Cyder with Eloise

While everyone in the US is gearing up for the superbowl, here in the UK those who care about a real game are preparing for the Six Nations Rugby kick off. It’s quite traditional to associate food and sports in the US but less so in Britain, although Lenny did only go to a football match once because he had heard that Walsall had won an award for best pies.

It has started to be come a tradition for us to have a little cook off first to help the beers go down. If we are going out to the pub to watch the games we have in the past prepared sneaky little tapas bites and Spanish omelette, but we are stopping in today so I’m making pasties.

These are not traditional Cornish pasties as they would tend to have a few less ingredients and the filling is not normally cooked first.

The quantities in the pasty are down to your tastes really. I have used equal quantities of vegetables and meat. Any of the filling that is left over you can freeze to use another day or fill a pie dish and add some beef stock and use the left over pastry to cover. You can also freeze any prepared but uncooked pasties and then cook from frozen.

Make 8-10 Pasties

Ingredients
600g Plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp Salt
125g Butter
125g Lard
50ml Cold water
1/2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion (approx 75g), finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Potatoes (approx 300g), peeled & diced into approx 2-3mm cubes
1/2 Swede (approx 125g), peeled & diced into approx 2-3mm cubes
2 Carrots (approx 100g), peeled & diced into approx 2-3mm cubes
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Oregano
600g Rump steak, cut into small cubes approx 1cm
1 tbsp Plain flour
A pinch of sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
1 Egg, beaten for glazing

Method
Rub the butter and lard into the flour and salt to until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle enough water over the crumbs to bring the pastry together, but not too wet.
Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until required.
Soften the onions in the olive oil in a heavy based pan on the stove, add the other vegetables along with the thyme, oregano, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper. Stir together then put the lid on the pan for 10 minutes to soften slightly.
Add the steak and simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently, stir in the flour and remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Roll out the pastry in to 8-10 disks approx 20cm in diameter, about as think as a £1 coin.
Lay the pastry disks on a well floured baking tray and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ready to cook.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (190C/375F).
Remove the pastry from the fridge and one at a time brush the edges with some milk which will help the pastry seal. Spoon some of the pasty filling (approx 2-3 tablespoon) on to half of the disk. Fold the other half of the disk over the filling and press the edges firmly together. Turn the edges over to form a crimp all along the edge. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and using a knife a cut a small air hole in the centre of the pasty to allow steam to escape while cooking. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, check after about half an hour to make sure the pastry is not browning too much and if you you can cover them lightly with tin foil.

While making this recipe I come up with the idea (too late now!) for a 6 Nations Pasty. Next time
England – Local British Beef
Ireland – Potatoes
Scotland – Use the more traditional turnips rather the swede
Wales – Replace the onions above for 2 leeks
France – Dijon mustard
Italy – Oregano