The Great Recipe Book Challenge of 2013 - May

Hands up who likes pies? Me! I like pies! Pies, in all their varied forms and iterations. I have delved into the Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies before now and I have to say I owe them a great debt. In the past, they furnished me with a killer top crust receipy which gained me a mute nod of respect from the GIL (Grandmother-In-Law) and is still talked about to this day.

I was keen then to see what other gems could be uncovered and this month the eye of the great random generator beast fell on Cheese and Onion Pasties. A reasonable challenge I thought, and even though Mrs. P. voiced her exasperation over another dull receipe, I decided to ignore her pitiful cries and gorge on the pasty fest regardless, after all, no-one said this was going to be easy did they!

I hadn't made pasty pastry before and it was slightly different to my usual type.Not as flakey and certainly containing more weight than I usually like in a pastry, but certainly necessary to keep the melted cheeseyness within.

I was quite proud of my crimping. it was my first real go and while sufficient it certainly got better the more I did. In this picture you can also see the various sizes of pasty that were achieved. Rolling the pastry didn't get them thing enough before I cut them into circles - perhaps a result of not having enough space but I think that might just be a bad excuse!!

The end results actually made me rather proud, in a strange pasty inspired kind of a way. Mrs. P. liked them but I felt that they needed more cheese, or at least they needed some way of bringing the cheese through the pastry more. Next time, I would add more parmesan to the pastry and then grate on top too.

Tasty Tasty!

2 medium potatoes (approx 300g), peeled and chopped into cubes

50g butter

2 medium onions, finely sliced

150g Cheddar cheese, grated

1tsp English mustard

flaked sea salt

ground black pepper

Pastry

450g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

125g cold butter

2 large egg yolks

50g Parmesan cheese, grated

150ml water

egg to glaze

Bring a Saucepan of salted water to boil and add the potato cubes. Bring back to the boil for 5 minutes. Drain and cool.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and gently fry the onions for 10 minutes or until softened but not coloured, stirring repeatedly. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Scatter the potato onto the onions and add the grated cheese and mustard. Season with salt and pepper and mix together. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/180 for fan ovens, gas mark 6.

Pulse the flour, baking powder , salt, butter and egg yolks in a processor (or if you are like me, in a big bowl and stir with your hands). slowly pour in the water until the mixture becomes a dough (you might not need all the water). Roll the dough into a ball.

Roll out the pasty on a lightly floured surface until it is about 5mm thick. Using a side plate, cut out 6 or 7 pastry rounds (about 15cm across), re-rolling as necessary. Divide the filling between the pastry rounds, placing it across the centre. Brush the sides with beaten egg, bring up the sides and crimp to seal firmly. Repeat until they are all beautifully rustic.

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with more egg to glaze (i added a sprinkle of salt too). Bake for 25/30mins until browned and the filling is hot!

Working Lunch - Taiko Vietnamese Prawn Crystal Rolls from Waitrose

'Ooh', I said. 'Mmm, that looks nice. I fancy me a bit of that, oh yes.'

On first presentation, how could you say no to a lovely bit of Vietnamese roll? You would surely be a fool to do such a thing! Well, having tasted this particular example and been suitably underwhelmed by the watery, bland, distinctly non-prawn nature of this prawn roll, I can be the one to tell you that in all honestly, you shouldn't have bothered.

 The carrot to noodle ratio (an all important measurement in such things) seemed totally out of kilter in favor of the carrot which was disappointing enough but then with no punchy dressing or shellfish whack to give each bite even some kind of impact, it just dissolves into an unpleasant, vaguely crunchy mush.

Steer clear.
 

The Woolpack Inn - Thrapston

Gastropub. What does that word mean to you? Does it conjure up images of real ales, menus printed daily and 'specials' that actually justify the term?

If it does then how often do you find such a beast? About as often as you find a tenner down the back of the sofa, in my experience; rarely and with some considerable joy when you do.

Well, fret not because The Woolpack Inn certainly doesn't buck the trend. Mrs P. and I visited the place recently on the hunt for a decent Sunday lunch but were treated, if treated is the right word, to a litany of Schoolboy errors, such that any self-respecting chef should cry themselves to sleep over.

Starters - Mine was Chicken Pate, Mrs P. went with the deep fried Brie. First impressions were not great; bloody chefy tiles. How many more times do I have to shout it out? THEY DON"T MAKE THE FOOD TASTE NICER!! Secondly, Mrs P's was frozen in the middle. That had to go back to the kitchen but also started us on the road to suspicion. Frozen? That said pre-prepared, and it's only a small step from there to pre-supplied... hmm, not looking good. The pate, by the way, was fairly good if a little grainy. Personally, I like a good coarse terrine to a smooth pate but it was well seasoned and the toast was thin and crisp.

Mains - Mrs P was the Hunters Chicken (trust me, it wasn't worth the picture) and I got the Roast Pork Sunday lunch. Oh dear. It is pictured here only due to the complete shambles that it represented. The veg was cold and under seasoned, the meat; cold and in tiny proportions. The gravy, you guessed it; cold and the potatoes? Piping hot!  The whole dish would have gone back again had we not been eating with relatives who, after the brie incident, were set about convincing themselves and us how delicious the meal was. Embarrassing them would have served no purpose and so we soldiered on. I attempted to warm as much of the dish as possible by mushing up the potatoes with the broccoli but in all honesty, I just ended up pushing it all around the plate.

Mrs P. couldn't finish her chicken either - the rich cheese and sweet, heavy bottled BBQ sauce combo defeated her only half way through.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that the puddings were actually lovely. The fudge cake was OK but the Chocolate Bread and Butter pudding was a delight. Beautiful with custard, it was by far and away the start of the show. Which is unfortunate because for an establishment which not only looks the part but also tries to pride itself on decent, modern pub grub, it simply doesn't deliver.

http://www.thewoolpackinn.com