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Pastry

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Re: Pastry

Postby Suffs » Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:17 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:I’d call that an apple turnover Suffolk


But aren't apple turnovers triangular???!!! :o :shock: :lol:

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Re: Pastry

Postby karadekoolaid » Sat Oct 06, 2018 3:11 am

I made some pastry today for a "quiche". I mixed 50% butter (well, almost; I ran out so used a bit of margarine) with 100% flour. Chopped the cold fat with a knife, then added ice-cold water bit by bit. Prestidigitation with the fingertips and in less than 3 minutes, I had a rough pastry. Plastic wrap - freezer for 30 minutes.
Wonderful pastry! I lined the pastry thingy then filled it with roasted aubergines, onions, ricotta cheese and 3 beaten eggs with a bit of cream. Baked for 35 minutes -wonderful, crumbly, crispy pastry.
The filling was crap :crying1 :crying1
I´d hoped the roasted aubergine would taste glorious - but it didn´t!!
Now I know why I´ve never seen an aubergine quiche before :gonzo :gonzo

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Re: Pastry

Postby Gillthepainter » Sat Oct 06, 2018 9:07 am

Ha ha ha.
All that lov'in.
I like rough puff. And am quite good at making it. Which is odd for a woman who always has hot hands. Even in deep dark winter.
My hands and feet are strangely boiling.

No apples I'm afraid, she didn't bring any in for me.

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Re: Pastry

Postby Binky » Sat Oct 06, 2018 4:12 pm

My pastry is awful, whether by food processor or by hand. I don't seem to have the knack.

It doesn't usually bother me, until Xmas that is, when I wish I could make mince pies properly. I have to satisfy myself supermarket ones (The Best, or Finest Selection, or whatever the premium choice happens to be). Warmed, with a drop of brandy and a dollop of mascarpone under the lid, they taste just fine.

The nicest homemade ones I ever had were baked by a colleague's mum. She apparently used orange juice as her pastry 'liquid' and the result was fab, but I have never seen a recipe that suggests OJ, it's always cold water.

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Re: Pastry

Postby smitch » Sat Oct 06, 2018 4:30 pm

Nigella’s mince pies use orange juice in the pastry https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/startoppedmincepies_90618

They are really nice, I make them if I can be bothered, but making pastry gives me rage, I just can’t get to grips with it at all :oops:

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Re: Pastry

Postby Gillthepainter » Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:26 am

That's a lovely tip, OJ. Thank you.

In the days when I had an even smaller kitchen than now, I never had scales, or equipment.
And "weighed" in tablesp or teasp.
My pastry benefited from this old fashioned approach, plus wooden spoon.

I find the processes a pleasure nowadays with the use of a kitchen full of all gadgets.

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Re: Pastry

Postby Sakkarin » Sun Oct 14, 2018 1:59 pm

I made some fab Cornish Pasties earlier in the week (proper ones with swede), four smallish ones. The problem is I was painfully aware as I was making them just how much fat was going into them - 65g of lard and 65g of butter to 250g of flour for the 4 pasties (33.3% butter).

As they were not really big enough for a full meal, I ended up eating two Tuesday and two Wednesday, and felt extremely guilty at having eaten all that pure fat and refined flour. I'm wondering whether pastry really is a good idea. Some of the more exotic pastries are even more fat laden!

Nevertheless I'll suggest two pastries to try that are at opposite ends of the spectrum if anyone fancies pushing themselves. Strudel pastry (20%) and "Danish pastries" pastry (45%) are both extremely rewarding when done properly. Here are my college notes for them, but I see they are both attributed to Constance Spry. Maybe I should get a copy of her cookery book, it is about £3.50 on Amazon.

http://www.sakkarin.co.uk/foodforumpix/spry-strudel.jpg

http://www.sakkarin.co.uk/foodforumpix/spry-danish.jpg

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Re: Pastry

Postby Suffs » Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:07 pm

Unprocessed lard is about 45 percent monounsaturated fats, which are considered heart healthy and it's now known that dietary cholesterol has little or no effect on blood cholesterol so .............. just take plenty of exercise after eating the pasties :yum After all ... with all those veg a pasty has to be one of your 5 a day :clap

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Re: Pastry

Postby Joanbunting » Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:33 pm

Binky wrote:My pastry is awful, whether by food processor or by hand. I don't seem to have the knack.
The nicest homemade ones I ever had were baked by a colleague's mum. She apparently used orange juice as her pastry 'liquid' and the result was fab, but I have never seen a recipe that suggests OJ, it's always cold water.


I always use orange juice and finely grated rind in my mincepie pastry along with icing, not castor sugar,
Cooking for those you care about is the most profound expression of love - Anne-Sophie Pic

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Re: Pastry

Postby jeral » Sun Oct 14, 2018 6:16 pm

Talking of using icing sugar instead of caster, Anna Olsen uses cornflour in some pastries and bread to make it lighter (I think). Does anyone use that? (I keep saying I'm going to...)

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Re: Pastry

Postby Binky » Sun Oct 14, 2018 6:24 pm

joan, your mince pies pastry sounds totally fab. I will definitely have a go this year. I might post a pic if the results are not the usual source of culinary shame. As for cornflour subbed in recipes, I have seen that quite often in US cookery books, and the reason is to get a lighter/crisper result - not that I have tried it myself.

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Re: Pastry

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Oct 14, 2018 11:31 pm

Sakks:

Forget the guilt trip. If the pasties were good, it´s because they had lots of yummy fat in them, which helped to make them good.
You should only take the guilt trip if you eat them 4 times a week :shock: :lol:

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Re: Pastry

Postby Gillthepainter » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:07 am

I don't tend to worry either about oil and fats.
But then I don't have a condition where it is on my radar. eg my cholesterol is excellent.

And I feel I have the control over what I consume, as a daily cook.
It's so rarely done for me by others.

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