All posts tagged: pastry

Lamb en croute

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This started as just an idea… can you even make lamb en croute? First there was confidence, then concern, then a strange conversation with myself. ‘If it doesn’t work first time who cares? Erm.. I care. Well then, why don’t you also cook it sous vide and then if it over or under cooks you can serve that instead and then eat the pastry one yourself later!’…. In the end both ended up on the plate (?!) Ingredients: (Serves 2) one rack of lamb a handful of frozen peas chanterelles one leak pate de foie gras (or any smooth pate) two leaves of savoy cabbage one egg for egg wash pre-rolled puff pastry parsley oil optional Method: 1.  Get your butcher to french trim the lamb rack. Life is too short to be doing this at home. Its also far to short to make puff pastry so just buy that! Cut the rack in half and remove the bones from one portion. Place the one still with the bones attached, well seasoned, in a sous …

Mushrooms en croute

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A satisfying and relatively straight-forward vegetarian dish of mushrooms and pastry, with a rich chive cream balanced by the tart earthy kick of lightly pickled beetroot. Perfect for an autumnal lunch, and easy to both scale-up and pre-prepare, so ideal for stress-free entertaining. Ingredients Chanterelles of similar seasonal mushroom Goats cheese Chives, garlic and capers Pre-rolled puff pastry Beetroot Salad leaves for garnish Method Really the most challenging part of this dish is the construction of the pastry box, but mastering this itself only really requires a quick measurement. Once you have decided how long you would like the base (I recommend 4 inches or so), it is simply a matter of cutting two thin ends of the same length as the short edge of the box, and two further longer sides which should be slightly shorter than the long edge to account for the corner overlap. (I originally planned to have a top to the box so you also see two lids in the picture). Bake in a pre-warmed oven at 200c/392f for around 20 mins or …