Saturday Afternoon Yummies

Today was an excellent day. I woke up and almost immediately was joined by one of my best friends, Emily, for a quick work out and swim at the local LA Fitness. It was so refreshing to work up a sweat, and then to find instant relief in the coolness of the pool. By the time we were done, both of us were REALLY hungry, so we filled our bellies with yummy Greek food from Kafe Neo, which is sooooo delish and incredible, and I can't rave enough about it.

While working out, Emily was flipping through a magazine that she brought called Picnics and Cookouts. One recipe in particular caught both of our eyes, and we decided it would be a terrific idea to spend the afternoon in June Cleaver mode.

For your tasty amusement, I have included the recipe (and some pics) below. This little babies are heavenly, in every sense of the word.

Rustic Red Raspberry Turnovers (yields 12)

What you'll need


Berry Filling
4 tsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 cups fresh red raspberries, rinsed and patted dry (we ended up using blueberries instead)
1 to 2 Tbs. milk

Pastry Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
14 Tbs. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large egg, beaten
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. chilled heavy cream
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. table salt
Parchment paper

Shortbread Pastry Dough


1. In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, egg, sugar, cream, lemon juice, and salt, and pulse until the dough starts gathering together in big clumps.
2. Turn the dough out onto a counter and gather it together. Shape the dough into 1-inch thick disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate to firm a bit, 20 to 30 minutes. You want the dough to remain pliable enough to roll, but not so soft that it's sticky and difficult to move once it's rolled out.

Turnovers


1. Divide the pastry and pat each half into roughly a square shape about 1-inch thick, wrap each in plastic, and chill for20 minutes.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out one square of pastry into a 9x14-inch rectangle. If the dough is too sticky, dust it with a little flour. Cut the dough into 6 rounds, each about 4 inches in diameter. Remove the excess dough from around the rounds and discard or save for another use. Run a metal spatula under each round to separate it from the counter.

3. In a large bowl, stir the 4 tsp. sugar and the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the raspberries and gently toss to coat. Taste and add more sugar if the fruit seems tart.

4. Put a heaping 1 Tbs. of raspberries (3 to 6 berries) in a single layer on one half of each dough round. Press gently to flatten the berries a bit. Dampen the pastry edges with a little water and carefully fold the other side of the dough over the berries to make a half moon. Press the edges of the dough together with your fingers or the tines of a fork. If any small cracks form in the dough, pinch them together as best you can with damp fingers. Use a spatula to transfer the turnovers to a baking sheet.

5. Repeat this process with the remaining half of the pastry dough and the rest of the berries. When all the turnovers are assembled, refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 4 hours.
6. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. When ready to bake, brush the tops of the turnovers with the milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

We consider these guys a huge triumph, considering how tasty they were, and just how difficult it was for us to make the stinking dough rounds. We didn't use a food processor, so the dough was hard to form, but in the end, it was well worth it because THEY WERE SOOOOO YUMMY!