Liem

printable recipe

I am giving the measurements most Americans are comfortable with; however,  I use a scale when making these as it just makes it easier.  The original recipe calls for equal parts butter and margarine, 150 grams each.

2 cubes butter (8 oz/227 gr), room temperature
6 TBS margarine, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
3 1/3 TBS (50 ml) half and half
4 oz parmesan cheese, grated
4 oz cheddar/edam/gouda, grated

3 TBS (25 gr)corn starch
5 TBS (25 gr)powdered milk (the original recipe calls for full cream powdered milk, but I used non-fat as that is what is readily available in the US and it worked fine)
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups (500 gr) all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder

Egg wash of egg yolks mixed with a little oil and water
Finely grated cheddar/parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, margarine, and egg yolks.  Using a mixer, beat the ingredients for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Beat in the cream to further lighten the mixture.  Add in the cheese and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed in.

In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter/cheese mixture until all the flour has been incorporated.  You will have what looks like a bowlful of crumbly particles.  The dough will not come together until you press it together with your hands.

To make the logs, press together a handful of the mixture and roll it into a rope, like making a playdough snake.  You want the rope to be not quite as thick as an AA battery.  Using an AA battery as a guide, cut the rope of dough into pieces the length of a battery.  Place the cut pieces about 1 inch apart from each other on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Once you have filled a baking sheet with the cut pieces, brush them with the egg yolk wash.  I make a wash with one egg yolk at a time and have found that will usually be enough for one baking sheet (about 50 kastengel).  Sprinkle the finely grated cheese atop the pieces.

Bake in a pre-heated 300º oven for about 20 minutes.  Lower the heat to 200º and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the kastengel are cooked through, but not really browned.

This makes a lot.  10 to 12 dozen.  The dough can be frozen.  Bring it to room temperature before attempting to roll it out and make the kastengel.

Blue Cheese Tartlets with Honeyed Walnuts

I can't recall when exactly I became fond of blue cheese, but I know I was well into adulthood.  Blue cheese, like brussels sprouts, is something of an acquired taste.  It requires a certain aging of the taster as much as the cheese.  Like brussels sprouts, it is pretty much a take it or leave it proposition.  I doubt you'll find too many children who appreciate the tang of a good blue.

I particularly like blue cheese in salads with pears and walnuts.  The crisp sweetness of the pears is a perfect foil to the salty richness of the cheese.  A salad with arugula, pears, blue cheese, and walnuts lightly dressed with a vinaigrette is a perfect winter salad.  

 

The holiday season is one of potlucks and cocktail parties for many.  As my wife and I both teach--at different schools in different districts--the last days before winter breaks are often hectic with competing parties.  One annual party that we look forward to is a wine tasting that raises funds for local ESL teachers.  With school districts dismantling adult education programs (a bill passed several years ago allows school districts to continue to receive funding for adult education classes even though the districts no longer offer classes, siphoning the funds for K-12 classes) these are lean times for ESL instructors.  The annual wine tasting is an enjoyable event that also helps out a few people.

Once you have the shells made (and you could certainly use packaged phyllo cups instead), these are a snap to assemble and bake.  I made several variations, putting bacon in some, diced apples in others, some with membrillo  spread on the bottom, and the rest simply with the cheese and walnuts.  I think my favorite were the ones with the membrillo; the sweetness of the quince paste was a nice counterpart to the cheese.

To make these, fill pre-baked tartlet shells with several teaspoons of softened blue cheese mixed with cream or cream cheese.  Top with honeyed walnuts and bake at 350º for eight to ten minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Bacon, pears, caramelized onions, or membrillo may be placed in the shells before adding the blue cheese mixture.

Cajun Gougeres

While no more than a blip on the screen in the rest of the world, the Superbowl is a major media event in the United States. Imagine the finals of the World Cup combined with a live rock concert supported by all the major international conglomerates. The Superbowl is not so much a sporting event as it is a spectacle. People with no interest in the sport, the game, the teams, or the players watch the game simply because everyone else is and it will be the topic of discussion the next day or two at work. The Superbowl is excessive, and if there's one thing America is good at it's excess.

Americans could probably learn to love soccer, if someone could just figure out a way that we didn't actually have to watch the games and could concentrate on beer, food, or diet commercials. How can we be expected to watch something for 45 minutes at a time without interruption? Jeez! A major draw of the Superbowl is the commercials shown during the game. In order to increase profits, the NFL (National Football League) increases the number of commercials shown during the game, and increasing the half-time, to make the game itself a mere distraction. Being the most watched TV event of the year, the network is able to charge premium prices for the commercial breaks. This year CBS is reportedly charging $3.1 million for every 30-second spot. In other words, in five minutes the network will make more than the $30 million being cut from my school district next year.

Of course, if we're going to watch several hours of commercials, we need to fuel ourselves for the endeavor. In neighborhoods across this great nation, people with gather in bars and in homes to drink and eat to glorious excess. More avocados are consumed this weekend than in any other weekend of the year, more than 43 million pounds, according to the New York Times. People try to relate the food to the teams involved in the game, and that isn't a problem for one of this year's teams, the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans has a long and distinctive history of celebrating good food, good eating, and good times. The Colts, however, are from Indianapolis, not exactly a foodie's Mecca. This is not to say there's no good food coming from Indianapolis, but it's more famous for it's racetrack than its cuisine.

I don't mind having an excuse to drink and eat, so I tend to celebrate the Superbowl in the American manner even if my team (the 49ers) hasn't been to the show for a few years now. I'll be watching at my brother's house this year. We tend to go for quality rather than quantity, so we'll have a pretty nice spread I'm sure. In addition to bringing kale chips, grilled Treviso radicchio with balsamic vinaigrette and homemade ricotta, I'm going to bring some Cajun gougeres to send some love to the Saints. Manning and the Colts are expected to win, but I'm pulling for the underdog Saints. Besides, if I were for the Colts, what would I bring? Cheeze whiz on Wonderbread?


Cajun Gougeres

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 lb tasso ham, minced
1/2 cup corn kernels (preferably fresh, but frozen will do)
1 cup shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar
1 TBS grated parmesan
1 green onion, minced

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a cast iron or stainless steel frying pan, dry fry corn kernels over medium high heat until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Bring water, butter, salt and cayenne to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Dump in the flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from heat and beat in one egg at a time, waiting until the first egg is thoroughly incorporated before beating in the second egg.

After the second egg has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth, stir in the remaining ingredients.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Space about 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.

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