PASTRY LORES

They always say good pastry making is an art. My mother used to make good pastry. She never weighed her ingredients and always made it by hand. But her best plus was she always had cold hands! As someone who nearly always has warm hands, I always make it in my food processor, weigh all the ingredients out and it comes out OK but if I used Mum's way, it would be a disaster. In the 80's and 90's, Sainsbury's produced a series of cookery books by Josceline Dimbleby. I think I bought them all. She was amazingly ahead of her time with her inspiring recipes. One of the many things I liked was her idiotproof way of making pastry in a completely novel way. With her method, warm hands do not matter and there is no rolling out! I have selected two of her tarts, one savoury and one sweet.

SHALLOT & SPRING ONION TART

For the pastry
125g plain flour
125g fine semolina
1 tsp salt
125g butter
1 tbsp water
1 egg white

For the filling
750g shallots
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch spring onions
1 large egg
2 egg yolks
150ml double cream
2 tsp caster sugar
salt and pepper

Mix flour, semolina and salt in a bowl. Gently melt the butter with the water in a saucepan then pour on to flour, stirring until you have a soft dough. Press pieces of the dough over the bottom and sides of a 25cm loose bottomed flan tin, bringing the edge slightly up above the rim. Brush the pastry all over with egg white and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Peel the shallots and slice into thin rings. Put olive oil into a frying pan and cook shallots gently for about 15 mins , stirring often until really soft. Leave to cool a bit. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Peel and slice the spring onions into 5mm pieces. Whisk egg and egg whites then whisk in cream. Stir the shallots and onion into cream mixture. Pour into pastry case levelling the top. Sprinkle with the sugar. Cook for about 25 mins until filling is just set and small speckles of black have appeared on surface. Take care on removing from tart tin as pastry is very crumbly. It is better to leave on base. Serves 6.

TARTE MONTMARTRE

For the pastry
175g S.R.Flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
75g icing sugar
100g butter
1 tbsp water

For the filling
3 eggs separated
1 tbsp caster sugar
juice of 2 lemons and finely grated rind of 1
4 tbsp cream
25g cornflour

For the icing
75g plain chocolate
4 tsp caster sugar
coarsely grated lemon rind or julienne strips of lemon rind

Sift the flour, cocoa and icing sugar. Melt butter with water then mix into the flour thoroughly with a spoon. Press the warm dough as evenly as you can over the base and sides of a 24cm loose bottomed flan tin. Neaten the edges with a rolling pin and press any scraps over pastry lining the base of the tin. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and thickened. Gradually whisk in lemon juice and then cream. Whisk in cornflour and stir in lemon rind. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks then fold gently into lemon batter. Pour into pastry case and bake in preheated oen 180 degree C for about 20-25 mins until golden brown.
Melt the chocolate and sugar with 1 1/2 tbs water over a very low heat. Stir until smooth then stir in another 2 tsp water. Pour over tart using a spoon to spread out to edges. Decorate with rind or julienne strips (perhaps blanched for several minutes in hot water). Serve cold but not straight from fridge. Serves 8.

SECRET SURPRISE BUNS

This is a guest post by my daughter Kerry.

This recipe was inspired by my youngest son Jem, who saw me filling butterfly cakes with mascarpone icing one day and asked me not to cut the lid into wings, but to replace it just as it was so his dad would'nt know there was a surprise within. I added the ganache topping to cover our tracks. These have now become legendary in our house although I daren't make them too often as I cannot leave them alone!

For the buns
50g cocoa powder
240ml boiling water
110g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
175g plain flour
1 or 2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 tsp baking powder

For the filling
150g mascarpone
4tbsp icing sugar

For the ganache
100g dark chocolate brokem up
100ml double cream

Heat the oven to 190 degrees C and place 16 muffin cases into muffin tins.

Put the cocoa into a small bowl, add the boiling water and stir until smooth. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add 1 egg and beat until combined, adding a tbsp of flour to stop it splitting. Repeat with 2nd egg and stir in vanilla extract if using. Add rest of flour and baking powder stirring well together before adding the cocoa mixture. Fill each case about 2 thirds full and bake for 16 to 20 minutes until springy to the touch. Leave to cool.
Beat together the mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth. Melt chocolate and stir in cream.

When the buns are cool, use a sharp knife to cut a 2cm deep circle out of the top of each bun, taking care to leave about 1cm rim around the cut. Trim off about half of the underside of each lid and discard. Fill the hole in each bun with 1 tsp of the mascarpone mixture, replace the lids then top with a dollop of ganache to disguise the joins!

Back to Julie

I made these last night. I halved the recipe but still got 9 buns. I had some squishy raspberries from the garden so added some to the mascarpone filling. Or some lemon curd would be nice. They were delicious.

GARLIC AND GINGER VEGETABLE GRATIN

I do love a gratin. I try not to eat them very often as they are not too good for the waistline! I spotted this unusual one in a Delicious magazine. I have tweaked it a bit. I made it last Sunday and it was yummy! You needn't be too precise with the ingredients. For two people, I put a crushed garlic clove, a knob of grated ginger, about 100ml milk and 150ml of cream in a pan with a parsnip, 2 carrots and 1 raw beetroot. all very finely sliced(best done on a mandoline if possible). Season well, bring just to the boil and simmer very gently for about 5 minutes. Spoon into a baking dish and cook in a 160 degree oven for about 45 mins or until tender.Because the veg used are all quite naturally sweet, it does taste quite sweet which some people may not like.

I also like a bargain! I had bought a piece of pork on the bone for the princely sum of 4 euros. I cooked it very slowly in the oven on a bed of onions which caramelised and made the basis for a delish gravy. It was so tender. I had the gratin with it. Next day we had cold pork with saute potatoes, freshly cooked beetroot from the garden and salad which took me straight back to my childhood. We always had the remains of the Sunday roast cold on Monday though always with mash, the only way Mum knew with potatoes! There was still plenty of pork left the next day so I minced it up with some fried onion and red pepper, an egg and a couple of teaspoons of some chilli jam I had made.(find recipe at www.joannasfood.blogspot.com/2005/11/chilli-jam.html ) I made 4 patties and fried them in a little oil. A very good 4 euros worth especially as all the veg came from the garden.