Flaky pastry

Ingredients:

300g of plain flour, sieved.

1tsp of salt.

75g of lard chilled

75g of butter chilled.

165ml cold water.

Weigh the flour directly into a sieve, which should be resting over a large mixing bowl, add the salt and sieve into the bowl.

Weigh out the butter and lard, take half the butter and chop into small pieces, add to the flour mixture. Cut the lard into quarters and the remaining butter in half as shown below. Cover and place in the fridge.

 Rub the butter into the flour. With your palms facing upwards and using your thumbs, rub the fat in to the flour until the butter is well mixed in and there are no large lumps left. Add 145ml of water to the flour and mix well with a knife.

 Now using one hand to mix, add a tablespoon more water at a time until the dough is formed, you might not have to use all the water. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Mix the dough until it feels like it’s coming together to a medium soft texture, adding more water as necessary. Start bringing together to a ball. If there is any flour left in the bottom of the bowl, add another small dash of water to bind it together until all the flour is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

 Need for 1 minute until smooth and shape into a ball. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.




Flour your work surface and roll the pastry out to a long rectangle, just a little longer then your rolling pin and about 5 ½ inches wide. Be careful the dough does not become to thin, it should never get thinner than a £1 coin. Square of the ends to make a neat rectangle.

Now, with a knife, mark lightly into thirds.

Using a pallet knife, dot the top two thirds with half of the lard.

 Now, carefully fold the bottom third up over the middle. Using a pasty brush, brush of any excess flour then, fold the top third over the middle. Seal the edges, pushing down with a rolling pin.

Now, carefully fold the bottom third up over the middle. Using a pasty brush, brush of any excess flour then, fold the top third over the middle. Seal the edges, pushing down with a rolling pin.

Give the pastry a quarter turn clockwise and roll out to a long rectangle again. Repeat as before marking into thirds but adding the butter this time and folding in the same way. Fold and roll again but using up the rest of the lard, then give one more roll and fold without adding any fat. Remember to seal the edges after folding.

Chill for 20 minutes and use as required. The pastry will keep in the fridge for up to 48 hours and 2 months in the freezer.

Cornish steak and ale Pasty

Back from another summer break in Cornwall on the Helford River, and a rather wet one it was too. Up until now we’ve been extremely lucky with the weather on holiday in the foot of England. However, on this occasion the sun was nowhere to been seen. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever been on a holiday and witnessed so much rain…However, it wasn’t all that bad, in fact far from it. It was a much needed break after a busy first term at catering college, which has been fun but exhausting and a real eye opener into the professional world of cooking. (See my other blog)

Although the weather was awful, as usual, Cornwall did not let us down in the food department. Fresh local fish every evening, and a few great meals in local restaurants - the new yard at Trelawarren to name just one. A small bistro style restaurant nestling away in the midst of an old country estate, surrounded by woodland, not far from Helston. Serving creative dishes with ingredients from just a stone throw away, in a simple but smart restaurant with friendly service. In fact it was so good we went back for breakfast on our last day.

Our small cottage kitchen was simple to say the least, but as usual half my home kitchen came with us in the boot of the car. And, thanks to the bad weather I spent a great deal of time in the Kitchen.

Cornish Pasties, who doesn’t like them? What’s not to like about them? Beef, potato, swede and carrot wrapped up in flaky pastry, the perfect accompaniment to a cold, wet walk in the country. Fitting nicely in the jacket pocket too. And we certainly did have a fair few wet and windy walks. So, after some thorough research (which mainly involved eating a lot of bakery pasties) and using my new pastry skills, I believe I have a rather tasty recipe for a ‘proper ‘ansome pasty!’

Cornish steak and ale Pasty

Makes 3 large pasties.

Ingredients:

1 quantity of Flaky pastry (see recipe)

450g of braising steak or beef skirt

260g of potato peeled and diced into 1cm cubes.

2 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced.

1 medium onion finely diced.

Small bottle of Cornish ale.

Salt and pepper

Cooking oil.

Prep all the veg, cut into roughly 1cm cubed. Mix it all in a bowl, cover and leave to one side. Remove any fat and gristle from the beef but keep any small bits of soft fat. Cut the beef into small bite sized pieces.

In a medium sized pan (with a lid) , add 1dsp of vegetable oil and put on a medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the beef in batches and fry until just colored all over. When all the beef is browned off, pour in the ale - just enough to cover all the beef.  Season well with salt and pepper, put a lid on the pan and simmer on a very low heat for 45 minutes.

Remove the beef from the pan and set aside in a mixing bowl and reduce the cooking liquor on a high heat until reduced by two thirds.

Now add this sauce to the mixing bowl with the beef and leave to cool completely before adding the vegetables and mixing together well.

Preheat your oven to 200°c and make sure the shelf is in the middle of the oven. Find a dish or bowl, which is no larger than 20cm in diameter.  We’re going to use this as our template for cutting the pastry.

Flour your work surface well. Start to roll out the pastry just a little larger then the diameter of your template, keeping your fingers spread out to roll the pastry evenly.

 Now roll out the pastry length ways, long enough to fit three rounds in. Using your template, cut around the circle with a sharp knife. Remove the circles and keep the excess pastry to one side, just incase….

Season the pasty filling well and taste to make sure there is enough salt and pepper.

Have everything ready to go before filling the pasties. You will need a small bowl of beaten egg, a pastry brush, a baking tray lined with baking parchment and your oven is at 200°c.

Spoon equal amounts of filling on each round - not too much but don’t be stingy. Brush the rim of the round with beaten egg mix and carefully fold the top of the circle over the bottom half. Seal round the edges with side of you palm.

Brush around the edge again with just a little egg. Using one finger to push down and pinching a small amount of pasty in the other, start to fold over the edge to crimp the sides together.

Place the pasties on the baking tray; glaze with egg wash and with a sharp knife make a small hole in the top for steam to escape. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown. To make sure the middle is cooked, poke a knife through the middle of one pastie, it should slide through easily if the potatos are cooked. Cool slightly on a wire rack.