Traditional cornish pasties

So there were several days there when I didn't post a recipe, rant or review. Largely because I have been glued to this woman's blog into the wee hours, but also because on Thursday, I hacked the end off my pinkie finger with my brand new Oxo Good Grips  (love them!) peeler. The 'Return' and 'Shift' buttons are ouchie and hard to find with my huge club of a bandaged finger, so I've been more of a web spectator these past few days.
I was making a dozen mini Cornish Pasties, which require a lot of peeling, as they are like 80% root veg and when I reached into the drawer for my shiny new Porsche of a peeler, it attacked me. Long story short- Lots of blood, paper towels, Jesus Band Aids and one latex glove later, I was back in the game with my (sterilized) peeler. The result was roundly appreciated and enthusiastically received by all, including the Cornish friend (Aces!) so I have the recipe here for you.
This recipe is sliiightly different from the traditional, but only in as much as I cook the filling most of the way through before I fill the pasties and bake them because I think that browning the meat adds richness and you can make sure it's lovely and tender before you crimp.

Traditional Cornish Pasties
(makes 12 small or 6 reg)

300g (10 oz) braising steak (I used feather steak)
1 large, floury potato
2 small turnips
1 medium swede (rutabaga)
1 large onion
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp-ish freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp veg oil

For the pastry:
400g (15 oz) COLD* plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g (3.5oz) cold butter, cut into 1cm cubes
100g (3.5oz) cold lard (or veg shortening if you must), cut into 1cm cubes
1/2tsp fine sea salt
1 egg
200ml cold* water
1 more egg, beaten

First, make the pastry. *If you have time before, put the flour and water in the fridge, and you don't want to take the lard or butter out of the fridge until you need to use it. The point is to keep the fat from melting at all until you bake the pastry. This keeps it super super flaky and light instead of crunchy and hard. You can either do this in a bowl with a couple of cold butter knives or in a food processor. Either way, try to keep your hands out of the mix, as it will warm up the fat and melt it (which is bad!) I used the food processor this time.
In the food processor bowl, tip in all the flour, the salt baking powder, the butter and the lard.
Pulse several times for 15-20 seconds to cut the fat into the flour until you have mixture about the texture of fresh breadcrumbs. Tip this lot into a chilled bowl.
Beat your egg and water together, pour about half of it into the mix and stir with a knife. Add more of the water mixture as needed until you can just about bring the pastry together into a ball without it totally crumbling. DON'T over mix as it will toughen the flour, and use as little water as you can get away with. This again will give you a very light, flaky 'short' pastry. (by the way, I ALWAYS type 'pastry' wrong. I always have to go back and fix it.)
Wrap your ball of pastry (I did it again!) in cling film and pop it in the fridge for at least half an hour, or however long it takes you to make your filling.

Dice the steak into 1cm (1/2") cubes, then peel and dice all of the other veg the same size.
In a large, deep-sided pan, heat the oil over a high heat and add the pieces of steak. You want to brown the steak in one thin layer, rather than stew it, so you might want to do this in a couple of batches. When the steak is browned all over, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and bring in the onions. Sautee the onions for a few minutes until beginning to go golden, then bring the swede, turnip, potato, salt, pepper and thyme. Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes, turning from time to time to ensure even cooking. Sprinkle over the flour, stir through and then add about 200ml water to the pot. Lower the temperature and cover for 5 minutes or so, until there is no liquid left and the root veg are almost tender but still intact. Add the steak back to the pot, stir through, taste to check for seasoning and turn the heat off.
Turn your oven on to 180C/375F
To assemble, weigh your pastry -should be about 732g (26oz)- and divide by 12, or 6, depending on the size of your intended finished pasty, in my case, each piece of dough weighed 62 grams.
Rather than rolling out your pastry on a floured surface, roll out your little balls ;-) between two layers of cling film. This doesn't introduce more flour to your pastry and make the dough tougher. You want to roll it out to as close to a perfect round as you can, then spoon the filling mixture into the centre of the pastry, I used an ice cream scoop to keep it even. Then brush one half of the perimeter with the beaten egg, then bring the edges up together like a purse. Pinch together to seal and then fold and twist around the edge to make sure the filling doesn't burst out while baking. Here's a handy video if you want to see it done by someone far more adept than me. Don't worry too much about how pretty the edge is, as long as you have a good seal on it, they'll be fine and will look better after they're baked.
Lay them out as you go on a baking sheet and brush with the egg mixture. Prick the top with the pint of a knife to allow steam to escape and bake for 35-40 minutes for small ones, or a little longer for larger ones. When lovely and golden, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before moving from the baking sheet. Serve hot with brown sauce, Branston pickle, ketchup etc. Still super tasty at room temperature and they freeze well, so if you make 12 but don't have 12 people to serve them to, let them cool, freeze on the baking sheet, then when frozen, move them to an air-tight container.
Cornish Pasties

