b y sy (architect by day, entertaining maestro any other time)
Pies and tarts are wonderful show off pieces on the table. Pies usually have a lid or pastry cover and tarts are ‘open’ pies. Pies are great on colder rainy days, the family will be hanging around the kitchen when the pie is in the oven as it smells as good as what’s cooking inside. Tarts or flans make very attractive desserts especially when it is topped with colorful slices of fruit and cream. Savory deep tarts such as quiche is a meal in itself when served with a salad on the plate.
Secrets of Pie Pastry Making
Good pastry will make your pie stand out – it is the edible ‘casing’ for your pie ingredients. It should be thin and golden baked and crispy at the top and a little thicker at the bottom and sides to hold things. The secret to good pastry making is that the ingredients should be cool and not over handled with the hands which are warm that is why some ice cold water is added to bind the ingredients at the end. Pastry must also ‘rest’ before being rolled out onto a floured board. ‘Resting’ is done by wrapping pastry in cling film and putting in a refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Then roll out to 4mm thickness with floured rolling pin or long glass bottle – always roll from center in an outwards motion. Lift pastry with a floured pastry knife (flat edges) and drape on to floured rolling pin to place over baking tray or fluted tray. Press gently with fingers to let pastry ‘sit properly’ i.e. let pastry be evenly distributed onto tray and poke gently with prongs of fork for thick pastry so that heat can penetrate evenly. Trim any excess pastry with a sharp knife. For tarts, always bake pastry ‘blind’ i.e. put a piece of foil over shaped pastry in tray and weigh down with dry beans or corn kernels so that pastry will not bubble and rise unevenly. Any accidental holes in pastry should be patched up at once with a small piece of pastry flour pressed into hole and patted down smoothly. Sometimes dabbing a few drops of water before patching will make pastry stick together much faster. Pie tops should be brushed with beaten egg or milk so that a golden brown colour is obtained when baking. All kinds of decorative shapes can be cut with excess pastry e.g. leaf motifs and placed on top to make it look good. Also remember pies need to ‘breathe’ when baking due to the production of steam from the filling and a few slots cut with a sharp knife on the lid will do this job. Some pie dishes in fact come wit a small ceramic chimney to ventilate the pies!!
Short crust Pastry is the basic pie or tart pastry. For sweet desert flans, sometimes ground almonds are added as well as sugar to make the pastry more exciting to the taste buds. Finely grated cheese may also be used to enhance certain recipes e.g. mini cheese flans.
***Basic Short Crust Pastry for Savoury Pies
(serves 
3 cups plain flour
180g butter (chopped, still hard)
1/3 cup iced water
Pinch of salt
1 egg (beaten)
- Place butter, flour and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixture is fine and crumbly. Add all the ice water and pulse until ingredients come together. Put ingredients onto a floured board and make into a ball and refrigerate for 15 mins.
Chicken and Mushroom Pie
Make short crust pastry as above***
Pie Filling
1. 1 kg mince chicken
2. 1 tsp dried mixed herbs (includes bay leaf, marjoram etc)
3. 2 eggs lightly beaten
4. 3 spring onions fined chopped
5. 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
6. 6 oz sauteed sliced button mushrooms (use butter for better flavor)
7. 1/3 cup cream or whole milk
8. 1 heaped teaspoon cornflor
9. Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
- Mix cornflor into milk until smooth liquid
- In a large bowl combine all other ingredients (1)-(7). Add plenty of pepper. Add salt to taste.
- Take out pastry from refrigerator and roll out 2/3 pastry to 4mm thickness as mentioned above. Drape over 200mm diameter spring form tin with about 3 inch deep sides with extra pastry hanging over the top edge. Press lightly to fit and trim off the top with sharp knife. Roll out other 1/3 into 3mm thickness.
- Put filling into prepared pie pastry and brush the edges with beaten egg from ***
- Put ‘lid’ on top and pinch the edges into fluted pattern with fingers. Cut 25mm slots on top of pastry in a symmetrical pattern if possible with sharp knife and decorate with left over pastry if desired.
- Brush edge of pie and the top lid with beaten egg. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown.
*Basic Short Crust Pastry for Sweet Fruit Tarts and deserts
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
185g butter (chopped, still hard)
2 egg yolks (lightly beaten)
2-3 tbsp iced water
Pinch of salt
Milk for glazing
- Place butter, flour, icing sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixture is fine and crumbly. Add all the ice water and egg yolks pulse until ingredients come together. Put ingredients onto a floured board and make into a ball and refrigerate for 15 mins.
Apple Pie (serves 6)
- * Basic short crust pastry. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- 4-5 medium green apples, cored and sliced
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 tbsp marmalade
- 30g butter
- Preheat oven to 180 degree C
- Combine all ingredients (1)-(5) in a saucepan under low to medium heat. Gently cook until liquid has evaporated (about 20 minutes). Remove cloves. Stir in marmalade and butter and mix well. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Unwrap pastry and roll out 2/3 onto floured board, roll into 3-4mm thickness. Roll out rest of pastry to thinner top ‘lid’ cover. Take out a 200-230mm diameter metal or ceramic pie dish
- Line the pastry dish and trim as above. Put in slightly cooled apple ingredients. Add ‘lid’. Make steam slots with sharp knife and decorate with left over pastry. Brush with milk on top and at edges.
- Bake for 30 minutes till golden brown. Best served hot with ice cream.
