Cook my Books Challenge- Frugal & Fabulous



Apparently it is spring. The calendar says so, but while I have seen my share of gambolling lambs (and who else but a cute little lamb chop could gambol??) and daffodils, until I enjoy that first plate of asparagus, it is still winter as far as I am concerned.

Watching the All Blacks play Argentina in a Wellington gale on the weekend, Mr PK and I enjoyed excellent cold weather footie watching food. A pasty is a perfect hand held dinner, sustaining, savoury, and if you don’t mind a hail of pastry crumbs all over the carpet, relatively low maintenance fare.

I actually made two versions. The first, based on the famous Cornish version, I baked in a lard based pastry (yes really, lard is wonderful stuff, see here). I kept it simple, with the traditional beef, onion, swede (known as turnip in Cornwall) and potato, going off piste only to add some fresh green parsley.

The second, for my non meat eating sister, a flaky short mess-making butter pastry also containing potato, parsley and onion, with the addition of sharp cheddar cheese. Completely delicious, even a carnivore would be impressed………

The Cornish pasty is based on ther recipe in the inimitable Delia's Frugal Food. I have the 2008 reissue, the book originally came out in 1976, and is full of good hearty mostly English style food that wont cost the earth.

A Long Way from Cornwall Pasties...... based on a recipe by Delia Smith

Makes 4 meal sized pasties, but you could make 6 smaller ones

First make your pastry. 

275 gr plain flour

125 gr cold lard (or cold butter)

pinch salt

Ice cold water 

In a large bowl, rub the fat between your fingers into your flour and salt. You can do this in a food processor, but to be honest it only takes a couple of minutes, and the resulting pastry is much softer & easier to roll than the processor version. Use the same method, adding a couple of spoons of icing sugar and some nutmeg for a lovely crust for an Apple Pie

As you can see there a still little chunks of fat, this is fine, it will melt in the heat of the oven & create steam, giving you little flakes of pastry (which if you are like me, will end up all down the front of your shirt....)

Using a knife to mix, add your ice cold water until the mixture comes together as a dough. Tip out onto a floured bench & just bring together. This isnt bread, it does not require kneading, you are just bringing everything together into a workable dough. Wrap in cling film and pop into the fridge for 30 mins or so (or overnight if you are working ahead)

Now prepare your pasty filling

1 large potato, peeled and cut into small slices
1 medium onions, peeled and chopped into tiny chunks
Half a swede, peeled and cut into small slices
300 gr chuck, blade or topside beef, trimmed of fat & cut into small slices
Salt & pepper
Chopped parsley (not traditional, but delicious)

Try to keep everything a similar size, thin slices of meat and vege will cook right through without overcooking your pastry. You will think there isn't enough filling but trust me, this is plenty, pasties are very economical fare....

Take your pastry out of the fridge, and cut into four quarters (or 6 pieces if maker smaller pasties). Roll out one quarter into a circle about the size of a dinner plate.

Top with a spoonful of potato, then swede, onion & finally meat. Season with salt & pepper, then another layer of potato, swede, onion & finally a sprinkle of parsley. The theory for the layering is the meat juices & seasoning then work their way through the root vege as they cook and give the pasty extra flavour.

If you are using cheese rather than meat, just following the same theory, with your cheese layer in the middle. Use something good and strong like a really sharp cheddar for flavour

Now fold one half of the pastry over to completely encase your filling. This is easier then you think as this pastry is quite soft and pliable. Crimp the edges together, I just go around the edge folding the edge inwards on itself over my finger, I cant tell you it is totally authentic, but it looks ok and does the job! If all else fails go around the edge with the tines of a fork,the main object is to make sure your delicious filling cant escape. Cut a couple of steam holes in the top with the tip of your knife and place on an oven tray

Pop into a 200C/400F oven for 15 mins, then turn the heat down to 190C/375F for another 25-30 minutes, until golden and smelling heavenly.

Now I wont pretend these are the quickest things to make, but they are easy, great value, and if you make a batch up they freeze perfectly. Brilliant picnic food, they are also delicious at room temp, which of course if how they would have been eaten down the mines. The crimp was used to hold the pasty, keeping the rest of your lunch clean if you didn't have facilities to wash your hands, then discarded , but of course you can eat it if you prefer.

