Chef Peter Milano Shares his Recipe for St. Joseph’s Pastries

The feast of Saint Joseph’s Day

Chef Peter Milano of Hudson Valley favorite Dish Wine Bar & Bistro brings a touch of his Italian-American Catholic heritage to the table

For many of us what follows our annual celebratory nod to St. Patrick are the repercussions of eating too much corned beef and cabbage, a smudged face-painted shamrock, or perhaps a headache from one too many green beers.  But for the Italian-American Catholic community, it means that the feast day of Saint Joseph’s is just around the corner.

Monday, March 19, Saint Joseph will be honored as a day of tradition and reflection.  During the Middle Ages, the people of Sicily were in the middle of a horrendous drought. Out of desperation, they prayed to St. Joseph to help bring rain.  When the rain came and the land flourished once more, the Sicilians prepared an extravagant feast. This began the tradition of the present-day St. Joseph’s Table, which includes a bountiful Lenten buffet that consists of fish and meatless offerings.  It is a symbol of the abundance of food that God provides.

A highlight of the meal are special pastries that consist of a baked or fried dough that is filled with a sweet cream filling.  Chef Peter will be offering his version of “St. Joseph’s Pastries” this weekend at his restaurant Dish Wine Bar & Bistro.  “My Grandmother would make these pastries every year as part of our St. Joseph’s feast and I’m happy to keep the tradition going,” says Milano.

St. Joseph’s Pastries – by Chef Peter Milano of Dish Wine Bar & Bistro, Mahopac


Ingredients
- Dough

½ cup grass fed butter

2 tsp of sugar

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

4 eggs at room temperature

Ingredients - Pastry Crème

2 egg yolks (preferably farm fresh for color)

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/4 tablespoon corn or potato starch

1 1/3 cups milk

½ tsp ground cardamom

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

lemon zest

 

Ingredients – Finishing

amarena cherries

fresh mint

powdered sugar

 

Method - Pastry:

 

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, bring water, salt, sugar and butter to a rolling boil over medium heat.

2.  Add in the flour and with a wooden spoon, combine until the mixture forms a ball.

3.  Remove from heat an place into a mixture with the dough attachment.  Add each egg, on at a time until incorporate and smooth.

4. Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

5.  Pipe the dough onto parchment paper or silicone sheets in round shapes about 3-4” apart.  You will want to leave a divot in the top of the dough for the cream.

6.  Bake about 30 minutes, then turn oven off and let the pastry rest about 20-30 minutes.

7.  Place on a cooling rack and make the pastry cream.

 

Method - Crème:

 

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat warm milk & lemon zest over a medium heat.  

2.  Turn the heat off and strain the lemon zest from the milk.  Then, add milk back to the pan add in the egg yolks, sugar, starch, salt, cardamom, vanilla and whisk together. 

3. Turn the burner on a low heat. Continue whisking and pouring, and gradually increase the heat, cooking until thickened. 

4.  Cover and cool under refrigeration. 

 

Assembly:

1. Take cooled cream and place in piping bag.  (Use whatever tip you’d like.)

2. Pipe cream into center of the pastry.

3.  Top with amarena cherry and mint, finish with powdered sugar.


About Chef Peter Milano

Peter A Milano has a dynamic background and over a decade of colorful experience his culinary expertise stands upon.  As a child, chef Peter found his passions in cooking, travel and martial arts.  It was about the story that brought you to the table, what was shared at the meal and the memories that you would carry with you forever.

Since then, chef Peter's life has been defined by his commitment to minimalist globe-trotting in search of new flavors and the methods locally used to create them.  His time has been spent with farmers in Ireland, monks in Belgium, servers in The Hague, street cooks in India and market owners in Italy ... to mention a few. With every journey are new teachers and wonderful food.  There's always a story to hear and plenty for chef Peter to share on every plate he proudly serves.

Dish Bistro & Wine Bar, 845-621-3474, Reservations are highly recommended; dishmahopac.com.

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Submitted by Brewster, NY

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