Pastechi Pastry Dough Food

PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps.
• Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

DANISH PASTRY DOUGH (THE BASE RECIPE)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, add the lukewarm milk and dissolve the fresh yeast. If you normally uses dry yeast, add this together with the all-purpose flour in step 3.
• Add the sugar and a beaten egg. Stir to mix.
• Add the all-purpose flour and the salt. Knead everything into a nice and smooth dough.
• Leave the kneaded dough in the bowl, cover it with some plastic foil and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat square measuring 45x45 cm (18x18 inch).
• Use a wire cheese cutter or similar cutting tool to cut very thin slices of the cold butter. You can with advantage place the butter in the freezer for some time to ease the process of cutting thin slices. Place the butter at the center of the dough in an angle of 45 degree to the corners of the rectangle dough. It should look like a diamond in the middle of the dough.
• Fold the four corners over the butter. Make the edges of the folded dough overlapping so that all the butter is sealed inside.
• Again, roll the dough flat using the rolling pin. This time the dough should be a rectangle. Be very gentle; make sure not to break the dough and revealing the butter.
• Now fold 1/3 of the short side over the dough and then fold the other 1/3 over. It is similar to folding a letter, which is to go into an envelope. Wrap the folded dough into plastic foil and let it rest/cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
• Continue this procedure with rolling the dough flat and folding it. This rolling and folding process should be done totally 3 times. Remember to let the dough rest in the fridge in between each step. Again, be careful not to break the dough revealing the butter. If you accidentally break the dough try to cover the hole and use a little flour to make sure, the outside of the dough does not get sticky from the butter.
• Now the dough is ready to make any kind of Danish pastry. Find several recipes here on my blog for different traditional Danish Pastry like. Browse the 'Traditional Danish section'

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and toss to combine. With your fingers, begin to "smush" the butter into flat pieces. Continue smushing until all the butter is flattened but none of the pieces are larger than a quarter. The flour will look like coarse cornmeal.
• Add the water, quickly folding it in with a wooden spoon to distribute the moisture. (Do not stir vigorously--the dough should appear shaggy.) Use your hands to break up any large clumps of moisture. Then use your knuckles or a palm to smear the dough up the sides of the bowl (a technique known as fraisage). This distributes the butter over a larger surface to achieve larger flakes and compact the dough. Once you've gone around the bowl one time, fold the dough over itself a few times to pick up any dry bits from the bottom. Gently press the dough into a disk. (Note: The dough should remain very cool to the touch throughout the process. If it approaches room temperature, refrigerate it for 5 to 10 minutes to chill.)
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. Perform a letter fold by folding one of the short ends towards the middle and the other short end over the first, like folding a business letter.
• Turn the dough 90 degrees, so the long side faces you, and perform a second letter fold. Turn the dough 90 degrees again; perform a third letter fold.
• If the dough still feels cool, it can be used immediately. Otherwise, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.

HOW TO MAKE MEAT PIE PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• The first step to make meat pastry pie dough is to take 4 cups of plain flour in a large bowl and mix salt and baking powder into it. If you want some sweetness too in the pie, then you can add one teaspoon of sugar into it as well. Knead well with your hands.
• Add some margarine into the mixture. Work it properly into all of the flour until it starts looking like a bowl of breadcrumbs.
• Start adding ice cold water little at a time and keep kneading until you make a stiff ball of dough. If the flour is too hard, add some more water to it, but if it gets too soft and runny, add some more flour to make it stiffer.
• Test the consistency of the dough by slightly pulling the dough and checking its elasticity. It should be elastic enough to come out with a slight pull, but should not stick to your hands.
• Grab a roller pin and flatten the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll until the dough ball becomes smooth and gets flat to around half inch thickness.
• Use a pot lid or a dough cutter to cut a circle out of the flattened dough, trim off the edges and add your favorite filling in it.
• Take a separate bowl and beat 2 eggs in it.
• Using a basting brush, apply the beaten egg on the dough edge around the filling. This will help the edges to stick to each other when folded. Also use a fork to press the edges and give it the classic shape of a meat pie. Do not forget to brush some beaten egg on the folded dough so that it turns golden brown when cooked.
• Once you have made the pastry dough and filled the filling in it, the trick lies in its cooking and baking too. You might need to cook the pie for around 45 minutes at 180 ºC/350 ºF, but it is important to check it after every 20 minutes. It is also important to place the pastry on a greased plate only, otherwise the dough will stick to the pan and refuse to come off
• Once your meat pie is ready, allow it to cool and serve. Add some homemade Worcestershire sauce to top your delicious pie. Bon apetit.

PASTECHIS (ANTILLEAN MEAT TURNOVERS)

Steps:

• Saute vegetables in oil.
• Add beef and cook until well done.
• Add bouillon cube, cumin, tomato paste and if necessary, a little water.
• Stir to mix ingredients.
• Simmer until bouillon cube is dissolved.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• You can do a taste test and make filling as spicy as desired.
• Place 1 generous teaspoon of filling on round of Pastechi Pastry.
• Fold rounds in half.
• Seal and crimp edges.
• Fry in hot oil till golden brown.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Serve warm!
• (We like to dip our pastechis in ketchup, but they're yummy plain too!).

PASTECHI PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix dry ingredients with butter.
• Slowly add liquid.
• Knead to a smooth ball and let stand 20 minutes.
• Roll out thinly on lightly floured board.
• Cut into rounds using biscuit cutter or glass.
• Place 1 generous tsp of Pastechi filling (recipe posted separately) onto rounds.
• Fold rounds in half; seal and crimp edges.
• Fry in oil until golden brown.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Serve warm and with ketchup, if desired.
• ***recipemay be halved.