Chinese Braised Pork Belly AKA Red Cooked Pork

One of the things I learned in China (besides it's ok for kids to defecate in public and their candy is WEIRD) is that the Chinese know how to treat pork. Not pigs, Lordy no, the animal welfare we witnessed was horrifying. Like a dirty game of 'how many clowns can you fit in a Mini' except with livestock and cages. Ugh, but let's not dwell on that.
I have mentioned before that I love to make crispy pork belly all Chinese-y style and I do. I think that there are few things more amazing than crispy crunchy skin scented with five spice BUT. This Hunanese treatment of my favourite part of pig is anything but crisp, but rather tender, melting, unctuous and so comforting. Incredibly easy to make, with just a few store cupboard ingredients and a little time it's a brilliant Sunday dinner dish. If you double the recipe, it'd be brilliant for a dinner party because it's cheap, there's no touchy timing and you can relax and chat (drink) with your guests instead of barging around all sweaty and frantic, waving oven gloves and tongs in the air.
Red Braised Pork Belly with Pak Choi In Chilli Bean Sauce
Serves 4, takes 90 mins

1 1Kg (2.2lbs) slab belly pork, skin on
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
5 Shaoxing rice wine
5 tbsp golden caster sugar
4 whole star anise
2 pieces cinnamon bark
2" piece ginger root, thinly sliced
3 whole garlic cloves, halved
4 large dried chillies

For the Pak Choi
6 heads pak choi (AKA bok choi) washed and halved or quartered, depending on the size.
2 tbsp chilli bean paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1" ginger root, grated
2 tbsp ground nut or veg oil
2 spring onions, sliced, to garnish

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and cook the pork belly whole for 5 minutes. Remove from the water (don't throw out the water) and set aside to cool for a minute. Meanwhile, in a wok, mix all the other ingredients. Using a sharp knife, cut the pork into large chunks, but don't cut horizontally. Add the pork to the wok, and then enough of the hot, piggy water to cover the pork, then bring the whole lot to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and have a glass of wine and play Doodle Jump on your iPhone for half an hour.
Your pork is going to cook for about an hour or so before you have to do anything else, just keep an eye on it to make sure the liquid doesn't cook too low.
After an hour, start cooking you rice (if you need it, my method is below) and do your prep for the pak (bok?) choi.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes, if the liquid in the wok is still high and thin, raise the heat to a good bubble until thick and sticky. Put into a warm bowl, cover with a pan lid to keep warm for a minute while you do the pak choi.
Over a high heat, bring the oil to a sizzle in the wok (Don't worry about washing it first) and toss in the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 20-30 seconds before adding the chilli bean paste. Add half a cup of water and let this bubble for a minute before adding the pak choi. Cook the pak choi in the sauce for 4-5 minutes, turning periodically to ensure even cooking and distribute the flavours.

Serve the amazingly tender, sticky, mahogany-coloured pork on top of the rice with the pak choi on the side.
Bathe in the glory.
Red Cooked Pork

Baked Chicken and Chips (Fries)

It's National CHIP WEEK! That means that any chips (fries) consumed this week don't count toward your RDA of fat or carbs. Great! Brilliant!

With that thought in mind, the fact that I had a hooooge burger and fries for lunch yesterday, was no reason not to have another meal avec frites today. As we are still in training for my stepson's Thai food Master Chef competition, I had tom kha gai on the menu and a chicken defrosting. As it is the school half-term holiday and given that teenage boys would MUCH rather play XBox with their friends than cook with their step mom, plans changed. To be honest, I was fine with that because teaching the same dish over and over week after week to the same person isn't as thrilling as it sounds. Long story short, after a brief chat with Husband, the chicken was cut up and given my baked-chicken treatment, the mushrooms got sauteed in garlic and butter and what is baked chicken without fries?
While this isn't the lowest fat dish you could ever eat, it's considerably less greasy than the deep-fried version but still lovely and crunchy and full of flavour. This is actually now my junk-food-junkie husband's favorite recipe for chicken. It's quick and simple to prepare and is far more satisfying than a bucket from the (not state specific) fried chicken joint.

