Perfect Piecrust

It's that time of year again - pies are abundant and often the problem is making the crust. Some people find this difficult and resort to store bought crusts but there is nothing like the taste of a home made pie crust!
Here are some tips for the perfect crust.

1.Use a mixture of shortening and butter. Shortening makes the pastry flaky and butter adds the great taste.
2. Make sure all the ingredients are chilled - I keep flour in the fridge.
3.Add the water very carefully - too much will make the crust tough and stodgy but if you use too little the crust will fall apart.
4. Don't over mix the dough
5.Salt, vinegar or lemon juice will help the crust from becoming too crumbly.
6. Don't stretch the dough when you roll it. It may look like it's reached the right size but will shrink when you bake it.

You can use a food processor on pulse to make pastry but I find that my hands work just as well (maybe because I have COLD hands!)

Quick Recipe
2/1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
(1 tbs sugar if this is for a sweet pasrty)
Sift together

Add 12tbs butter and 1/4 cup shortening cut into small pieces.
Using fingertips rub in  until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Mix 1/2 cup iced water with 1 tbs white wine vinegar
Drizzle on mixture and work untill dough is formed.
Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

You can pre-bake using pie weights or dry beans at about 375 for about 10-12 mins. Remove weights and bake for another 10-12 mins

Tip: When you transfer the rolled out dough to the dish you are baking it in, line with foil before using the weights, then when you remove the weights cook the 2nd half with no foil to get the crust nice and golden,

Banana Pecan Bread

Great at tea time - even breakfast. Easy to make and keeps nice and moist.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (sifted)
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method
Pre heat oven to 325F. Grease a loaf pan.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, beat egg, sugar, vanilla and oil until combined.
Add flour mixture stirring with a wooden spoon.
Add mashed bananas, mix then fold in the pecans.
Bake for 40-60 minutes till it passes the toothpick test!
Cool then eat!

Perfect Pan di Spagna - Sponge Cake

The 'secret' to a perfect result is in the beating of the eggs and the sugar. It is during this stage that air is incorporated to the mixture and that is essential for the cake to turn out really soft and sponge like without using any yeast.Eggs and sugar have to be beaten for quite a while, never less than 15 mins, with a good beater until the mixture is frothy and a pale yellow in colour. To test that it has been beaten enough, if you let some of the mixture fall from the beater back into the mixture, it remains 'sitting' on top for a while. If this doesn’t happen it means that the eggs have not been beaten enough and you need to beat them much more.


Don't forget the salt - often omitted - as this helps the eggs to become light and fluffy

Another  phase where you have to be careful is the addition of the flour. This has to be sifted extremely well and added to the egg mixture using a wooden spoon with a gentle but fast movement, stirring from bottom to top, folding in as much air as possible

While cooking, the oven must NEVER be opened as this will cause the cake to deflate. Before removing it from the oven, check that the sides have pulled inwards from the pan, check that the cake is ready using a skewer poked into the middle of the cake. If it comes out absolutely clean then the cake is ready

It is also a good idea that when the cake is ready, turn off the oven but leave the cake there for about 10 mins so that it can cool down slowly. After that, turn the cake out of the pan and put it on a cooling rack

Ingredients:
6 eggs
180gms sugar
75 gms flour
75 gms corn flour (corn starch for Americans)
Pinch of salt
(optional - grated rind of 1/2 lemon)

Method

Put eggs and sugar into a bowl and beat for about 15 mins until you have a frothy foamy mixture Add the flours by sifting them into the mixture and folding gently with a wooden spoon.
Put the mixture into a well greased cake tin, level out the mixture and cook in a pre heated over at 150C for about 40 mins

This can be used as a base for tiramisu or trifle and is also delicious on its own with just a dusting of powdered sugar

Swiss Fondue

Now that the weather is getting cooler, there is nothing more sociable than a pot of Swiss Fondue.( for the Swiss, fondue is ALWAYS made of cheese) There is a game assoicated with the dish : If someone loses their piece of bread of the fork they have to pay a penalty! What that will be is up to you!
The trick to a successful fondue  is to ensure that the cheese  sauce stays smooth. Cheese has a propensity to get stringy or to "seize up" into clumps, the fat separating from the proteins. Do not over heat as cheese tends to ball up at higher temperatures and if possible use a fondue pot. Don't let the cheese cool down too much before serving, as it tends to get stringier and tougher as it cools. Don't over stir the cheese, doing so will encourage stringiness.. so many don'ts!!
When we lived in the Ticino, we would use Grappa instead of kirsh.

Ingredients

1/2 pound (Real) Swiss cheese such as Jarlsberg or Emmenthaler, shredded  (or try Vacherin Fribourgeois)
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded ( aged about 8 months is best)
2 tablespoons cornstarch *
1 garlic clove, peeled, halved crosswise
1 cup dry white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 cup kirsh
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch nutmeg
*The cornstarch helps stabilize the sauce
Crusty bread, cubed, for dipping (can be a day old as it does not need to be super fresh - in fact a bit old is better!)When you cut the bread, try make sure that each piece had a bit of crust.

Method

1 Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a plastic bag. Seal, shake to coat the cheese with cornstarch. Set aside.

2 Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the garlic, then discard. Over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook until the cheese is just melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once smooth, stir in the kirsh and  nutmeg.
3 Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a flame to keep warm.
4. Spear the bread cubes with a fondue fork, dip in mixture till coated in cheese, and EAT!!!

Serves 4.

NB: As the cheese gets less and less, scrape the sides with your bread.When almost all the cheese is gone, lower the flame under the fondue pot.The last bit of cheese will be all toasty and yummy!

Wiener Schnitzel

This is by far my favourite veal recipe. Veal is very easy to find in Europe - no that much in the USA it seems. You could substitute pork fillet - that would be the closest to veal. This is a really great dish!!

Wiener Schnitzel is originally made with veal. The meat is coated in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan. Schnitzel is found on all the menus in Germany and is a popular dish to be made at home.
You can also use this recipe to make a pork Schnitzel or a chicken Schnitzel if preferred.

A Wiener Schnitzel is only original when made from veal. When made with pork (Schweineschnitzel) is known as "Schnitzel Wiener Art".
Wiener Schnitzel is served with lemon slices that  you squeeze over the meat. Anchovies and capers can also be served.

Ingredients
4 veal fillets (approx each 200g) or use veal rib eye if fillet is unavailable
salt and pepper
1 cup flour
3 eggs
150g breadbrumbs preferably made from stale French or Italian bread
Butter or lard (clarified butter* is actually the best here)

Method
Flatten the meat with a rolling pin or meat hammer. It is very important that the meat is almost paper thin.It's best to have the butcher pound the meat thinly for you, but if you want or need to do it yourself, position the 5-ounce piece of veal between 2 sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. Gently at first, then more forcefully, use a flat-bladed meat pounder to pound the veal into a fairly round shape 7 to 8 inches in diameter.
First coat the seasoned meat in flour, then dip into beaten egg. Lastly coat in breadcrumbs.
The schnitzels can be covered and left for 1 to 2 hours at a cool room temperature before cooking.
Heat oil in a pan and then fry the Schnitzel on both sides until brown and the meat is cooked through. Use enough butter or lard.During cooking, press the Schnitzel lightly with the back of a spoon. Cook for aprox. 2-4 mins on both sides.
Once cooked serve straight away.

*To clarify a pound of butter, heat it slowly over low heat in a medium saucepan. After it has melted, let it stand for 10 minutes, then use a spoon to skim off the foamy solids on the top. Pour off the clarified butter, leaving the watery residue in the pan (a fat-separator cup can be helpful for this). Pour the cooled butter into a plastic container, cover and refrigerate. The butter may be used a second time after frying a batch of schnitzel: Pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to eliminate any solids, then cover and refrigerate as above. Use within 1 month.

Pecan Pie

November is the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, so I thought I'd check out some traditional recipes.
One that stuck out was for Pecan Pie. Never made that before. Most of the recipes asked for corn syrup which didn't sound very inviting so I thought I'd muddle up on my own and try come up with something.

I made a standard pie crust (not too keen on the store bought ones) using 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable shortening as that makes it lighter. I used the recipe for the mince pies pastry which you can find here.

Now for the filling - I received some great pecans from my foodie exchange with Oklahoma so that was taken care of. The trick is to toast them and this is an easy and fast way.
Use a large pan, non stick is good - DO NOT GREASE! Heat, toss the pecans till they are toasty and you're done!

Ingredients for filling
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs flour
1 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
Beat all the above like crazy then add 2 cups of crushed toasted pecans.
Pour into the prepared pie crust and cook at abour 350F for 30-40 mins or until done.

I blind baked the pastry crust for about 10 mins just to be sure it cooked from the underneath!

Mince Pies

Mince pies have been eaten as part of a traditional British Christmas since as long ago as the 16th century. Then, they were made of meat along with spices and fruit and alcohol to preserve the meat.Now, mincepies are made with sweet mincemeat; a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, spices, suet  and brandy.
When mincemeat is made in the English kitchen, all the family takes turns in stirring and making a secret wish. The mixture is always stirred clockwise To stir in a counter-clockwise direction is to ask for trouble in the coming year!

You can buy mincemeat in speciality stores, but use my recipe - its more fun and the taste can't be beaten!
We now need the recipe for the pastry.

Ingredients
2/1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
6-7 tbs cold water (iced is better)

Method
Sift the flour and salt
Rub the butter and shortening in using fingertips till you get a breadcrumb like consistency
Add the water bit by bit until the mixture begins to combine.
Shape into a ball and refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Use a low cupcake type tray and line with circles of the pastry, fill with the mince meat, cover with another circle and prick the tops. You can also brush with beaten egg

Cook at about 400F until nice and brown

While still warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar.