Before retirement a few years ago, my Mum and Dad had their own successful bakery and shop. My dad baked and my mum worked as shop keeper. My dad's bread was legendary, people would come from far and wide to buy a loaf.
Growing up in a baking environment is interesting. My uncle Russ would bang the door at 5am six days a week for my dad to get out of bed and start the day. My bedroom window was above the door, so it wouldn't just be my dad woken up at that hour. many visitors would comment how lucky we were to live with the smell of baking constantly wafting through the house. The truth was that we had become completely desensitized to it and hadn't been able to smell anything for several years.
This morning Neil made me smell the pasties I made last night and said "Doesn't that smell like home?" After all this time, my baking smell sense is restored and yes, it did. This is a post about the pasties Dad made. Famous enough for being peppery, he made hundreds each day. My mum has adapted the recipe to be able to create a much smaller batch and yesterday I tried it for the first time. My first attempt was a disaster and proof that baking really is a science not to be fooled with....
The recipe for pastry that my mum gave me seemed to stipulate a lot of fat. 1lb of plain flour to 8oz of lard, she told me how important it was that the lard, butter, margarine or shortening was fridge cold. Of course, mine wasn't and so I was a little surprised how well the dough came together and needed no water.
It did seem especially soft and oily, but I continued.
My mum and dad gave me rough estimates for the amount of ingredients required for about 12 pasties. Using 1 tin of corned beef, 2lb potatoes and 2 medium onions, it seemed a large amount, but again, I continued.
Mum and Dad gave me some tips and tricks of the trade which they have developed over years of much experience. (I will share some of these with you later).
Once the pastry had been rolled, (very difficult) and filled to make pasties, something didn't seem quite right. I persevered and cooked them for the allocated 25 minutes.
They looked fairly good, although resembling the surface of a dried up river bed may not have been ideal, however........
......they completely fell to pieces as I tried to move them, I mean they literally crumbled beneath the slightest touch. The above photograph shows what happened once they had been transferred to a plate. So, what went wrong? There may be several reasons:
1. The amount of fat specified in my mum's recipe was too high. (8oz of fat to 1lb of flour).
2. The lard I used was too soft. My mum stipulated 'fridge cold' fat, but I didn't listen through impatience. Sorry Mum.
3. I didn't use any water to bind the flour as it didn't need it, I just squished it all together in my hands.
4. I run out of flour, so was not able to flour the board or surface as I rolled it out, which probably made it too soft and greasy. (I used cling film to roll it out, a good tip if you don't want to get messy).
5. There is a chance that the flour I found in my unmarked canister was not all purpose or plain flour. It may have been soy flour, although this is unlikely.
I threw the whole lot away and started again. Luckily, the quantities for the filling was enough for about 50 pasties, so I had plenty to continue.
I found a short-crust pastry recipe on line, sent Neil out to get some more flour and butter and this time was on to a winner.
The result: golden brown, glossy pasties.
The filling was good, but still lacked that certain flair that only years and years of experience can give you. My mum and dad's are still superior, but I can enjoy trying.
Recipe : Corned beef pasties (Tweaked and adapted slightly from my Dad's). For 8 medium sized pasties
2 and 1/8 cup of plain or all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter, diced
1/2 cup water
Filling
1 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 of a 340g tin of corned beef
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp both white and black pepper, freshly grounded (you can add more to taste if you like - my dad's were renowned for being very peppery).
1 egg, beaten
A dash of milk and water
Preheat the oven to 450oF
Grease and flour two baking sheets or one large one if you have it.
To make the pastry:
place the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and add the chopped up cold butter.
Use your hands to rub the flour and fat together to create a breadcrumb like texture. Try to incorporate all the fat as much as possible, breaking down any large pieces.
Add the water to the mixture and stir in with a knife until it begins to come together, then use your hands to squeeze it together and form a ball. (Try to handle the mixture only as necessary - don't overwork and try to keep everything cool).
When the ball of dough is mixed well enough to leave the bowl clean, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
While it is chilling:
Make the filling.
Boil the potatoes in a large pan of boiling salted water until knife soft, drain and smash up with a wooden spoon, don't mash too much, you want some bigger and more solid pieces of potato in the pasty.
Add the corned beef and raw onions to the mixture. Season with the salt and both peppers and Worcestershire sauce. Mix together very thoroughly.
To assemble:
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to about 1/6 inch thin.
Use a bowl as a cutter, running a knife around the edge to create a circular piece of pastry.
Place about 2 tbsp of the filling in the centre, wet the edges of the pastry and pull together at the top, squeezing the edges together to form a tight bond. Repeat until all of the pastry is used.
Place your pasties in a line, not touching, on the baking sheets.
Mix together the egg, milk and water and brush all over the pasties. Wait 10 minutes and then brush again. This creates a really golden brown finish.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. Eat alone or with some chutney, ketchup or HP sauce. Thanks Mum and Dad.
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