Cornish Pasty

Pasty rolled out like a plate,Piled with "turmut, tates and mate."Doubled up, and baked like fate,That's a "Cornish Pasty." (An old rhyme from over Breage way!)
Perhaps Cornwall's most well known export of recent years is the pasty, it is now almost as ubiquitous throughout the UK as the sandwich and has sprouted a whole variety of fillings from beef and stilton to chicken tikka. However, the wide range of fillings used in pasties is not a new thing. It is said that the Devil had never crossed the Tamar into Cornwall, on account of the well known habit of Cornish women of putting everything into a pasty, and that he was not sufficiently courageous to risk such a fate!

Traditional fillings include:
Cornish pasty (Beef, potatoe and turnip)
Eggy pasty (Bacon and egg)
Jam pasty
Mackerel pasty
Rabbitty pasty (Rabit)
Parsley pasty (Lamb and parsley)
Rice pasty (Like rice pudding but in a pasty)
Sour sauce pasty (Sorrel leaves)
Star-gazing or starry-gazey pasty (Usually a whole herring wrapped in pastry with its head sticking out one end!)
Windy pasty (Left over pasty pastry baked and served with jam and cream)

Cornish Pasty

Serves: 4 (makes 4 pasties)
Cooking time and temperature: 20-30 mins at 220C then 20 mins at 160C then turn oven off and leave in oven for 15 minutes with door shut

Ingredients:
Pastry:

450g strong white flour

100g margarine100g lard

175ml watersalt

Filling:

50g onion of shallot (or leek)

50-75g turnip (or swede)

100g beef skirt or chuck steak

150g sliced old potatoes

black pepper

salt

Method:

Pastry:

1. Put flour and a little salt into a bowl.

2. Cut off a quarter of the lard and rub into the flour.

3. Grate or slice the rest of the lard and margarine into the mixture and stir with a knife.

4. Pour all the water in and stir until absorbed.

5. Knead for a little.

6. Leave for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before using.

Making the pasties:

1. Preheat oven to 220C.

2. Keep slices of potato in a basin of cold water until needed.

3. Trim the fat off the meat, and cut into 6mm chunks.

4. Flour the board/work area.

5. Cut off 1/4 of the pastry. Roll it out into a circle about 22 cm in diameter. Place an upturned plate over the pastry and trim round.

6. Put most of the turnip and onion across the centre of the pastry round. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

7. Place meat along the top into the ends. Sprinkle with salt.

8. Top up with most of the potato and the rest of the turnip. Add more salt and the rest of the potato. Do not season top layer with salt.

9. Dampen one side of the pastry all round with a very little water.

10. Fold the damp side of the pastry to the other side and press down firmly but gently. The seam should run across the top, but run it down the side if you find it easier.

11. From the right hand side (or left if you are left-handed) fold over the edge to make it slightly thicker, then squeeze tightly between thumb and forefinger every 2 cms to make a neat pattern along the edge. Tuck in the end and seal well.

12. Make a slit in the top with a knife and patch holes with dampened pieces of rolled-out pastry.

13. Place the pasties on buttered greaseproof paper or a greased and floured tray, leaving 5cm between each. Brush the pasties with milk or egg wash (egg and milk) or water.

14. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 mins at 220C. If brown turn them down and cook for 20 mins at 160C then turn oven off and leave in oven for 15 minutes with oven door shut.15. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Leave for 15 mins to cool before eating!

A breif history of the pasty

Although now irreversibly associated with Cornwall, the pasty is thought to date back to the 13th century when it was not exclusively eaten in Cornwall. In fact it was a dish more associated with the nobility than the working classes and often filled with game such as venison or salmon. It has been said that Henry VIII's wife, Jane Seymour was known to be partial to a pasty now and again.It was not until the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century that the pasty became the Cornish pasty. Being the ultimate hand-held convenience food with its crimped pastry to hold it by made it ideal for miners' "croust" or lunch as the rest of us call it!
Back in those days each member of the family had their own pasty baked for them and marked with their initial. The correct way to eat the pasty is to start at the opposite end to the initial, so that should any of it be uneaten, it could be consumed later by its rightful owner - and woe betide anyone who takes another person's "corner"!
Another pasty tradition that has more or less died out is that of having a meat filling in one end of the pasty and a sweet course at one end, containing fruit, jam or treacle. Indeed a 1905 dialect dDictionary defined a pasty as "a meat and potato or fruit turnover (Cornwall)". Possibly not a bad thing you don't see those these days, but then again I guess it beats having a fish head sticking out of one end and the tail out the other!!
Since then the Cornish miners who left to find work in the four corners of the world (the Cornish Diaspora) introduced the pasty to places such as USA, Australia, South Africa and South America. Indeed in some regions they are almost as proud of their pasties as we are here in Cornwall.
But this wasn't the end of the global spread of the pasty. If figures are to be beleived pasties are now one of the Duchy's biggest exports. Recent figures put the total pasty revenue within the Duchy at £150 million per year, with 90 per cent of the pasties produced being sold over the Tamar Bridge.

