This is my take on a classic British pub meal.
It should be made with pieces of lamb slow cooked like a pot roast but lamb is hard to find here so I made do with lamb mince.
Ingredients
1lb lamb mince
1/2 onion coarsely chopped
1/2 packet of brown gravy mix
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1/2lb of puff pastry (as per previous post - half quantity)
Brown the mince and sweat the onions. Drain the excess fat from the mince and add in half the packet of gravy mix (as per packet instructions), salt, pepper and mixed herbs. Allow to cook a few minutes to allow gravy mix to thicken a little.
Place mix in either a single oven proof bowl or 2 if sharing (will stretch to 3 small servings). You want to make sure to mostly fill the bowl.
Next place puff pastry over the top of the bowl and press down the edges down the side of the bowl to seal it. Cut a small slit to let out excess steam. Glaze with egg yoke.
Bake at 425F for 20 to 25 mins or until golden brown.
Serve hot with mint sauce.
Mint sauce
Chopped mint (fresh is best but dried works)
Powdered sugar to taste
Malt vinegar (enough to cover mint completely)
Mix together and stir every few minutes so that the mint flavour infuses with the vinegar. The taste is meant to be sharp to counter balance the greasyness of the lamb.
If you don't fancy it just add a teaspoon of chopped mint in with the mixed herbs.
Monday 14 March 2011
Puff pastry
I felt like baking and was feeling ambitious. I had a dish in mind but needed puff pastry. Various books had various methods but I didn't have all the ingredients until I found this on Wikihow.
It worked really well, puffed up as much as store bought pastry! And its already in American cup measurements.
There was no cooking instructions but I found that 425F for 20 to 25 mins worked quite well.
Ingredients Steps Tips and Warnings
• 1 cup unbleached high protein all-purpose flour or better yet because you know the protein is high, unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 cup unbleached white pastry flour (not whole wheat) or plain bleached cake flour, not the self rising kind (with the baking powder and salt) You want just plain cake flour.
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 sticks plus 5 tbsp. coarsely grated, frozen, unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp. ice water
• 3 tbsp carbonated water
1. Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter to the bowl.
3. Toss to mix.
4. Add the ice water to the bowl and stir gently with a fork.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.
6. Smear the dough with the heel of your hand until all the dough has been smeared at least once. This helps incorporate the butter and makes the dough flakier.
7. Gather the dough into a ball, and chill the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.
8. Roll it out into a rectangular shape with the long sides running horizontally.
9. Fold the top third of the rectangle down over the dough.
10. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle up over the dough so the edges of the folded dough touch.
11. Fold the left edge of the dough over to meet the right edge, and pinch the seam.
12. Repeat steps 8 through 11.
13. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, and chill the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.
14. Repeat steps 8 through 13.
15. The dough is now ready to roll out and use.
Tips
• This recipe makes approximately 1 lb. of puff pastry.
• It is critical to keep the dough cold while you are working; the little bits of butter must remain cold and firm. If the butter begins to soften, return the dough to the freezer for 10-20 minutes, then resume your work.
• Cold marble surfaces are ideal for working with puff pastry.
• The dough stores well in the freezer, wrapped tightly in plastic, for up to one month. Make a double recipe and keep it handy in the freezer.
• The recipe can also be halved.
• Typically, after rolling out your puff pastry for use, lightly brush one side with a wash of egg beaten with some cold water. Invert that side over your filling and let the wash serve as a light glue around the sides of your baking dish.
• Brush the top of the pastry with some more of the egg wash for a high-gloss finish. Add chicken broth for flavour.
• If you still can't get it right after a couple of tries, then you're better off buying ready-made puff pastry sheets in the freezer section of your neighborhood grocery.
Warnings
• Try not to over-handle the dough. Work as quickly as you reasonably can.
• This is the kind of crust you'd use to top a savory pie, like a potpie, to wrap a beef Wellington or sautéed mushrooms, or over a tarte tatin. Don't use this kind of pastry under a heap of cinnamon apples or pumpkin puree.
It worked really well, puffed up as much as store bought pastry! And its already in American cup measurements.
There was no cooking instructions but I found that 425F for 20 to 25 mins worked quite well.
Ingredients Steps Tips and Warnings
• 1 cup unbleached high protein all-purpose flour or better yet because you know the protein is high, unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 cup unbleached white pastry flour (not whole wheat) or plain bleached cake flour, not the self rising kind (with the baking powder and salt) You want just plain cake flour.
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 sticks plus 5 tbsp. coarsely grated, frozen, unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp. ice water
• 3 tbsp carbonated water
1. Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter to the bowl.
3. Toss to mix.
4. Add the ice water to the bowl and stir gently with a fork.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.
6. Smear the dough with the heel of your hand until all the dough has been smeared at least once. This helps incorporate the butter and makes the dough flakier.
7. Gather the dough into a ball, and chill the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.
8. Roll it out into a rectangular shape with the long sides running horizontally.
9. Fold the top third of the rectangle down over the dough.
10. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle up over the dough so the edges of the folded dough touch.
11. Fold the left edge of the dough over to meet the right edge, and pinch the seam.
12. Repeat steps 8 through 11.
13. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, and chill the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.
14. Repeat steps 8 through 13.
15. The dough is now ready to roll out and use.
Tips
• This recipe makes approximately 1 lb. of puff pastry.
• It is critical to keep the dough cold while you are working; the little bits of butter must remain cold and firm. If the butter begins to soften, return the dough to the freezer for 10-20 minutes, then resume your work.
• Cold marble surfaces are ideal for working with puff pastry.
• The dough stores well in the freezer, wrapped tightly in plastic, for up to one month. Make a double recipe and keep it handy in the freezer.
• The recipe can also be halved.
• Typically, after rolling out your puff pastry for use, lightly brush one side with a wash of egg beaten with some cold water. Invert that side over your filling and let the wash serve as a light glue around the sides of your baking dish.
• Brush the top of the pastry with some more of the egg wash for a high-gloss finish. Add chicken broth for flavour.
• If you still can't get it right after a couple of tries, then you're better off buying ready-made puff pastry sheets in the freezer section of your neighborhood grocery.
Warnings
• Try not to over-handle the dough. Work as quickly as you reasonably can.
• This is the kind of crust you'd use to top a savory pie, like a potpie, to wrap a beef Wellington or sautéed mushrooms, or over a tarte tatin. Don't use this kind of pastry under a heap of cinnamon apples or pumpkin puree.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Jam tarts
Building on the shortcrust pastry experiments I decided to not waste it and make some tarts.
Easy peasey
Use the shortcrust and roll it out thinly.
Cut out circles of pastry (a standard coffee cup is about right). Place in greased tart tray (muffin tray works ok but its depth makes it hard to get them out) and place 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of jam or curd in each one.
Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 mins or until golden brown.
Let tarts cool a little before serving else the jam will be like napalm!
Easy peasey
Use the shortcrust and roll it out thinly.
Cut out circles of pastry (a standard coffee cup is about right). Place in greased tart tray (muffin tray works ok but its depth makes it hard to get them out) and place 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of jam or curd in each one.
Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 mins or until golden brown.
Let tarts cool a little before serving else the jam will be like napalm!
Shortcrust pastry
This is a basic all purpose shortcrust pastry good for pie and tart crusts.
Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons of room temperature margarine
A pinch of salt
Cold water
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, holding sieve as high up as possible to aerate the flour.
Cut margarine into small cubes add to flour and lightly rub into flour - lift hands high into air to aerate.
When mixture looks uniformly crumbly, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of water into the bowl. Cut and mix with a palette knife adding a little more water at a time until you can bring the mixture into a smooth bowl that leaves the bowl clean.
Wrap in foil or food wrap and refrigerat for 20 to 30 mins before rolling out.
Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons of room temperature margarine
A pinch of salt
Cold water
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, holding sieve as high up as possible to aerate the flour.
Cut margarine into small cubes add to flour and lightly rub into flour - lift hands high into air to aerate.
When mixture looks uniformly crumbly, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of water into the bowl. Cut and mix with a palette knife adding a little more water at a time until you can bring the mixture into a smooth bowl that leaves the bowl clean.
Wrap in foil or food wrap and refrigerat for 20 to 30 mins before rolling out.
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