Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Last week my younger daughter and I got together for a cooking day. She has shown an interest in learning to cook some Armenian recipes she remembers from when my mom was alive and from my older sister’s kitchen.
We had settled on cheese turnovers. I remember cheese turnovers from my childhood. I would wait in the kitchen for them to come out of the oven and wolf them down as soon as they cooled enough to eat. In recent years, my sister made a different version using filo dough in a baking dish similar to paklava. My daughter wanted to make the more traditional version.
I checked my ‘go to’ Armenian cookbook written by a long deceased Armenian woman and generally regarded as the bible of Armenian recipes. I found a filling recipe and a dough recipe for the turnovers (there were several variations) and we were set.
On the big day, we made the dough first and set it aside to rise then made the filling. DD rolled out the dough into 7” circles per the cookbook and I added 1/3 of a cup of filling. She sealed it off and I eggwashed it and cut slits in the top all per the recipe.
Sadly, when they baked, a lot of the filling poured out of the slits in the top of the turnover. The sealed edges were fine. They tasted great and I’d love to make them again but have to solve the spillage issue.
Here’s the filling recipe:
2 Lb Munster Cheese, shredded
1 C Cottage Cheese, small curd
2 Eggs
½ tsp Baking Powder
3 Tb Butter, melted
[FONT=PC명]¾ C Parsley[/FONT]
I have questions.
What is the purpose of the baking powder? I know it’s a leavener but why does the filling have to be leavened? So it can spill out of the turnover and ruin my day? Does it aid in making the domed shape for the top of the turnover by pushing the dough up from inside? What would happen if I left out the baking powder?
If you cut the turnover in half after it’s cooked and cooled, the filling is a layer on the bottom of the turnover with an empty dome of dough above. I don’ t get it.
Any thoughts?
We had settled on cheese turnovers. I remember cheese turnovers from my childhood. I would wait in the kitchen for them to come out of the oven and wolf them down as soon as they cooled enough to eat. In recent years, my sister made a different version using filo dough in a baking dish similar to paklava. My daughter wanted to make the more traditional version.
I checked my ‘go to’ Armenian cookbook written by a long deceased Armenian woman and generally regarded as the bible of Armenian recipes. I found a filling recipe and a dough recipe for the turnovers (there were several variations) and we were set.
On the big day, we made the dough first and set it aside to rise then made the filling. DD rolled out the dough into 7” circles per the cookbook and I added 1/3 of a cup of filling. She sealed it off and I eggwashed it and cut slits in the top all per the recipe.
Sadly, when they baked, a lot of the filling poured out of the slits in the top of the turnover. The sealed edges were fine. They tasted great and I’d love to make them again but have to solve the spillage issue.
Here’s the filling recipe:
2 Lb Munster Cheese, shredded
1 C Cottage Cheese, small curd
2 Eggs
½ tsp Baking Powder
3 Tb Butter, melted
[FONT=PC명]¾ C Parsley[/FONT]
I have questions.
What is the purpose of the baking powder? I know it’s a leavener but why does the filling have to be leavened? So it can spill out of the turnover and ruin my day? Does it aid in making the domed shape for the top of the turnover by pushing the dough up from inside? What would happen if I left out the baking powder?
If you cut the turnover in half after it’s cooked and cooled, the filling is a layer on the bottom of the turnover with an empty dome of dough above. I don’ t get it.
Any thoughts?