Un-Fried Chicken, Baked Chips and Garlicky Mushrooms
Serves 4 Takes 45 minutes
1 whole free range chicken
4ooml whole milk
2 tbsp pommery grain mustard (or dijon)
100g (about a cup) plain flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like spice)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1tsp mustard powder
Olive oil spray

4 large floury potatoes like King Edward or Maris Piper
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

200g closed cup mushrooms*, sliced 1/2cm thick
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
handful curly leaf parsley, finely chopped

Heat your oven to 180C/375F
First, joint the chicken (or have your butcher do it) so that you have 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 4 wing pieces and four breast halves. Use the remaining bones to make stock.
In a large bowl, mix the milk and mustard and add all the chicken pieces.
In another bowl, mix the flour and all the spices and mix well. One at a time, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour. I try to keep one wet hand and one dry hand, so that I don't end up with hands like The Thing by the time I'm done.
Lay the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and spritz with the olive oil spray, transfer to the hot oven and allow to cook for 30-40 minutes, depending on how big your chicken pieces are.
Slice your potatoes (leave the skin on) 1cm thick and then cut those slices into 1cm strips.
Par boil the chips for 3 minutes, then drain and allow to drip dry for a few minutes. When you put the potatoes in to boil, put a baking dish with the olive oil and salt in to preheat and when the potatoes are drained, toss them into the pan and toss in the hot oil. Cook in the hot oven for 15 minutes before turning and giving them another 15 minutes to finish going crisp and golden.
The potatoes and chicken should both be ready to come out of the oven at about the same time.
While your oven is doing its thing to the chicken and chips, melt as big a knob of butter as your conscience will allow in a sautee pan over a medium heat and stir in the garlic. When sizzling gently but not brown, add the sliced mushrooms and turn in the butter to coat. Sprinkle with the salt and allow to cook gently, stirring periodically to ensure even cooking and prevent burning. After a few minutes, when the mushrooms are soft and any water that has leaked out has cooked away, stir in the parsley and turn the heat off.

Serve with a big bottle of Frank's Red Hot sauce with which to liberally douse the chicken.

*Don't wash your mushrooms, as they will absorb all that flavourless water and turn to mush when you cook them. Use a mushroom brush or a damp paper towel to brush off any mud, bugs or bits of decaying fag packet that may be stuck to them.

Baked Fried Chicken

Regal Beef- A Visit to Cattle Grid in Windsor.

Anyone who knows me knows that for me, going out to eat is a gamble. Never more so than when my incredibly, irritatingly picky husband is with me. We live in an area of Berkshire where there are no decent restaurants to speak of, so we rarely eat out, not even for a snack. Whenever we DO (gulp, deep breath) decide to eat out, it really pisses us both off when the food we're served is crap. When I say crap, I mean "This cost a third of our weekly grocery budget and I wouldn't serve it to my dog." A couple of my local pubs (peel a freakin' carrot, change your fryer oil more than once year, cook a potato all the way through!?) fall into this catagory, as did my first Indian takeaway from a local place (coughAmir in Binfieldcough) that had come recommended.
I don't think that we have extremely HIGH standards, it's just that we know what CAN be done with simple ingredients, so if it's your job, why not do it properly? Why hire cooks who take absolutely no pride in what they're serving?

That's why, when we walked into Cattle Grid in Windsor for lunch today, our expectations were no higher than usual.
Cattle Grid is conveniently situated in Royal Windsor Station, just a stone's throw from the castle and seems to be popular among the local professional men, as there were quite a few posh suits munching away this lunch time. We grabbed a table for two near the door and were quickly greeted by a busy but friendly waitress who apologized for being "on her own today".
Not that it mattered, because our order was taken in a timely manner, even though customers continued to flow through the door and the "order up!" bell chimed away in the background.
The restaurant itself is of a moderate size- I'd guess to seat 40?- and has an open kitchen, where we could see two well-groomed, concentrating young men making the food. I didn't notice any music, which is a plus in my book and the decor was butch in a dark wood and steel furniture way, but comfy and clean.
The menu is unapologetically carnivourous, which shouldn't be a surprise, given the name. They have a modest, yet decent selection of steaks, burgers and ribs, none of which would break the (even my!) bank and some lovely looking sides and salads.
We were both in the mood for a burger, mine with beetroot and goats'cheese and Hubby's with brie and caramelized onions (yum, right!?) accompanied by a tidy but not OTT pile of hand-cut chips.
While waiting for our food, my glass of Temperanillo and Hubby's cider arrived and we watched plate after plate of food be delivered to other tables, making me think several times "oooh! That looks good, I should have ordered that!" The hog roast sandwich in particular looked fantastic, and I decided there and then that we were coming back for that in the not-too-distant future.
My wine was rather disappointing, and tasted like the bottle had been left open since yesterday, but Hubby's cider was apparently crisp and refreshing.

