Savory Palmiers

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

That’s all I have to say about these palmiers. That and four words: CRISPY, FLAKY, TANGY, SPICY.

Okay, I have a lot more to say, but that gives you an idea of what your tastebuds will think when they get a hold of these savory palmiers. In short, your tastebuds will love you for it.

This was the signature challenge for Patisserie Week in the Great White Tent — the semifinal. The bakers had to make 12 each of two different flavors of savory palmiers.

Of course, to make palmiers, you first need to make puff pastry. And rough puff just won’t do. This is a job for full puff pastry.

This time around, I followed the pastry recipe Andrew used for his savory palmiers, which I call “speedy puff pastry,” as he utilizes the freezer to speed up the chilling time between folds. It paid off, as this may have been my best batch of puff pastry yet. Upon baking it, hardly any butter seeped out (a problem I’ve experienced in the past), resulting in many layers of crispy flakes of pastry — just what Paul Hollywood was looking for.

Puff Pastry’s Origin Story

Puff pastry, like so many other types of pastry, has a long, storied history. It’s possible to trace its origins to filo (a.k.a. phyllo) dough, which uses a similar procedure of layering butter, lard or olive oil between thin sheets of pastry and has been credited, respectively, to the ancient Greeks, Turks and even the Chinese. Some also link puff pastry to Moorish Spain, where several variations on layering fat with dough were described in 13^th century cookbooks. From there, historians have traced the first known recipe for puff pastry in France to a charter written in 1311 by a Bishop Robert of Amiens.

The technique of rolling butter inside the dough and folding it over and over again, known as tourage, is first mentioned in a 1604 cookbook by Lancelot de Casteau called L’Ouverture de cuisine. He was the master chef for the Prince of Liège. While his recipe calls for brushing melted butter over the rolled out dough, the process of folding cold pieces of butter into the dough was first mentioned in the 1651 edition of Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de La Varenne, chef to the Marquis d’Uxelles.

Puff pastry starts with a block of butter.

A Palmier By Any Other Name…

Out of this game-changing invention came all sorts of mouthwatering delicacies, from beef Wellington to tarte tatin and pithiviers to strudel. And every time a chef or home baker makes these pastries, they almost always have leftover dough.

Not wanting to waste a single scrap, someone along the way — probably in the late 19^th century — came up with palmiers. Some credit the French, some the Austrians with this creation, but by 1896 the recipe had crossed the Atlantic and landed in Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cook Book. And now they can be found in some form in almost every culture, with names varying from Schweineohren (pig’s ears) in Germany to butterfly pastries in China to French hearts in Pakistan.

Sweet or Savory?

While traditionally made by sprinkling sugar over the flattened dough and then rolling it up from both ends, palmiers can also be made with savory fillings. Some of the fillings in the tent included pesto and sun-dried tomato (Jane); goat cheese and roasted red peppers (Andrew); and salmon, spinach and mushroom (Selasi).

For my savory palmiers, I decided to push the envelope with spicy flavors by pairing chili crisp with parmesan cheese for one variety, and for the other I went with a salty-sweet combination of bacon and balsamic-onion jam.

To make onion jam, start with thinly sliced onions.

My husband and I recently discovered chili crisp as a topping for pasta. We don’t have the most seasoned palates when it comes to spicy heat, but we found chili crisp to be a good balance between heat, crunch and flavor. For our Midwestern-bred, middle-aged, white-folk palates, it offers just enough zest and that warm afterglow that lingers on the tongue without overpowering your tastebuds.

Almost everyone has a favorite brand of chili crisp (although you can make your own). Ours is Lao Gan Ma. When combined with the flaky, buttery puff pastry and parmesan cheese — which I worked into the dough during the last two folds and then sprinkled on more before dolloping on the chili crisp — the flavors are out of this world!

Fold both sides toward the middle for the traditional palmier shape.

Spread dough with onion jam and bacon bits.

My friend Lori has brought her homemade onion jam to cookouts and potlucks, and it is amazing on hamburgers. So I asked her for the recipe, and she told me she got it from this website. It starts with thinly sliced sweet onions that are cooked down onions until they are caramelized and golden. Then you add sugar and balsamic vinegar and let it simmer slowly until it turns thick and jammy.

I spread this over my puff pastry dough and sprinkled on some crisp bacon bits. Then I rolled, sliced and baked it, and it was love at first bite! The rich, umami flavor of the balsamic and onions contrasts with the salty, crispy bacon to give these palmiers a real moreish quality.

Both of these savory palmiers would be a great addition to a charcuterie board or a wonderful appetizer for a drinks party. They also pair well with soup or salad but, speaking from personal experience, are just as tasty as a snack all on their own!

Savory Palmiers Two Ways

Servings: Makes 12 of each kind
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Credit for the puff pastry: Andrew Smyth (BBC.co.uk) — Adapted for American bakers Credit for the onion jam: Attainable-Sustainable.net

For the balsamic-onion jam:

1 lb. sweet yellow onions, sliced
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
3/8 c. (6 T.) granulated sugar
3/8 c. (6 T.) balsamic vinegar
½ t. fine sea salt
¼ t. ground black pepper
½ t. fresh rosemary, finely minced (or ¼ t. dried)
1 t. fresh thyme leaves (or ½ t. dried)

For the puff pastry:

2 c. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
½ t. fine sea salt
½ c. ice water
2 T. butter, melted and cooled (but still liquid)
14 T. (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter, very cold
½ c. parmesan cheese, finely grated

For the balsamic-onion and bacon palmiers:

½ c. balsamic-onion jam
6 oz. bacon, diced
1 free-range egg, beaten

For the parmesan and chili crisp palmiers:

