Pastry

[goose]

Hey all, im in need of a little help, from all you cooking buffs. I want to make a few home made meat pis, and since i have went dairy free i aint tried pastry in my diet and wondered if anyone makes their on pastry and what ingredients u use. Im a bit of a cooking virgin as my partner usually does the meals, but is struggling to cook as much due to my diet.And i want to make things the both of us will enjoy without the dairy hassle, Thankyou... oh, and if anyone has any tips on pancakes it would be greatly appreciated, as it's my birthday on shrove tuesday and i usually get pancakes for breakfast, sort of tradition on my b/day.

[cnc]

Pancakes, just replace normal milk with soya milk and it should be fine. Its the same theory I apply to Yorkshire puddings and it works, so should work for this as well.
I'm lazy and use shop bought pastry- Jus-Rol Puff pastry is dairy free (found in freezer section) for meat pies and stuff.
Any cooking book should have a decent pastry receipe in it, but it depends what type of pastry you want to make. Also don't handle your pastry any more than you have to, otherwise it gets greasy and warm, and doesn't work as well. I think this information is right, I'm digging it out from the back of my memory from when I did GCSE Food Tech!!

[goose]

Cheers claire, i didn't realise that just-rol was dairy free, as most pastrys are made with butter or marge, i roughly know how to make it from my school days, but ill try anything once.:lol2:

[victoriagouramma]

For sweet pastries I use margarine, for salted ones I use olive oil or a mixture of olive/corn. I read somewhere that corn oil is good also in cakes, but I haven't tried yet.

Have a nice birthday, with a great birthday cake!
Vicotria

[linny]

Ended up in Sainsburys this week and found that their own brand ready made pastry (puff and shortcrust) are both dairy free. They're in the fridge section.

[matt]

life's too short to make pastry!!! go for the ready made type and spend the time on the filling instead!

[Copper]

Making pastry is bad for my hands - it dries them out. I might do something creative with the ready made pastry in the summer holidays.

[linny]

I did o level cookery and had to make every kind of pastry going, not surprising that I haven't made it since!!! Can't decide what to make with the packet of ready made I bought though. Maybe something heart shaped for Valentines Day - it is half term and it will amuse us for a couple of hours.:lol2:

[goose]

I was just like to say after some expermentation, i did manage to make home made pasrty for a pie which i cooked on sunday and it turned out just fine.

[matt]

what sort of pastry have you got?

one of those upside down tarts they make in the frying pan? pears maybe...

[Twinkle]

Ended up in Sainsburys this week and found that their own brand ready made pastry (puff and shortcrust) are both dairy free. They're in the fridge section.

hmm, they must have changed the recipe in the last few months then - when I looked they had butter in them.

[matt]

beware it's made by sainsbury's they seem determined to kill us all off!!!:o

[Pam]

What are you lot like?

Pastry - half fat to flour, fat is half white, half yellow.

So, 8oz flour, 2oz lard (white flora or trex will do), 2oz margarine (stork solid is best but pure will do), a pinch of salt and maybe a tsp of baking powder if you use plain flour.

Rub fat into flour, mix in just enough cold water to bring it all together. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out on a floured board and cook at approximately 180 degrees C.

I'm told that food processors are great for pastry as you don't need to get your hands in. I use a rubbing in tool which is like a load of blades in a semi-circle with a handle on. Warm hands = warm fat =poor pastry.

[linny]

I've decided to make a bakewell tart with the pastry, the ingredients weren't cheap though - oh I need cheering up!

[matt]

home made is not often cheaper but normally tastes far far better. get what you pay for. plus satisfaction of knowing it's the product of your own labour not some damn machine!

[cnc]

Except all of the ingredients will be made from some machine originally!!
But I agree home made baking does generally taste nicer :)

[matt]

feel argumentative..... apart from the flour where is the machine that makes :
steak
kidneys
mushrooms
herbs
vegtables?????

:lol2:

[cnc]

feel argumentative..... apart from the flour where is the machine that makes :
steak
kidneys
mushrooms
herbs
vegtables?????

:lol2:

I was actually commenting more on the bakewell tart- Jam, and icing sugar isn't it?

However, steak, and kidney- mechanically seperated from the animal more than likely
Herbs, mechnically chopped, and then placed in a container- using mechanics!!
Vegetables and mushrooms, mechanically sorted- not forgotting the machines that get all of these ingredients to the supermarket.

So there :D:D

[matt]

well if you buy all the stuff like you suggest then lots of machines.
herbs taste much better freshly chopped by knife
vegtables form local organic farm.
mechanically cut steak!!!!!! you'd eat that would you? buy a steak and chop it yourself.

jam...boiled sugar and fruit. mass produced the only machine involved fills and seals the jars. farmer/ WI market.

i could go on. there is always a better option for food.:lol2:

[cnc]

Most people will be buying their produce as I suggested, primarily for convience.
I don't eat beef anyway, but machines are always involved in food production- just depends on what scale you're prepared to discuss.
Jam- fruits are not washed by hand etc, its all chopped by machines, to make sugar you need a machine as well. Machines are also needed to heat the sugar :P
I think this argument could go on for a while!!

[linny]

And I only mentioned I was going to make a Bakewell tart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol2:

[cnc]

Linny, someones got to give Matt something to argue about :D

Have you actually made the bakewell tart yet??

[linny]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o I got making Valentines biscuits with my daughter!!! Oh Dear - I feel SO guilty!! I'll make it SOON!!:lol2:

[cnc]

We do all this arguing and the dessert is never made :D

If you feel guilty enough, I've been led to believe that slices of bakewell tart travel well :D

[matt]

just make it wheat free as well so i can try it!!!!

you can make real nice moist cakes using just ground almonds aparently.

me argue as if .

claire just needs to have someone to debate with and i'm the closest...