Our burgers arrived in good time and were just as attractive as the rest of the food we'd been ogling. The goats' cheese melting on top of mine was just creamy enough with not too strong a flavour and the beet was roasted, not pickled (gold star). The burger was good-vet-could-cure-it-rare, just how I'd ordered it, of really nice quality beef and on a robust herb bap. My only complaint, was that the whole lot could have been a liiiittle more seasoned, as the salad veg and beets were a little on the bland side but this was easy enough to remedy with the condiments on the table. The hand cut fries were every bit as crunchy outside and delightfully fluffy as any I've had and made me wish I could finish them.
We were in and out within an hour and for the two of us including one glass of wine, one bottle of decent cider and tip we spent £30. Granted, not the cheapest lunch you'll have, but well worth the price when you consider what else is on offer on the high street.
This Cattle Grid location has been open for just over a year, while the Balham and Clapham locations have been open for two years and six weeks respectively. It would be nice to see more locations, as long as they're able to maintain the quality of the food and the feel of their restaurants at the price point.
We will definitely be back (only I'll order a whole bottle of wine this time) and in jeans with considerably more stretch than the ones I was wearing today.

Saag Aloo (Indian Potatoes with Spinach)

When I was little and we'd go to our local Indian, my parents would invariably order saag aloo and tarka dhal as side dishes to accompany our various menu selections. Unless I'm cooking for more than our little family, I usually just make a curry and rice, but tend to leave the various side dishes for when we've got guests. I realize that this is a bit of a shame, because no other country than India has such a wealth of incredible vegetarian dishes which are fragrant, nourishing and simple to create.
Tonight, I was serving some lamb curry that I made last week and frozen the leftovers, and so I decided to make this simple potato and spinach dish to accompany it. I'm not sure if it would stand up to scrutiny from the authenticity police, but to me, it tastes every bit as good as any saag aloo I've eaten in a restaurant. With this in mind, feel free to adjust the various spices to taste and let me know what you think.

My Saag Aloo
serves 4, takes approx 30 minutes
5-6 medium-sized floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper or King Edward) Cut into large bite-size pieces
1 large onion, finely diced
150g spinach leaves, thoroughly washed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cm ginger root, finely grated
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fenugreek
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee or veg oil
1 red chilli sliced thinly

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil over a med-high heat until shimmery. Add the brown mustard and cumin seeds and stir in the oil for a minute or two until the mustard seeds start popping. Stir the onions through and continue to cook until beginning to brown and soften-about 3-4 mins. Add the potatoes, the remaining spices, salt, 300ml water and the chopped spinach. Stir through to combine, lower the heat to low then cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Check the potatoes with the tip of a knife and if necessary allow to cook for a further few minutes, uncovered until most of the moisture has cooked away and the potatoes are tender all the way through.
Serve by scattering with the sliced chilli and some fresh coriander leaves and lovely with naan bread and mushroom pilao rice.

Aloo Saag

Cheap Chinese Fried Rice

I was sitting this afternoon working, with my recorded cooking shows on in the background and it dawned on me that it's the Chinese New Year. Watching Nancy Lam and Ching He Huang chopping and stir-frying away really made me crave something Chinese-y.

I realized that I had a bowl of left over steamed rice in the fridge, and set about making a quick fried rice dish to share with my beloved for a late lunch. I have used asparagus, celery and peas, because that's what I had hanging about in the veggie drawer, but it would be equally lovely with diced radish, cucumber (wet bit removed) carrot, small cooked shrimp, mange tout and on and on. Just use up what ever you have handy.
Including prep, this will take about ten minutes so is perfect for late nights or days when you don't have a lot of time but do have some left over rice taking up space in the fridge.


Quick Fried Rice with Crunchy Veg
Serves 2, takes approx ten minutes
2 cups cold leftover steamed long grain rice
5 asparagus spears chopped into 1cm pieces
1 stalk celery, cut in half length-wise and chopped into 1cm pieces
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 spring onions, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cm ginger root, peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 red chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
2 tbsp ground nut or rapeseed oil

Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high flame and once it begins to smoke, add the oil. Bring the spring onion, chilli, garlic and ginger into the pan and stir-fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the sesame seeds and fry until they start to pop (a few seconds) then add your chosen veggies. Stir-fry this lot for a couple of minutes until they begin to get tender, then add the rice. Fry the rice, keeping it moving for a couple of minutes until it is crackling nicely. Drizzle over the sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine, stir to distribute these flavours and remove from the heat.
Give the dish a taste and add a little more soy if need be.

