I think pies are fantastic.
Hiding things in pastry is as old as baking itself, and few people can say no to the allure of a golden flaky pastry crust and the promise of a fragrant, savory interior once they bite in.
This is indeed a wonderful experience. The aroma of the pies arriving for school lunch carried me back to my days at Tamaki Primary School in New Zealand, and it still does to this day, cutting through our attention spans like an oxy-acetylene torch applied to a block of butter.
When I was a youngster, there weren’t many pie alternatives, but the ones we did have were fantastic.
Tomato and onion pies were a fantastic innovation, with strips of superheated onion burning across one’s lip like an angry box jellyfish. Other options were mince pies, steak pies, pepper pies, potato top pies, and the outrageously exotic “curry pie.”
This was one of the most excellent versions of the bacon and egg pie that occasionally appeared on the weekends.
I added it to our breakfast buffet a few weeks ago, and it has since become a fan favorite.
These days, the only thing holding you back from putting any savory filling your heart desires into your pie is your imagination.
Cauliflower and cheese, broccoli mornay, green curry chicken, massaman beef, beef and red wine gravy, mushroom pies, chicken mushroom white wine, goulash, smoked fish in white parsley sauce, and pretty much anything else you love that can be bound in gravy and encased in pastry is all great options.
A dense pie dough bottom, a flavorful filling, and a flaky pastry top make a superb pie.
The top can be made with puff pastry, but it will rise like a top hat if you use it.
The flakier and more straightforward to produce “rough puff” pastry is preferable.
The recipe for the top is below.
Pastry with a rough, flaky texture
550 g of flour
120 lard
100 flour
a pinch of salt
Sift the flour and incorporate the salt into it.
Use your fingertips to work half of the lard into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Pour in enough ice water to form a workable dough.
Combine the remaining fat and the butter.
Form a rectangle using the dough.
Spread teaspoon-sized chunks of the butter lard mixture across the left two-thirds of the crust.
A third of the crust on the right should be folded over the butter knobs on the left. Repeat the leftward fold.
Now there are three distinct levels. Lightly pressing down on the open ends of the pastry will help seal them. Obtain a new rectangular shape by rotating through 90 degrees.
Put the pastry in the fridge for 15 minutes, and then proceed with the second half of the butter lard mixture in the same way.
Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
The remaining butter and lard mixture should be used again. After rolling and folding back into a square, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
I don’t see the point of this.
When the butter/lard is smoothed out, it flattens into discs that may be evenly distributed among the pastry’s three layers.
Repeated rolling and folding distributes the butter and lard into thin, even layers of crust and fat, much like puff pastry but with fewer layers, more air pockets, and less delicacy.
The end product is a crisp and flaky pastry, making it ideal for use as a pie crust.
The pie crust dough is our next ingredient.
Raised pie dough is used as the base for pies.
Grain (1000 g)
40 g Salt
400 g Butter (or lard from a pig)
Egg Yolks, ten of each
Iced Water (250g if butter is used; 240g if lard is used)
Step 1: (The Old Fashioned Way, by Hand)
First, incorporate salt into the flour.
Second, create a well in the center of the table by pouring some flour there.
To make the breadcrumbs, combine the flour, butter/lard, and massage with your fingers until you achieve coarse crumbs.
#4 Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture. Add the egg yolks and water to the hole.
Step 5: Use your fingertips to fold the flour-butter mixture into the liquid gently.
6. Use your hands to press together, flip, and reshape. At least thrice
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7 Roll into two balls, wrap in plastic, and cool in the refrigerator for an hour.
This item must be kept cool but not frozen. Remove from the refrigerator an hour before rolling if it has been there overnight.
*Only use this dough for the bottom crust when making pies or quiches.
Using a food processor (Method 2)
First, prepare the food processor by combining the flour and salt.
Second, put cold, firm, cubed butter into the robot coupe and pulse until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.
The third step is to combine water and egg yolks.
Repeat this process two or three more times, each for a split second, until a ball begins to form. AVOID OVER-MIXING
Cool before rolling; then, wrap in plastic wrap.
Producing the breakfast pastries with bacon and eggs.
A filling is required, and the author proposes a straightforward combination of bacon and eggs.
Sautéed bacon that has lost its crispness.
I’m using quail eggs for the small pies since they look so cute when cracked open inside the pastry.
Use one chicken egg per pie for standard individual pies.
Makes about 50 individual bacon and egg pies.
350 g pie crust, 7 g per round, 7.5 cm in diameter
Dough for 200 puff pastries, rough (4g each, 4.5cm in diameter)
Bacon, weighing 300 grams (1 pound), diced into 1-centimeter cubes.
Quail eggs, 50 pieces, 1 per pie
To taste, salt and pepper
One large chicken egg (to be used in the “egg wash” before topping the pie with puff pastry).
40 g of milk (egg wash) to brush onto the top of the pie if using puff pastry.
First, grill or cook the bacon. Cooking and coloring are required, but crispiness is not.
Before using the cooked bacon as a filling, let it cool.
The chicken eggs should be beaten for one minute until thoroughly combined but not foamy.
4. Press the 7.5-centimeter pie bases into the pie tins.
5. Fill the bottom with cold, cooked bacon.
6. Put a beaten chicken egg (about 3.5 ml – 4 ml) in the center of each pie.
7. Separately crack quail eggs into each pie. Remove any trace of shell from the baked goods.
Only one quail egg per pie, please.
8 Cover each pie with a 4.5-centimeter-diameter rough puff pastry top.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius or until pastry is golden and crisp.
For the past six years, New Zealand native and professional chef Shane Brierly has traveled the world in search of new cuisines, ingredients, and cultural experiences.
He is currently based in South-East Asia, where he blogs about exploring the region’s cuisine, travel destinations, and unusual ingredients.
Visit [http://chef-a-gogo.com], where Shane will gladly respond to comments or questions. He strongly prefers fresh, simple ingredients and enjoys sharing his cooking knowledge with others.
Read also: https://questiontank.com/category/food/
