CHEESE BISCUITS - SAJTOS POGÁCSA

These are the perfect vendégváró, [visitor waiting] little biscuits for formal and informal occasions both. Our girl dropped in after work to spend time with her folks, even though we text and talk every day, this was the first time since Christmas Eve that she had time to sit down with us for the afternoon. Pogácsa seemed like the right choice after all the chocolaty decadence we consumed during the holidays. This recipe is from the brilliant young chef, Farkas Vilmos.

About the yeast:

A 0.6 oz. cake yeast is equivalent to one packet or 2-1/4 tsp dry yeast. [I use instant dry yeast, because it can be mixed into the ingredients without proofing.] Both the cake and the dry yeast will rise up to 4 cups of flour. In this case, the 4 tsp of dry instant yeast will seem like an overkill, however it is necessary to rise the still chilled dough in half an hour. Increasing the time would of course alter the biscuits' texture and appearance. The yeast content combined with the burst of high oven temperature is what makes the biscuits rise to perfection. No, they didn't taste yeasty, they were perfectly delicious!

CHEESE BISCUITS

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 egg yolks 

4 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tsp salt 

1/2 cup full fat [14%] sour cream

2 cups grated hard white cheese [I used Monterey Jack]
1-3/4 cup flour
1 whole egg for egg wash
1/4 cup grated white cheese for topping

• Cream the butter and the egg yolks until fluffy.
• Add the dry yeast, salt and the sour cream and stir to combine.
• Stir in 2 cups of the grated cheese.
• Finally add the flour.
• Change to a dough hook and kneed the dough on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes.
• The dough will be quite shaggy at this point.
• Line a plate with parchment [so the dough won’t stick to the plate]
• Scoop the dough out of the bowl and transfer it to the parchment lined plate.
• Press the dough flat onto the plate, wrap it and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours or even for the night.
• Place the chilled dough on a floured surface. The dough will be hard but in fifteen minutes it will be soft enough to knead.
• Meanwhile line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, lightly beat the whole egg.
• Grate 1/4 cup of hard cheese.
• Knead the dough until it softens for rolling.
• Roll the dough out evenly and with a very tiny biscuit cutter cut 50 rounds, re-rolling the scraps until all the dough is used up. If you end up with less than 50 biscuits, your biscuits will be larger so you will have to adjust the baking time. Dip the cutter into flour before every second cut and firmly press down the dough for neat, sharp edges.
• Arrange the biscuits into a tight group and sweep the brush with egg wash across the tops. Avoid egg drippings down the sides.
• Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking tray close but not touching. [The biscuits will rise up but will not spread much.]
• Top the biscuits with the grated cheese.
• Place the biscuits in a warm humid spot for exactly 30 minutes, not longer.
• Meanwhile set the oven to 400F.
• Place the biscuits in the preheated oven for approximately 15-18 minutes or until golden.
• The biscuits will be delicious hot or cold. I knew it will go fast, so I set aside one biscuit for the next day. It sat on the counter uncovered all night, but didn’t harden or dry out. It was perfect.