I've been wandering the yard, assessing and planning-yet not able to turn a single sod. Patience Dee, patience!
I am able to cook though-and after a slowcooker beef and vegetable casserole the other night had enough leftovers to put together a family sized pie-which should do His Lordship & I for two or three meals ( depends on how much he scoffs at each sitting!). Plus I made enough pastry for another pie-which can stay in the fridge for a few days. :)
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| Fats rubbed into flour |
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| Dough ball-notice the largish smears of fat. |
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| Dough ball divided into 4 and placed in fridge |
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| Rolling out the base-see the fats? |
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| Rolling onto the dish |
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| Ease into dish to fit |
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| Fill with COLD filling |
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| Roll out another disk, top pie and crimp edges together. Pierce top with fork a few times to allow steam to escape |
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| Finished pie with flaky, crisp pastry. Pastry recipe: 4 cups Plain (all-purpose) flour 1 cup lard (cold) 3/4 cup butter (cold) 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon vinegar 1 egg 1/2 cup very cold water Add flour, butter, lard, and salt to a large bowl. Mix flour, butter & lard with a pastry cutter until it looks nice and crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg, and water. Add to the flour mixture, stirring in till well-moistened. Knead lightly to mix in all the flour then shape it into a great, big, wonderful ball of pastry dough. (Don’t overhandle.) Divide evenly into 4 pieces, flatten slightly ( makes the disk easy to roll) and place covered in fridge until ready to use. Fill as above and cook in preheated 170c oven for 45-60mins. |
