Yields: 5 to 6 servings

Almost Lightning-Fast Puff Pastry

Unlike classic puff pastry where a packet of fat is enclosed inside a packet of dough and subjected to multiple rollings, foldings and chillings to achieve impressive lift and flakiness, the dough used here is flaky and buttery but takes its cues from the method used to create flaky pie pastry where the fat is cut directly into the flour.

Yield: approximately 20 ounces, enough for one jalousie serving 5 to 6, with enough leftover dough to make approximately 8 cinnamon sugar twists, each measuring 6 inches long by ½ inch wide **

8 oz. all purpose flour
8 oz unsalted butter, cold but malleable and waxy in texture, not greasy or melting, cut into large chunks, measuring about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide by ½ inch thick
1/3 t. table salt
4 oz. ice water

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, salt and butter. With your fingers, lightly mix the butter into the flour so that it is well coated. Add the ice water all at once and gently mix it into the flour and butter mixture until a rough shaggy mass results. The idea here is to keep the butter in large flat chunks which will result in tender flaky dough when baked.  Remove from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Using a plastic dough scraper and your hands, coax the dough into a rough rectangular shape, measuring approximately 10 inch long by 5 inches wide by ¼ inch thick. Holding a rolling pin across the dough’s width, press the dough gently, tapping on the dough to make it cohere. Use the plastic scraper to free it from the work surface and then fold the dough rectangle from each end, first from one end and then from the other, to make a three-layered packet. Turn the packet 90 degrees and repeat the patting process, using the rolling pin again to press the dough into a rough rectangular shape. (Your goal is to avoid actually rolling  the dough to minimize toughening through excess gluten development until the last step when it will be rolled out to its final dimensions and thickness before chilling and baking.) Fold the dough back into a three-layer packet and then chill until cold and firm.  Using the rolling pin again, now with firm strokes, press the chilled dough again to lengthen into a rectangular shape. Chill for approximately 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and again place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it to a rectangle measuring approximately 11 inches wide by 14 inches long by ¼ inch thick. Trim off any excess dough. Now place the trimmed dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill again while you make the following walnut and grape filling.

Walnut and grape filling 

10 ounces of any combination of seedless Autumn Royal black grapes and Ruby Red, or other seedless varieties available in your area, cut into halves
2 oz. walnuts, roughly chopped
2 oz. granulated sugar
Pinch salt
½ t. ground cinnamon

Place the halved grapes, walnuts, sugar, salt and cinnamon into a bowl and mix lightly to distribute all ingredients evenly.

For the final assembly of the jalousie before baking:

1 ounce dry breadcrumbs

Egg wash:

Egg yolk from 2 large eggs (approximately 1.3 to 1-1/2 ozs.)
Cold water as needed

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with enough water to achieve a paintable consistency. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle a light coating of bread crumbs in a rectangle measuring approximately 12 inches long by 3 inches wide and positioned 1” in from one of the long edges of the dough. Spoon the walnut and grape filling over the layer of breadcrumbs, compacting it with your fingers and the back of the spoon. Then make eight to ten 2-1/2 inch long parallel cuts in the dough adjacent, and perpendicular to, the filling,  at ¾ to 1-inch intervals as vents for steam to escape as the jalousie bakes. Using a pastry brush, apply a thin coat of egg wash lightly but thoroughly all around the exposed margins of the dough. Now, carefully lift up the slitted dough (hence the name “jalousie,” a kind of  window with slats of glass that may be cranked open) without stretching it to cover the walnut and grape filling.  Firmly press to seal the ends and sides of the rectangle. Chill the jalousie for approximately 30 minutes.

If the racks in your oven are adjustable, position one of them halfway up from the bottom of the oven. Ten to fifteen minutes before you wish to bake the jalousie, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the jalousie from the refrigerator and thoroughly brush the top of it with the remaining egg wash. Place a sheet pan in the oven and place the jalousie in its pan on it (to prevent burning). Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the dough is fully puffed and golden brown, rotating the baking pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. Remove the under sheet pan for the last few minutes of baking so that the bottom of the jalousie becomes golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. Make the zabaglione as follows:

Vin Santo Zabaglione:

Each of the wines suggested below will lend a different flavor profile to the sauce but you cannot go wrong with any of them. The coppery glow of vin santo by the Tuscan maker, Frescobaldi, caught my eye; as beautiful as its color, its taste is wonderfully lush, sweet but not too sweet and eminently drinkable.

4 egg yolks
½ c. granulated sugar
1 c. sweet wine of your choice (Italian vin santo or sweet marsala, German or Alsatian trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) Riesling or Gewürtztraminer, among others)

In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light in color and thickened. Add the wine and cook the mixture over simmering water. (The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl). Whisk constantly until light and fluffy and slightly thickened. Serve hot, warm, room temperature or cold, with the jalousie, sliced diagonally into 2-inch wide slices (the baker gets to eat the two ends that have been cut off to allow for diagonal slices) accompanied, if desired, by a dollop of softly whipped lightly sweetened cream, crystallized bunches of grapes and a few shelled walnut pieces.
 

**For a nice dividend of the dough making process, you can make good use of the leftover dough in the following way.

For cinnamon sugar twists, do the following:

Reserve the trimmings by stacking them vertically. Wrap them up and chill them. When chilled, remove from the refrigerator, and on a lightly floured surface, roll the trimmings into a rectangle, approximately ¼ to 1/3 inch thick.

Lightly but evenly coat the surface of the dough with a coating of cinnamon sugar (1 t. ground cinnamon to ½ c. granulated sugar). Cut the dough lengthwise into ½ inch wide strips. Then twist the dough from each end to yield corkscrew-shaped strips of dough. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill to firm. When firm, remove from the refrigerator and place the sheet pan onto an inverted baking sheet set on the middle rack of a preheated 425 degree F. oven (this prevents the sugar twists from burning) and bake for approximately 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown. Watch carefully so that the twists do not burn. Lower the oven temperature if they are browning too fast. When done, remove to a rack and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. These are best eaten within one day of baking but don’t fret  If the members of your household are like mine, the twists won’t last long around your kitchen.