Jamie Oliver's Sweet Pastry~

This is the last Jamie Oliver Friday I will do for awhile. There are a few more recipes I want to post but they are very seasonal and this is NOT the season for them, and then there is the one last recipe that requires a lot of wild game which my husband has brought home from the hunt and he will prepare it , in his time. This is the sweet pastry, which in the book is directly opposite the savory recipe I posted last week. I like this pastry but instead of using it as a fruit pie pastry as Jamie suggests, I will in the future use it as a ONE crust pie pastry for cream pies, or lemon meringue.The pastry is rich enough for me to be dessert by itself! You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups organic all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting ( *I did not have organic, just used regular)
• 1 cup icing (* confectioners' ) sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons good quality cold butter , cut into small cubes
• zest of one lemon
• 2 large eggs
• a splash of milk (* and he means JUST a splash)
• flour for dusting

"Sift the flour from a height onto a clean work surface (* from a height?) and sift the icing sugar over the top. Using your hands , work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine crumbly mixture. This is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavors, so mix in your lemon zest." "Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together till you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly . Don't work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round , flour it lightly , wrap in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge to rest for at least half an hour." Jamie Oliver I pulled this out of the oven around midnight and had to let it cool to taste it. The pastry is delicious, my winter apples are a disappointment. Even with the right amount of sugar, cinnamon, and lemon...the lack of flavor the apples show cannot be disguised. My lesson here is that if I am going to invest such rich ingredients and my time into a recipe I will make sure ALL the ingredients are worthy! I think my sheep will appreciate the remaining winter apples from our trees NOT baked into a pie. * asterisk denotes my comments or words

The Best Savory Shortcrust Pastry~ Jamie Oliver Friday

This was an easy recipe for me and a chance to make pie dough in my food processor. I make a lot of pastry, but have never done it with my food processor and Jamie's recipe called for this so I was delighted to give it a go. The recipe in the book is simply the pastry recipe so I decided to make a chicken pot pie, a dish my husband always appreciates coming home to, especially on cool rainy days. You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 7 ounces lard, cut into cubes
• 2 ounces freshly grated Cheddar cheese
• sea salt
• a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• a splash of milk
• flour for dusting

"This savory pastry is good for making tarts, quiches and the like.The two main principles behind making it are the same as for a sweet pastry; stick to a ratio of half fat to flour, and bring the pastry together as quickly as possible without pulsing the dough too much. Like sweet pastry, you can flavor this savory one in different ways. Try things like paprika, black pepper, nutmeg or mace instead of the rosemary and thyme. In my opinion an exceptional savory pastry is made with suet or lard, rather than butter. This gives the pastry a great flavor, a slightly richer texture and a delicious caramelized crust when it comes out of the oven. Feel free to use butter instead, if you're at all concerned about the fat intake of lard, but if you're eating this only once in awhile, why not spoil yourself and do it properly? There's nothing better! P.S. You can make this pastry the old fashioned way ( by hand) if you're feeling nostalgic. Put the flour, lard, cheese and a generous pinch of sea salt into a food processor and pulse for 20 to 30 seconds or until the mixture is crumbly and fine. Add the rosemary and thyme leaves or your chosen flavoring. Pour in the eggs, add the milk. Pulse for a few more seconds until the mixture comes together. Scoop your dough out of the food processor onto a clean floured work surface and pat it a few times to make it more compact-don't be tempted to knead it. When you have a flat round, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour." Jamie Oliver I made up a chicken pot pie filling using leftover chicken and broth and added slightly cooked vegetables and thickening to the mixture, and after rolling out the pastry and lining a casserole dish with 2/3 of the pastry, filled it with the chicken mixture, then topped it with the last 1/3 of the pastry. I pricked holes in the topper and baked the pot pie for a little over an hour at 375 degrees. My husband said this was very good! As I do not like cooked potatoes or peas ( I know, I am way too picky) I did not eat any of this, but I did sample the pastry and it is delicious! A recipe I will most definitely use again and again~thanks Jamie!