Of pies and pasties

Cooking is one of those things that brings about all sorts of satisfying feelings...you feel pride in your beautiful creation, the delicious hunger of knowing that something truly yummy is about to be eaten, and there's also a sort of primal domestic goddess/conquering of a domain mentality too, I think..."I might not ever have a truly clean house, but by god I can, and will, cook tasty treats!" Well, here's a secret - nothing will make you feel quite so much the commander in chief of your kitchen as making pastry from scratch will. Now, I know, sudden visions of barking French pastry chefs with flour flying have popped into your head in a terrifying vision, but it's really not intimidating at all. It is, admittedly, something that does require a bit of practice to perfect, but it's definitely manageable, and no harder than bread making or baking.

I should make a caveat here and say, I have never attempted true puff pastry, for a number of reasons: while I'm a butter-fiend and have no problem with fats in general, there is something slightly troubling at being able to see that full pound of butter being used in the making of puff pastry - truly my arteries feel as though they are hardening just at the thought! But really puff pastry just seems too much of a faff. Perhaps, though, since I'm proclaiming all the joys of pastry-making, I should really put my money where my mouth is and give it a shot. Hmm...food for thought...maybe we can add puff pastry to that list of things I want to make once the oven is fixed (which, I'm assured, will be Friday between 10-12. You'll forgive me if I don't hold my breath...)

So, I make two kinds of pastry regularly. One is called flaky pastry (otherwise known as a sort of rough puff pastry) and the second is closer to a savoury short pastry. The difference is the latter has a higher butter content which makes the dough richer and thus 'shorter'. They both follow pretty similar processes and neither takes more than about 5 minutes to make. Now, many recipe books say that you can make pastry in the food processor, and this is technically true. But, I have to tell you that I personally think this never turns out quite as well. The food processor blitzes the butter too finely and it's hard to control the amount of mixing in the processor, both of which tend to result in a tougher, less-flaky pastry. Feel free to try this for yourself, but my advice would be to go with the grating method I describe below. It's less of a chore than rubbing the butter in (which is a pleasantly mind-numbing task, but does take a rather long time) but gives a pretty similar result. But, as I said, to each his own - invoke the powers of the processor if you must!

Recipe #1: Margaret's Flaky Pastry
(from Alison Holst...this is the first pastry I ever made and it's the recipe my Mum has used for as long as I can remember. It's great for free-form pies like pasties etc, as well as tartlets. You could use this for sweet recipes too - fruit tarts etc)

3/4 c plain flour
healthy pinch of salt (maybe make this less healthy if you're doing sweet recipes)
1/4 tsp baking powder
60 g cold butter (actually I freeze it wrapped in tin foil for 1/2 an hour. Makes it easier to grate and prevents it getting too soft before baking)
1/4 c milk
1/2 tsp vinegar or 1 tsp lemon juice

Fork the flour and baking powder to sort of fluff it up and mix together (you could sieve it, but why make more dishes?!). Grate the butter into the flour (or rub it in). Sour the milk with vinegar/lemon. Add most of it to the flour and mix. Use just enough liquid to make a dough that holds together easily. You don't want it too wet as this toughens it and also makes it a nightmare to roll out! This is the one aspect of pastry making which I think just takes a bit of practice to learn - you just have to try a few times to get a sense for what is 'right'. All flour absorbs liquid slightly differently, so you sometimes need more/less.

Squish into a ball, wrap in cling-film and chill in the fridge for 30 mins or so before rolling out and using. Bake typically in a 200degC oven until golden and your filling is hot.

Pastry Recipe #2: Proper Pie Pastry
(I think this is savoury short pastry. It comes from the Destitute Gourmet's recipe for meat pie and I think it is my favourite pastry. I love the flaky one above - as much because you can make it with so few ingredients - but this one is definitely richer). This makes enough for one very large family-sized pie, top and bottom. You can freeze pastry though, so I'd make it and freeze the rest for another time if you didn't use it. We tend to be rather greedy so do eat the whole lot!

2 1/4 c plain flour
170g butter (again, frozen for a while)
good pinch of salt
1/2 c cold water (important that it is cold - lukewarm or room temp starts to soften the butter)
egg for glazing (I'm a cheap-skate and because I buy free range eggs, I consider them a bit of a luxury item and don't like to waste a whole one on glazing pastry. You can use milk or cream and achieve a reasonably satisfactory result, although I admit it will always look glossier and more professional if you use egg wash)

Same process as above really. Fluff the flour with the salt, grate in the butter and mix/toss through the flour. Bring the mixture together with the water, being very careful not to overwork it. Press into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for half an hour or so. Roll out to cover your tin, fill, top, glaze and bake! Again, I'd bake it at about 200degC - maybe 190 if you have a fan oven.

A couple of points to note - never put a hot filling into pastry...this will make your pastry go soggy and it won't crisp up. If you're making a filling especially for a pie, then cook it ahead and let it cool down first.

Sometimes pastry shrinks when cooking. You can avoid this by freezing the pastry once you've lined the tin with it - just give it 15 mins or so in the freezer. Don't know how it stops the shrinking, but it does seem to.

And remember...leftovers ALWAYS taste and look better when ensconced in a crisp, buttery, pastry case!