Eggs and Bacon Pie

Shortcrust Pastry
6 slices lean bacon
2 large potatoes, finely sliced
3 to 4 large eggs
salt & pepper to tastemilk

Line a shallow quiche tin with some of the pastry (reserve some for the pir top). Grill the rashers of bacon. Remove rind (and fat if you prefer) cut into bite size pieces and spread over the base of the pie. Sauté the thinly sliced potatoes, spread those over the bacon, season with pepper but very little salt (as the bacon may be salty). Lightly beat 3 or four eggs Season and pour over the filling. Place the pastry lid on top. Seal the edges and brush with a little milk. Bake at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes to set the pastry, then reduce the heat to 180 degrees C for 45 minutes or until a golden brown

Jam and Bread Pudding

Jam and Bread Pudding
1 (1 lb) brioche or challah sliced 12-inch thick (1 loaf)
3/4 cup strawberry jam, plus (or preserves)
3 tablespoons strawberry jam (or preserves)
4 large eggs1/2 cup sugar2 1/2 cups whole milk or half-and-half, plus
1 tablespoon whole milk or half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375*F.
Butter a 9″x13″ glass baking dish.
Arrange half of the challah in the dish; tear the slices to fit.
Spread 3/4 cup of the jam on top; cover with the remaining challah.
Whisk the eggs, sugar, 2 1/2 cups milk and vanilla and pour over the challah; press to soak and brush with 4 tbls. of the butter.
Cover with foil and bake for 24 minutes, removing the foil halfway through, until the pudding is set; remove from the oven.

Preheat the broiler.
Blend the remaining 1 tbls. of milk with the powdered sugar.
Add the remaining butter and jam and stir until the glaze is smooth.
Spread all but 1/4 cup of the glaze over the pudding and broil until the glaze is golden.
Drizzle the bread pudding with the remaining glaze and serve.

FIGGY COUS COUS PUDDING WITH RASPBERRY COULIS

FIGGY COUS COUS PUDDING WITH RASPBERRY COULIS

Serves 4-6
Such a good, tasty pud. it's big on figs


Ingredients


¾ litre milk
1 vanilla pod (Split into two and scrape the insides out)
90g caster sugar
2 x 125g sachet Ainsley Harriott Premium Cous Cous ( I used the regular one I find in my local bio store)
10 dried figs, rehydrated in water
3 eggs
1 bottle of raspberry coulis (or make your own if you're feeling flash!!)



Method


Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F/Gas Mark 4.
In a saucepan, bring the milk to the boil, turn off the heat and add the vanilla pod. Leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
Remove the vanilla pod. Put the milk back on a medium heat, add the sugar and Ainsley Harriott Premium Cous Cous.
Turn the heat down to low and stir continually until it thickens.
Turn off the heat and add the roughly chopped figs. One at a time, beat the eggs and add them to the mixture.
Pour into a greased sandwich tin and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the top of the cake is lightly browned.



TO SERVE: Serve warm, with lashings of raspberry coulis.
OTHER IDEAS: You can also replace the dried figs with dates, dried apricots, raisins and a few almonds.

Source : http://www.ainsley-harriott.com/ainsley-harriott-recipes-dessert-3.htm

When I saw this dessert I just had to do it, it's soooo good !

barbequed leg of lamb with thai green spices

I try not to think about the little animal otherwise I wouldn't eat but I love lamb ..? and this recipe is just too good not to be made ...


for the marinade :
• 10 kaffir lime leaves, torn
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks of lemon grass, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeleda bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked
• 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• juice of 2 limes

for the lamb :
• 1 x 2-2.5kg leg of lamb, butterflied (ask your butcher to do this for you)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and chopped

optional : juice of 1 lime

Preheat your oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3. Place the kaffir lime leaves, ginger, lemon grass, garlic, most of the coriander and chillies into a large pestle and mortar or a food processor and bash or pulse until you have a thick, fragrant, green paste. Stir in the olive oil and the lime juice.

Rub the marinade all over the lamb, making sure you get into all the nooks and crannies. Most of it will fall off during cooking, but it will still give the meat the most fantastic flavour. Season the lamb well and place it in a roasting tray. Cover with tinfoil and pop it in the preheated oven for about an hour.

After half an hour or so, light your BBQ so the flames have a chance to die down nicely. Make sure you have coals piled up high on one side so it's super hot and low on the other side for a more gentle heat to give you some control. Take the lamb out of the oven and cut or break it into a few big chunks, this way it'll be much easier to handle.

Place the lamb on the hot side of the barbie with the tray with all its juices on the cooler side. Squeeze a bit more lime juice into the tray if you like – you want the acidity to be like a mint sauce. Turn the meat regularly, basting it in the juices from the tray as you go. This will give you a nice, dark crust. Give the meat about 10 minutes like this, to build up the colour.

Once your meat is done, remove it to a board, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest. Pour the coconut milk into the tray and allow it to bubble for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Carve your lamb into chunky slices. Serve the sliced lamb with the Thai sauce, sprinkled with chopped chilli and the remaining coriander. An absolute showstopper.

Source : http://www.jamieoliver.com/

Cornish Cream Tea Ingredients -Recipe

For the cream tea:

2 or 3 home made scones per person freshly baked and still warm to the touch or for the purists amongst you, (and what is shown in the photo above)

2 or 3 home made Cornish splits per person freshly baked but cooled hence cold to the touch

Real butter
8 oz pot of Clotted Cream applied generously
Portion of Real Fruit Strawberry Jam

For the Scones

2 cups plain white flour
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp. caster sugar
1/4 pint milk

For the Splits

2 cups plain white flour
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. lard
1 tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. caster sugar
1/4 pint milk
1/4 pint warm water