LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

to success

      The initial dough made with flour and water is called the détrempe. It should be neither too wet as in soft and sticky, nor too dry as in firm and cracking.

      The butter should be chilled and is then beaten and formed into the appropriate shape.

      Use flour on the worktop and on the pastry when rolling, but brush off excess flour before folding and chilling.

      Line up edges carefully and always fold the pastry exactly in three as if it was an important business letter.

      Wrap the pastry and chill for at least 30 minutes between each double roll.

      Each time you start to roll the pastry it should be placed on your worktop like a book ready to be opened.

      If butter squirts out of the pastry when you are rolling, add a sprinkle of flour and keep going. It is better if it doesn’t happen, but it sometimes does, and even though you might not end up with the desired 729 layers of pastry, it will still be excellent.

      The ingredients

      Strong white flour or baker’s white flour, a white flour high in protein, is essential for puff pastry.

      The butter used is generally unsalted, though I often use salted butter and find the result delicious.

      Makes 1kg 450g baker’s or strong flour

      Pinch of salt

      250ml ice-cold water

      450g butter, cold from the fridge

      Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add almost all the water, and with your hand, mix to form a dough, adding the remaining drops of water if it refuses to come together. The dough will not look particularly attractive or smooth at this stage. A soft dough will make a flabby pastry that will not rise with straight sides when being cooked later. If your détrempe is too dry the pastry is more likely to crack when you are rolling and folding it.

      Cover the détrempe by wrapping it in greaseproof or parchment paper or plastic film, or slip it into a large plastic bag, and chill for 30 minutes.

      When the détrempe is chilled, dust the worktop with flour and roll the dough out about 30cm square.

      Place the cold butter, wrapper removed, in a strong plastic bag and bash it with your rolling pin to achieve a rectangular slab that is pliable but still chilled. The slab should be about 13cm wide and 17cm long. You will probably have to shape the butter a bit with your hands – that’s fine, but do not allow the butter to warm up or start to melt. Place the butter in the middle of the square of dough and fold in the edges of the dough as if making a neat parcel. The butter should be completely enveloped – no butter should be visible.

      Now roll the dough and butter ‘parcel’ into a rectangle about 22cm wide and 45cm long. Don’t get too worked up about these measurements. They are approximate, so something close to this size will be fine. What is really important, though, is that the sides and ends of the pastry are straight, so that when you fold the pastry, all of the edges meet in flush lines. If your pastry looks misshapen, apply pressure with your rolling pin wherever necessary to achieve a regular shape.

      Brush the excess flour off the surface of the pastry with a pastry brush, and neatly and precisely fold the dough into three – as if folding a business letter! This is crucial, and lining up the edges of the dough neatly is also crucial. With folds and edges carefully aligned, the pastry will rise up straight later. If not carefully aligned, the rising pastry has a tendency to tumble off to one side or the other. You now have three layers in your pastry.

      Give the dough a 90° clockwise turn. It should now look like a book ready to be opened on your worktop. Roll out into a rectangle as before, fold in three again, and seal at the edges by pressing gently with your rolling pin. Brush off the excess flour. Place in a plastic bag and chill for at least 30 minutes. Your pastry now has nine layers.

      Now the pastry has had two single rolls or one double roll. It needs two more of these double rolls, allowing a 30-minute rest and chill between each. Chill the pastry after the final roll for at least 30 minutes.

      The pastry is now ready to be rolled again for cutting, shaping and cooking.

      Harissa

      I keep a jar of this hot and spiced North African-inspired paste in the fridge most of the time. I find it a really useful condiment for seasoning and marinating and on some occasions for adding a little heat to certain dishes. I use it with grilled lamb, pork and chicken, with oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, on hard-boiled eggs and in an omelette, stirred through mayonnaise as a sauce or through olive oil to make a slightly hot vinaigrette for crisp and cool salad leaves.

      I use medium hot chillies such as cayenne, jalapeño or serrano, for a level of heat that is obvious but not too scorching.

      Serves 6–8 6 medium hot red chillies

      1½ tablespoons tomato paste or thick purée

      8 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste

      3 teaspoons cumin seeds, roasted and ground

      3 teaspoons coriander seeds, roasted and ground

      6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

      1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lemon juice

      3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

      Maldon sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of sugar

      Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Place the chillies on a small roasting tray and roast for about 20 minutes. The skins will be blackening and blistering and coming away from the flesh. Place the roasted chillies in a bowl, seal tightly with cling film and allow to cool. When cool, peel off the skins and slit the chillies to remove the seeds. You just want the roasted flesh of the chilli for the harissa.

      Place the chillies in a food processor. Add the tomato paste, garlic and ground spices and process to a smoothish purée. Gradually add the oil and vinegar or lemon juice. Add the chopped coriander leaves and season to taste, adding a tiny pinch of sugar if you feel the flavour needs a lift. The taste should be strong, hot and pungent. Store in a covered container such as a jam jar in the fridge. The harissa will keep perfectly like this for several months.

      Curry powder

      If you would like to make your own spice mix, here is a combination I like to use for a general-purpose mix. Buy the spices whole, and roast and grind them yourself, and the flavour will be fresh and exciting. In this blend, it is the particular flavour and aroma of the fenugreek mixed with the other spices that gives the blend its distinctive ‘curry powder’ feel.

      Makes 35g 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

      1 teaspoon ground turmeric

      2 tablespoons coriander seeds, roasted

      1 tablespoon cumin seeds, roasted

      2 teaspoons black peppercorns, roasted

      1 teaspoon black mustard seeds, roasted

      4 cloves, roasted

      1 dessertspoon chilli flakes (add more if you want a hotter mix)

      Place a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and roast the fenugreek and turmeric for 10 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients before grinding everything to a fine powder in a clean coffee or spice grinder or a pestle and mortar.

      Store the spices in a clean sealed container such as a jam jar and keep in a cool dark place. Use within a couple of weeks.

      Vegetable stock

      Vegetable stock can be a well flavoured, delicious and subtle broth or it can be as dull as dishwater. The key to a good vegetable stock is vegetables. A few bits of randomly chosen vegetables floating around in a saucepan of simmering water will not give you the result you wish for. Neither is this process a vehicle for using up stale vegetables that would find a more productive role on the compost heap or a way to absolve your guilt at the sight of those unused ingredients.

Скачать книгу