Pies And Pastries Recipes

4 oz Butter 6 oz Plain flour 1 pch salt Little cold water

1 Remove a pack of butter from the fridge, weigh out 4oz/110g, wrap in a piece of foil and return to the freezer or freezing compartment of the fridge for 30-45 minutes. 2 When ready to make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large, roomy bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer, fold back the foil and hold it in the foil, to keep it cool. 3 With the coarse side of a grater put in the bowl over the flour, grate the butter, dipping the edge into the flour several times to make it easier to grate. 4 You'll end up with a large pile of grated butter in the middle of the flour. Don't use your hands yet, keep trying to coat the fat pieces in flour. 5 Sprinkle 2 tbsp cold water all over, use the palette knife to bring it all together and finish off using your hands. Add more moisture if necessary - the dough should come together, leaving the bowl fairly clean, with no bits of loose butter or flour anywhere. 6 Put into a polythene bag and chill for 30 minutes before using. Remember, this, like other pastries freezes extremely well, in which case you will need to defrost it thoroughly and let it come back to room temperature before rolling it out on a lightly floured surface.

Note:

3 cup Unbleached, all-purpose flour plus extra flour for rolling dough 1 cup Bleached cake flour 1 1/2 tsp Salt 6 1/2 stk Unsalted butter each stick cut into 16 to 20 small pieces, chilled 1 cup Ice water - (abt)

On work surface, preferably a large marble board, measure out flours and salt and combine. Add chilled butter all at once, tossing to coat pieces in flour. Mixing rapidly with your hands, flatten butter into lima bean-size pieces. Begin adding ice water, a few drops at a time, lifting and turning dough until it begins to come together. Using a dough scraper pat dough into a rough rectangle, 18 inches long and about 6 inches wide, with short side facing you. Dough will be messy and unmanageable. If butter softens too much during initial mixing, transfer entire work surface to refrigerator and chill. When dough has come together in a rough rectangle, fold bottom third up to middle, then fold top third over both layers, as if you were folding a letter. Scrape any excess dough to side and flour work surface well. Turn dough package 90 degrees to right, so top layer of dough could open like a book. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough vertically into another 18- by 6-inch rectangle, with short side facing you. Fold again in thirds. Wrap dough in wax paper and refrigerate at least 20 minutes until dough is firm enough to roll again. Turn 90 degrees to right. This is the second turn. Repeat rolling out, folding and turning 4 more times, refrigerating again after the 3rd and 5th turns; after 5th turn, chill at least 45 minutes, if possible. Dough can be made ahead up to this point and refrigerated for 2 days, or frozen. After 6th turn, dough is ready to roll out into desired shape. This recipe yields about 2 3/4 pounds dough, enough to roll out to a 1/4-inch thick 12- by 36-inch rectangle.

Note:

8 oz Frozen Puff Pastry 1 lb Pork Sausage Meat 1 sm Onion Finely Chopped 1 pch Sage 2 oz Soft White Bread Crumbs 1 x Egg Beaten 2 x Eggs Hard-boiled

Grease an oblong loaf or cake tin. Roll out thawed pastry into a large oblong about the thickness of a penny. Cut off a piece of pastry to fit top of loaf and reserve. Use remainder to line base and sides of tin. In a mixing bowl, combine sausagemeat, onion, sage and breadcrumbs. Bind with beaten egg, reserving a little for glazing pastry. Turn mixture into pastry-lined tin and press hard-boiled eggs down in the centre, covering them with sausagemeat. Put on pastry lid. Trim corners and seal edges. Roll out trimmings and cut decorative "leaves". Make a small hole in centre of pie to allow steam to escape. Flute edges of pastry. Brush with reserved beaten egg, put pastry leaves in position, and brush these, too. Bake in a pre-heated, hot oven (425 F, gas mark 6) for 10 to 15 minutes until pastry has set. Then reduce heat to moderate (375F gas mark 4) and continue baking for a further 30 minutes. Serve hot with cooked vegetables, or serve cold with salad or pickles.

Note: