cookbook

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 good pinch of salt
1 cup eggs (4 large eggs)

Directions:

Preheat oven 425F.

1. In a medium pot, bring the water and butter to a simmer on medium heat. Add the flour and with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir very quickly in one direction. Carefully watch and you'll see that the flour starts absorbing the liquid -- and a dough will form. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two.

2. You can do the next step one of two ways:

Transfer the paste to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a bowl if you're using a hand mixer.
If you want to mix the eggs directly into the dough in the pot, let it cool slightly, 4 or 5 minutes, or cool off the pan itself by running cold water over its base if you will be mixing the eggs in that pot. You don’t want to cook the eggs too quickly.

3. Add the salt and the eggs one at a time mixing rapidly until each is combined into the paste. The paste will go from shiny to slippery to sticky as the egg is incorporated. The pâte a choux can be cooked immediately at this point or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

4. Spoon the dough into a large gallon-sized plastic bag (or piping bag.) Use your hands to squeeze dough towards the bottom corner. With kitchen shears, snip off just the tippy tip of the bag, about 1/4" of the tip. Pipe onto a baking sheet into little puffs, keeping the puffs 2-inches apart. With your finger, press down the peaks (as they can burn.) Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then 350F for 18-30 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs.

To make gougeres (cheesy poofy puffs)

Stir in 1/2 cup finely grated gruyere cheese (or other grated hard cheese of your choice) + 1 teaspoon kosher/sea salt (1/2 teaspoon fine table salt) - I used a rasp/microplane grater to get ultra-light snowflakes of cheese so as not to weigh down the dough with heavy cheese. You can also sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top of the puffs after you've piped them.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: Bed
Current Music: Silver Bullet

kate

Mario Batali
Simple Italian Food

makes 1 pound

This yields enough fresh pasta to serve four as a first course pasta dish or two as a main course. Divided into four portions and rolled to the thinnest setting on a pasta machine, it can be used to make ravioli and other stuffed pastas. Rolled slightly thicker the sheets can be cut into varying widths, as follows:

Tagliolini: 1/4 inch
Fettucine: 1/2 inch
Tagliatelle 3/4 inch
Pappardelle: 1 1/2 inches

3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 extra large eggs
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Mound 3 1/2 cups of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs and olive oil. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well.

As you expnd the well, keep pushing the flour up from the base of the mound to retain the well shape. Do not worry that this initial phase looks messy. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up and discard any leftover crusty bits. Lightly reflour the board and continue kneading for 6 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Roll or shape as desired.

Note: Do not skip the kneading or resting portions for the dough. They are essential for a light pasta.

soleta

Gordon Ramsey & Mark Sargeant
Great British Pub Food

Enjoy these adorable little pies warm or cold with piccalilli or pickled onions and a pint of ale.

makes 8

Hot water crust pastry
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 large egg
50g unsalted butter
50g lard
85ml water
1 medium egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water, to glaze

Filling
400g minced pork (roughly equal quantities of belly and shoulder meat)
250g sausagemeat
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped sage
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
5 juniper berries, ground with a pinch of salt
pinch of allspice
sea salt
black pepper

To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack the egg into the well and sprinkle over some of the flour. Put the butter, lard and water into a small pan and heat gently until melted, then bring to the boil. Immediately pour around the edge of the flour and quickly stir together, using a butter knife, to combine. Knead the dough lightly until smooth; it will be quite soft at this stage. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour until firm.

Meanwhile, for the filling, mix all the ingredients together, seasoning well. Divide into 8 portions, about 80g each, and roll into balls. Cut off one-third of the pastry for the pie lids, re-wrap and chill. Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using a saucer, about 11cm in diameter, as a template, cut out 8 circles. Roll out the reserved pastry to the same thickness and cut out 7cm rounds for the lids, using a pastry cutter.

To assemble each pie, places a stuffing ball in the middle of a pastry base and flatten it slightly to get a flat base and straighter sides. Put a pastry lid on top. Brush the pastry base border with egg glaze, then draw up it up around the filling to meet the lid. Curl the edge of the lid up to meet the top inside edge of the pie case and pinch together to seal. Repeat with the other pies, then crimp the edges. Chill until firm.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Place the pies on a baking sheet and make a hole in the centre of each lid with a skewer. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the setting to 170°C/Gas 3. Brush the pies evenly with egg glaze and bake for a further 10 minutes until cooked. To test, insert a skewer into the centre of a pie for a few seconds; it should feel hot to the touch as you remove it. Transfer the pies to a wire rack to cool.

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Entries tagged with grains: flour

Simple Pâte à Choux and Cheese Puffs

Basic Pasta Dough

Old-Fashioned Pork Pies

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