Guava Turnovers

My grandpa recently visited from California and brought with him about 25 lbs of guavas for his only granddaughter. I love guavas and normally would never even contemplate changing the flavor by cooking them, however, 25 lbs. is even too much for me to eat before they go bad. I should mention I had just finished a 10 lb. shipment a couple of weeks earlier.

So, although I still very much prefer the plain fruit straight from the tree, these turnovers turned out quite well.

Guava Turnovers

Yields: 8 large turnovers

Ingredients:

·         2 Sheets of Frozen Puff Pastry, Thawed

·         2 lbs. Guavas, peeled and halved

·         ¼ C. Sugar

·         2 tsp. Lemon Juice

·         1/3 C. + 1 Tbsp. Water

·         1 Egg

Directions:

1.       Roll out 2 sheets of puff pastry to about 12” x 12”

2.       Cut each sheet into 4 squares, place on parchment covered cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

3.       Combine guavas, sugar, lemon juice, and 1/3 C. water in a saucepan.

4.       Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.

5.       Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until fruit is tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes (this will vary depending on the ripeness of your guavas, mine were quite ripe already).

6.       Uncover and allow liquid to reduce, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

7.       Remove from heat, mash guavas, leaving small lumps.

8.       Place about 2 Tbsp. of guava mixture into center of cold puff pastry square. Fold square diagonally over mixture forming a triangle. Repeat with remaining 7 puff pastry squares. Cover and place in refrigerator while you preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

9.       Mix 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. water in small bowl to brush onto turnover.

10.    When oven is ready, take cold turnovers out of refrigerator, cut slits into the top of each triangle, brush with egg/water mixure, and sprinkle generously with sugar.

11.    Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

12.    Cool on rack and serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Souffle

My first souffle has turned out to be quite the success. It was light and chocolaty and totally delicious. It puffed up beautifully, then proceeded to fall within 5 minutes of coming out of the oven, but it came out directly underneath the air-conditioning vent so it was to be expected. Besides, by the time its served nobody knows what it looked like in the dish anyway.

Chocolate Souffle
I apologize, I cannot remember where I got this recipe

Ingredients:

About 1 Tbs. butter for dish
1/3 C. sugar, plus some for dish
3 eggs, separated
2 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted
Pinch salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 2-cup or one 4-cup soufflé or other deep baking dish(es). Sprinkle each with sugar, invert it and tap to remove excess sugar.
Beat egg yolks with all but 1 Tablespoon sugar until very light and very thick; mixture will fall in a ribbon from beaters when it is ready. Mix in the melted chocolate until well combined; set aside.

Wash beaters well, then beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until whites hold soft peaks; continue to beat, gradually adding remaining Tbs. sugar, until they are very stiff and glossy.

Stir a good spoonful of whites thoroughly into egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then fold in remaining whites, using a rubber spatula.

Transfer to prepared soufflé dish(es); at this point you can cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

Bake until center is nearly set, 20 minutes for individual soufflés and 25 to 35 minutes for a single large soufflé. (I did mine in a 6 cup souffle dish and it took 25 minutes). Serve immediately with some vanilla ice cream and sweetened whipped cream.