See? Mere seconds later you have a tasty, cheap-as-chips lunch that satisfies every one of your tastebuds.

Fried Rice

Learning the Sweeter Side

When I was growing up my Mum didn't make a lot of sweets really. Of course on family birthdays and some holidays Mum would bake incredible cakes and pies but really, I never saw baking as "proper cooking", and poo-pooed cookie and cake bakery as the domain of old fashioned housewives. I loudly maintained this opinion over the years, even as I came to realize that not only does baking take every bit as much talent and patience as savoury cookery, but it also requires a certain precision in order for the magic to work properly. Like most cooks, I often try to make a recipe my own, by adding a little here, omitting a little there and generally putting my own twist on a recipe that has caught my eye. Over the years though, I have tried to do this all too often with pastry recipes, ignoring the basic obvious fact that many of these tried and true recipes rely on a number of chemical and physical reactions to be successful.
Like many things, it turns out that if you can understand the science behind what is going on in your mixer, cake tin and piping bag, THEN you can start applying your own tweaks and changes to make a recipe truly your own.

I bought two cookbooks recently, which have both been invaluable in my quest for successful baking. The first is Leith's Baking Bible from the cookery school of the same name, which has recipes for just about everything you could want to bake both sweet and savoury. Each section has important tips and information about the upcoming recipes and has helpful "What's gone wrong when" suggestions for improving your methods. I have cooked several of these recipes, with great results every time.
The last book I bought, which is actually an essential for every aspect of cookery was McGee on Food and Cooking. This is a hefty tome about the size of a dictionary, with print only slightly larger and is a go-to for Heston Blumenthal. This book investigates the minutiae of each and every ingredient and how and why they react to various treatments, heat and other ingredients. It could definitely be used purely for reference, as it would take months to read cover to cover, but if you CAN take the time to read it, you'll gain more practical knowledge about science and history of food than you ever would watching all 13 seasons of Good Eats back to back. I am on page 114 of 818 (followed by a 48 page-long index!) and have covered milk and milk products and nearly all of the egg section. If you're a complete anorak about cookery and don't fall asleep easily while reading, I'd recommend giving it a go.

One other thing that has vastly improved not only my puny ability, but mostly my confidence, is a pastry class I took last autumn at master patissier Eric Lanlard's Cake Boy cafe and school.
My Dad bought me this day-long class for my birthday and I was rather nervous, because the vast majority of my sugar, flour, egg and butter-related efforts to date had been roundly disappointing. There was one other student in the class, which was brilliant because we each got a lot of one-on-one help. As we went through the day, we learned all kinds of processes like making meringues, mousses, ganache, caramels, pralines and truffles and with each new thing I realized that each little step was something I was very familiar with. The class with Eric taught me that I can actually make pastries and pies, as long as I take my time, don't cut corners and just view each recipe as a series of steps, instead of one intimidating challenge.
At the end of the day, I had a huge bag full of desserts and sweets that I'd made, along with Eric's Glamour Cakes book, which is really for those who want to make rolled fondant tiered cakes. I have used the cake recipes with good results, but I think that most of the designs are a little dated and unexciting, with not very polished work in the pictures. The thing that surprised/dismayed me most was that Cake Boy uses cheap, battery eggs and lower quality ingredients in general than I use at home. The exception to this was the use of copious amounts of Valrhona chocolate. Given the number of eggs his bakery goes through daily and the prices his pastries fetch, it bothers me that he cuts this corner.

I subscribe to Olive Magazine, which I look forward to every month and from which I take endless inspiration. In the most recent (March 2010) edition, I found a recipe for Baileys Cheesecake with Coffee Jelly

This turned out beautifully as a dessert for Valentine's Day. This is a no-bake cheesecake, and rather than being made with cream cheese, uses marscarpone, quark, cream, eggs, Baileys and sugar and is set with gelatine. This produces an incredibly light, velvety treat, which doesn't leave you groaning and unbuttoning your jeans.

One thing though, is that if you follow the recipe, the coffee jelly is only about half as thick as the picture. From a flavour standpoint, this is fine, as if it was as thick as shown, the coffee flavour would overwhelm.



I expect that I will continue along my pastry exploration path in the coming months, so I'll post both my successes, revelations and failures here. Stay tuned.....