[cnc]

claire just needs to have someone to debate with and i'm the closest...
Ok I admit it, I just like arguing :)

[Lan]

Hi all,

And let's be honest Claire, arguing with Matt is fun!!!! :D:D:D

Lan

[linny]

But arguing about my non existent Bakewell tart!!:hysterica

[cnc]

Well I've tried arguing about stuff geography related but don't get a good response :D

[goose]

i think this is a no win situation, matt and claire could go on forever. linny go ahead and make those tarts i bet they will turn out brill.

[cnc]

Yes well, at least I'm keeping Matt out of mischief!!

[matt]

only for the short time i'm here in the mornings and it's too dark out to get up to much anyway!

see what happens if you start with the bakewell tarts!!!

geography debates? when was that then?

so you done anything with the pastry yet?:)

[cnc]

only for the short time i'm here in the mornings and it's too dark out to get up to much anyway! Surely under the cover of darkness is the best time to get up to mischief?!:)

geography debates? when was that then? Was in chat one day- I vaguely recall you saying you hadn't covered whatever it was we were talking about in your course yet!!

[matt]

darkness good time to get up to mischeif but more fun in the day when more awake and more light to see by!!:D

[cnc]

Nah, theres something much more interesting about causing mischief in the dark. :D

[PinkyPrincess]

I'd love to have some pastry again. I have got lots of gluten free flours like rice flour, buckwheat flour, potato flour, soya flour, but I'm not sure what to do with them most of the time.
Any advice would be great....
Thanks!
Pinks

[goose]

Sorry PP cant help you for this one, cnc taught me well on how to buy just-roll pastry. since its dairy free.:thumbsup:

[cnc]

Glad I was of some use Goose :D
Pinks-Gluten free pastry isn't that bad to make- its a bit drier than normal pastry so maybe some more liquid should be added, but you should be able to use a normal recipe, the best thing to do, is give it a go and see what happens.
Copper or PA may be of some more use.

[PinkyPrincess]

Thanks Claire, I wouldn't know where to start so I'll wait and see if anyone has any recipe ideas.
I never know whether I should use MORE rice/soya milk or less, because it's more watery than cow's milk.

[Pam]

You don't need to put milk in pastry, just water. Use half the quantity of fat to flour (so 8oz flour = 4oz fat which should be half white/half yellow), rub together then add water until it all comes together, allow to chill in the fridge for 30 mins then roll out.

For other recipes use the same amount of liquid as stated whatever type of milk you use, but I think Copper recommends adding a little extra liquid to cake mixtures etc if using gluten free flour.

I'm sure that Dove's Farm do a little recipe book, if you get in touch with them I am sure that they will send you a copy. Pure spreads do recipe books too with various special diets catered for, you can order their recipe books via the web site or take recipes from there.

[Copper]

I have not tried wheat and gluten free pastry. I know that wheat and gluten free cakes need more liquid as the flour absorbs more liquid than normal flour. Doves Farm have some recipes on thei web site.

http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/

My chocolate muffins are yummy and they are made using Doves Farm plain flour (wheat and gluten free). I also use biacaronate of soda and baking powder from Tesco, the ones found in the usual baking section. They are certainly gluten free otherwise PA would have been ill and told me.

I also bought this book which has some pastry recipes
"The AiA Gluten & Dairy Free Cookbook" Compiled by Marilyn Le Breton. I bought mine from www.Amazon.co.uk (http://www.Amazon.co.uk)

I hope that this helps.

[PinkyPrincess]

That's really helpful thanks, I'm just printing off the recipes on the Doves site, can't wait to try the cakes!
Thanks again,
Pinks

[HelenB]

Hi
I could do with advice on pastry too. I can't buy ready made - it doesn't seem to exist here in Japan. I can't find Trex or anything similar. So can I make pastry with just soya (or vegetable) margarine? What will happen if I don't use 'white fat'?
Thanks.
Helen

[victoriagouramma]

Helen,
I am using all kind of vegetable fats for pastry, mainly olive oil, corn oil and sometimes margarine (but less and less since I read an alarming article about hydrogenated fats). The results are very good, but keep in mind that we can never recreate the taste of butter with vegetable olis.
Lately I am experimenting with ghee (clarified butter) and the results are very nice as far as taste is concerned.
Victoria

[matt]

you can use any form of fat.

in fact i can remember being told that lard is superb if you are making a savoury pastry. ok not exactly healthy but fine as long as you are not eating it every day.

[HelenB]

Thanks very much for your help.
As soon as the children are asleep in bed I will roll my sleeves up and make the first batch...I'll let you know how they go!
Helen

[jamila169]

Not forgetting Matt that in proper bakewell PUDDINGS the pastry is made with all lard (don't argue, i'm from derbyshire:p)
lisa x
(just thought i'd resurrect the bakewell tart Linny, I'll go and hide under the table now!)

[Helen01]

I made my first gf pastry this Christmas that was actually edible! I used a mixture of rice and soya flour - the recipe is on here

http://www.specialdietsconsulting.co.uk/

[matt]

get out from under that table lisa and get baking some bakewell tarts to prove that they are the best! :lol2: i'm sure they would travel fairly well:lol2:

[sarah pinkney]

Thanks Claire for the roll pastry idea found in freezer secion, I will buy some tomorrow when I do my weekly shopping. I myself am a bit lazy so will myself try anything once.