Karelian Pasties Karjalan Piirakat Food

RECIPE: THE NATIONAL DISH OF FINLAND - KARELIAN PASTIES

Steps:

• Bring water to boil. Add butter and rice. Continue cooking until water has absorbed and then add the milk.
• Let simmer until porridge is done, about 35-40 minutes. Don't forget to stir, otherwise the porridge will burn at the bottom.
• Season and let cool. Once cooled, whisk in the egg.
• Add salt into the water and start adding the flour, 50 g at a time. Towards the end add the butter
• Knead to a smooth, pliable dough.
• Divide the dough into four portions and roll each portion to a stick. Keep the rest of the dough covered as you are working on each portion.
• Divide the stick of dough to 4-5 pieces and roll on a floured surface to a thin disc. The crust is supposed to be thin as this is what makes it crisp, but go fairly easy on the flour - the thinner and drier the dough, the more likely the crust is to tear at the crimping stage.
• A useful tip for a beginner is to roll the dough into a thin sheet and then, using either a cookie cutter or a small bowl (about 12 cm in diameter) cut the sheet to equal size round discs. For this, a pasta machine might just be a useful tool!
• Spoon the porridge on the discs (about 2 tbsp per pasty), fold the edges on top of it and crimp. This should be done with fairly light fingers as the pleats should not be too sharp - the more they stick out, the more likely they are to burn in the oven.
• These need a hot oven, depending on the oven 250-275°C (482-527°F). Place the pasties on a baking tray (no parchment needed as it would only burn). Since there's no yeast or baking powder in the dough, these won't expand during baking so there's no need to leave space between them.
• Once the pasties get a bit of colour, remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. Let cool while covered.
• Boil the eggs and cool in ice water.
• While still a bit warm, mash with butter using a fork.
• Season with salt and chives and serve with the pasties.

KARJALAN PIIRAKKA (KARELIAN PIE) WITH EGG BUTTER

Steps:

• For the Filling:.
• In a saucepan combine the water and rice. Bring to a boil.
• Stir, cover, and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the milk, cover, and continue cooking until the milk is completely absorbed and the rice is soft and creamy.
• Preheat oven to 450°F
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• For the Pastry:
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the water, salt, and rye and white flours to make a stiff dough.
• Shape the dough into a log and cut into 16 portions and shape each into a round.
• On a lightly floured board, roll out each round into a 6-inch circle.
• Spread about 3 tablespoons of filling evenly on each round.
• Fold two opposite edges of the pastry over the filling and crimp the edges of the dough toward the center to make an oval-shaped pastry, allowing about 1/2-inch of the crust to overlay the filling and leaving the center of the filling exposed.
• Place on the prepared baking sheet.
• In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter and hot milk and brush on the pastries.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, brushing once during baking, until the pastries are golden on the edges.
• Remove from the oven and brush again.
• For the Egg Butter:.
• In a small bowl, cream the butter. Stir in the eggs.
• Season with the white pepper and ground ginger, if desired.
• Yield: 1 cup.
• Cool the pastries and serve with the egg butter at room temperature.

KARJALAN PIES

Steps:

• Combine rice and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Stir in milk, cover, and cook until milk is absorbed by the rice, about 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the salt and rye flour. Stir in water. Mix in all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is just past the sticky stage. Divide the dough into 16 equal portions.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough out into a thin circle 6 inches in diameter. The dough should be as thin as possible. Place about 3 tablespoons of the rice mixture in the center of each circle. Spread the mixture out to within 1 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the dough upward, and crimp the edges so as to allow the pastries to hold their shape. Pinch the sides at each end to form a little boat. Place pastries about 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet, and brush the tops with butter.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the dough is firm, and the rice porridge is slightly browned on the top. Serve warm.

KARELIAN PASTIES - KARJALAN PIIRAKAT

Steps:

• Rice Filling. Start making filling by bringing water to the boil. Add rice and simmer until water is absorbed in rice. Add milk, bring mixture to the boil and let it cook for a couple of minutes, stirring continually with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to the minimum - or turn it off completely - cover pan with lid and let mixture simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes, stirring every now and then. Filling is ready, when it has thickened into a velvety, white porridge. Add a lump of butter, mix, cover pan with lid and set aside to cool. After cool, Mix egg(s) or yolk(s) in rice porridge and season with salt. Note: filling mustn't be too runny, it should hold its shape when spread on pie disks.
• Potato Filling: Cook potatoes in water until tender. Reserve liquid. Puree potatoes through food mill and let cool a bit. Add eggs and enough cooking liquid and cream to get smooth mixture. Amount of liquid depends on the quality of potatoes - filling mustn't be too runny. Add a lump of butter and mix. Season with salt, cover and set aside to cool.
• Prepare pasty dough: mix flour and salt, add oil and water little at a time and mix to get a non-sticky dough. Divide dough in 15 - 20 equal pieces and roll them into small balls. With a tapered rolling pin, roll out balls one at a time into very thin disks, about 1 mm thick and 10 - 15 cm in diameter. (You could also try and use a pasta machine for rolling.) Cover pie disks lightly with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
• Spread filling (either potato or rice) on centre of pie disks. Raise edges of pie disks towards the centre, pinching with your fingers to make an oval ridge - center will be open.
• Place pasties on baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 255 - 300°C for about 5 - 7 minutes or until pasties start to turn darkish brown. Meanwhile, heat about 150 ml whole milk in saucepan, add big lump of butter and let it melt. Dip hot pasties one at a time into hot milk-butter mixture and place them in large bowl. Cover bowl tightly with parchment paper and towel, and let pasties soften for about half an hour.
• Warm pasties are traditionally served with egg and butter spread. Pasties may also be eaten topped with plain butter, cheese, ham or reindeer roast slices, gravlax, shrimps or whatever you happen to like! Pasties can be reheated in oven or toaster.
• Egg & Butter Spread: Cook eggs in boiling water for 10 minutes. Rinse eggs with cold water and shell them. Using a fork, finely mash warm eggs together with the butter. Season with salt, if necessary. You can use an egg slicer to slice the eggs before mashing. Slice them first crosswise and then lengthwise.

KARELIAN HOT POT

Steps:

• Cut the meat into cubes (4x4 cm).
• There is no need to remove small bones.
• Put the meat and coarsely chopped onion in layers in a casserole, seasoning each layer with salt and allspice.
• Add enough water to almost cover the meat.
• Bake without a cover at a moderate temperature, c.
• 175 °C, for 2 1/2-3 hours.
• Cover the casserole towards the end of the cooking time.
• Serve with mashed potato, boiled swedes and lingonberry purée.