Friday, August 13, 2010

Beef Bourguignon Pie, Salmon En Croute

Chef's Stars

Concerning puff, or puff pastry to be exact. It is one of those kitchen staples I would buy from the shops in a heartbeat, alongside some filo, rather than make from scratch. I'm not being lazy; they make decent pastry for the masses, if you choose the ones made with butter, of coz. Margarine-made anything leaves a palette cling that no one finds delicious or desirable, really.

That said, like chopping wood for fire and kneading dough for bread, it's one of those back-to-basic trips we should all take once, to understand where food comes from and how it is made,  a keeping-it-real / staying-in-touch-with-your-roots kinda thing. 

Here Fishy Fishy

So we made not 1 but 3 kinds of puff: Scotch, English and French. Scotch (aka Rough or Blitz) puff is made by rubbing butter cubes into the mix before kneading it all into a dough and given 4 single turns. English and French puff are made by layering the butter between the dough and given 5 and 6 single turns respectively. This gives the puff a better lamination (more even layer of dough / fat / dough) and hence a higher rise when baked. 

With the puffs made we made some savoury dishes for a change. Woohoo! First up salmon and leek baked in a pillow of puff. Mmm...salmon...think Beef Wellington, only better.

What's Your Beef?

We also made the great ol' Aussie icon: The Meat Pie.

Penguin Pie, Anyone?

I strayed from the tried and tested fish design and went for penguin, for one reason and one reason only: I don't like to share! I'm sure the thought of eating penguin will deter would-be "friendlies" from wanting a bite of my salmon, my precious.

I have a dream. To own a chain of Penguin Pie (TM) cafes around Aussie and then go on to Conquer The World! To animal rights activists marching on my shopfront, I'll put up a sign that says: Keep Out You Damn Hippies! Greenpeace Will Be Shot On Sight.

Just kidding, you know I love you guys. Save the whales!


Mini Beef Pies


Chef Keith

My favourite chef, so funny and so very cute. :p

***WARNING*** 
***The following may contain images disturbing to small children 
and damn tree-hugging hippies***

 Penguin Out In The Sun. Aww...

A Unfortunate "Accident" 

His Insides

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