Mr PK recommends a good dark beer to drink with your pasty (on a windswept beach with a blanket for preference) , his latest fav is this gorgeous Chocolate Moose from Boundary Road Brewery based just out of Auckland at Red Hill. Rich and chocolatey this is also wonderful in a beef casserole, and I am going to try it in Nigella's Guinness Cake, watch this space.....

Lardy cake........no, I'm not kidding.

Lardy cake. Yes, as the name suggests this is indeed a cake made with lard. Are you putting your apron on yet?
I read cookbooks all the time.....even in bed (I feel like I should say my name first and be holding my hand up making that admission....) One of my bedtime favs is Nigel Slater. In his wonderful Eating for England he mentions lardy cake.

"The thin layer of grease that forms on your fingers, and more to the point licking it off, is all part of the attraction".

Now I dont have a sweet tooth, so a cake that involves finger licking fat is strangely attractive.....when I found a recipe in my vintage Delia Smith Book of Cakes circa 1977, I knew I had to get baking. I was sent this by my dear friend Tiffany, on holiday in Devon she saw this in a vintage shop and thought of me, aren't  pals great? I am especially pleased as Lardy Cake hails from Wiltshire (according to Jane Grigson in her fabulous English Food, buy this book. Soon please.) We spent many Christian festivals at Tiff's mum Estelle and step-father Dave's very welcoming house. I love how food and recipes make those personal connections.....

Yes, blah blah, happy memories, it's still a lard cake!? Actually it is a yeasted dough, which is also a highlight for me, as I LOVE working with yeast. The smell, the feel of the dough, the amazing way it rises, as if magic is at work........and this from someone who does not eat a huge amount of bread. I tried to convince myself I was essentially creating a brioche type dough, but instead of beating in butter, my fat of choice is lard..........hmmm, brioche does sound slightly more palatable than pig fat buns.........! But everything sounds better in French, non?

In reality it is more like making pastry, in that the dough is dotted with the fat & sugar/fruit mix, rolled up and rolled out, then the process is repeated. You are cramming as much fruit and fat as the dough can take.....you cannot be mean and make lardy cake, it is a fat generous creation in every sense of the word.

So is it like eating a bacon bun? No,  it is delicious. Seriously. Rich, fruity, spicy, the crust oh my, crispy, with bits of current & sticky sultana, the real finger licking good........it tasted great. Old fashioned and substantial. I ate a warm slice and felt I should go and plow a field immediately. Actually I was doing my tax return, so did need a bit of fortifying....... No doubt the low-fat food police would have my guts for haggis, but  I dont eat a lot of cake, and when I do I want it to taste of something other than sugar. I took half over to my parents for afternoon tea, they enjoyed it to.

Go on, try something different. I dare you to turn up at the school cake stall with lard cake. Cupcakes are so last year.........

Old Fashioned Lardy Cake-Delia Smith's Book of Cakes

Dough

450 grams plain flour

2 tsp salt

10 grams of lard (I use Havoc, from happy pigs.........well, they were until someone made them into lard...)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp dried yeast

275 mls hand hot water

Filling

150 grams of lard

Mix together:

110 grams brown sugar

1/2 tsp mixed spice

75 grams currents

75 grams sultanas

Mix the sugar & yeast into the water and leave in a warm spot for 10 minutes until it is frothy. Meanwhile rub the lard into the sifted flour and salt. Mix the liquid into the flour, either in a machine, or with a knife, turning out onto a floured bench and kneading for 7-10 minutes if you are doing it by hand (I use about 8 minutes with the dough hook in my kitchen-aid) Put in a covered bowl, and leave to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size ( I put the bowl next to the heater)

When the dough is ready, take out of the bowl, and knead again for about 30 seconds on a floured bench. Roll out to a long rectangle, about 3 times longer than it is wide, then sprinkle a third of your sugar fruit mix and a third of your lard over it. Roll up like a jam roll, then press your rolling pin down on either end to seal in the filling, and roll out to approx the same size you originally had. Repeat the process twice more, rolling out for the final time to about the size of your cooking tin. I use a non stick 24cm square brownie pan. Place the dough into the tin, and score the top (as you would for crackling, of course!)

Leave covered back by the heater for another 45 mins or so, then pop into the oven, pre heated to 200C for 30 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, brushing with a tablespoon of sugar dissolved in a tablespoon of water, then turn out onto a rack. The cake cools upside down, to allow the fat to run through (yes, sounds a bit grim, but tastes fabulous....) Slice and serve, no butter required...... and you dont hear me say that very often......