½ c. shredded parmesan cheese
½ c. chili crisp

Directions

First, make the onion jam: Put olive oil and onions in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden, about 10-15 minutes. Add sugar and balsamic vinegar, and cook for another 45 minutes or more, until mixture is thickened and jammy. Add salt, pepper and herbs. Allow to cool, then transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator until ready to use. (Leftovers will keep for several weeks in the fridge.)
To make the pastry, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the salt, ice water and melted butter in the middle of the well. Using your fingertips, gradually stir to incorporate the flour into the liquid. Once the mixture has formed a dough, knead it a few times to bring it into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove the cold butter from fridge and place it between two sheets of parchment paper. (If using two sticks of butter, place them next to each other on one of the sheets and pound with a rolling pin so the two sticks merge into one slab.) Pound and roll the butter into a 7½-inch square. Wrap it in parchment and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove dough from freezer and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a flat diamond shape large enough to wrap around the butter block. Place butter block in the center of the dough with the flat sides of the butter facing the points of the diamond. Bring the points of the diamond toward the center of the butter so the butter is completely covered, like an envelope. Pinch dough together at the seams.
Use the rolling pin to roll the pastry-wrapped butter into a rectangle approximately 8 by 15 inches, turning pastry frequently to prevent sticking and working quickly to avoid warming up the dough.
With the short side of the rectangle facing you, fold the top third down over the middle third, then fold the bottom third up over the top folded portion. This is a letter fold. Use the edge of your palm or a ruler to square off the edges and make sure they match up. Dust off any excess flour with a pastry brush. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. This is the first turn. (Keep track of the number of turns.)
On the second turn, position the dough so the short edge is facing you (so you will be rolling it at a 90-degree angle from the first turn). Roll it out to a rectangle about 6 by 15 inches, then fold the top third down and bottom third up, as before. Wrap and chill in freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling steps two more times, changing the direction of the dough each time.
On the fourth turn, roll out the dough to about 6 by 15 inches, then cut it in half to make two rectangles approximately 6 by 7½ inches each. Roll one half out again to 6 by 15 inches, fold it into thirds as before, wrap and return to freezer for 10 minutes. Roll the other half out to 6 by 15 inches and sprinkle it with ¼ cup of the grated parmesan, then fold it into thirds as before, wrap and return to freezer for 10 minutes. (Mark the wrap with a “P” to keep track of which dough has parmesan in it.)
Repeat the rolling and folding once more. Sprinkle the dough marked with a “P” with the remaining ¼ cup of grated parmesan before the last fold. Wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ready to use (for up to two days).
When ready to make the palmiers, preheat oven to 410°F. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.
To make the onion and bacon palmiers, first fry the bacon in a medium-sized skillet, stirring frequently so all the pieces get browned and crisp. Use a heatproof slotted spoon to transfer the bacon bits from the pan to paper toweling to drain. Allow to cool.
Remove the dough without the parmesan from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle roughly 6 by 15 inches and 1/8-inch thick. With the short side facing you, spread the onion jam over the pastry and sprinkle the bacon bits over that. Use a rolling pin to gently press the filling into the dough.
Fold 3½ inches of dough upward from the edge closest to you and press down, then fold upward again so you have a double fold and the inner folded edge is about at the midpoint of the rectangle. Repeat this double fold from the top of the rectangle down. Lightly brush some of the beaten egg along the top of the folded portions, then bring them together like a book. (All the topping should be on the inside.) Wrap tightly in plastic wrap so that it doesn’t come unrolled, transfer to a baking sheet and place in freezer for 10 minutes. (Reserve remaining egg wash for the parmesan-chili crisp palmiers.)
To make the parmesan and chili crisp palmiers, roll the dough marked with a “P” out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle roughly 6 by 15 inches and 1/8-inch thick. With the short side facing you, brush egg wash over the half of the rectangle closest to you, then liberally sprinkle half of the shredded parmesan over the egg wash. Lightly press the cheese into the dough with a rolling pin. Then, using a spoon, place small dollops of chili crisp over the parmesan, draining as much of the oil off the chili crisp as possible when scooping it out with the spoon. (Use about half of the chili crisp.) Gently press the chili crisp into the dough with the rolling pin. Tightly roll the bottom half of the dough up like a Swiss roll so the filling is on the inside.
Gently flip the dough upside down and brush egg wash over the top half of the rectangle, then sprinkle the rest of the shredded parmesan over the egg wash. Lightly press the cheese into the dough with a rolling pin and dollop with remaining chili crisp, as before, then press the filling lightly into the dough with a rolling pin again. Roll it up with the filling on the inside, so you end up with an S-shaped roll. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap so it doesn’t come unrolled, then transfer the roll to a baking sheet and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon and onion roll from the freezer. (It should be firm to the touch but not frozen.) Use a sharp knife to even off the ends, then cut it into ½-inch slices, wiping the knife on a paper towel between each slice. Lay the slices flat on two of the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each one, as they will spread during baking. Chill for 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer.
While they are chilling, remove the parmesan-chili crisp roll from the freezer. (It should be firm to the touch but not frozen.) Use a sharp knife to even off the ends, then cut it into ½-inch slices, wiping the knife on a paper towel between each slice. Lay them flat on two of the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each one, as they will spread during baking. Chill for 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer.
Bake the palmiers in the preheated oven for 11 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 8-12 minutes until golden-brown and puffed up. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Palmiers are best the day they are made. They will keep in an airtight container for a few days but will lose their crispness as time goes on. To refresh that satisfying crunch, warm them in a toaster oven or on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.