Back to basics...

Over the last 7 years, i have changed from a single person, surviving on mainly processed foods bought at the supermarket and microwaved in minutes, to a married mother of two who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, making things from scratch. In fact, the transformation is so complete that i have a nice vegetable patch in the garden, and we grow lots of vegetables, which we pick, cook and serve regularly.

I have become a pretty decent cook, and am proud of the food i put on my children's plates, but one thing that has confounded me for years, is pastry. It would seem to be such a simple thing, flour,fat, water- how can you go wrong?? Well I have, over and over again, for years-but that all stops here. No more lovingly preparing pies and tarts, only to have rock hard pastry- or worse, pastry that crumbles so badly it resembles some kind of dry sandy biscuit! From now on in, i will have light, flaky pastry, that only complements whatever luscious filling i happen to fill it with :)

Since I am such a lovely person, i will save you all the heartache, and let you in on my new found secret... In a medium size bowl, put one cup of water, one cup of vegetable oil, and a teaspoon of vinegar. Now add 1 teaspoon of salt (or sugar if you are making fruit pies) and 2 cups of plain flour. Add a further cup of self raising flour and mix until you have something resembling a nice elastic bread dough. (You may need to add a little more flour- do so a tablespoon at a time until the dough is not sticky anymore).

 

Cover the bowl with cling film and put it into the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes, before you want to use it.

Today i did a reboot of the bacon, leek and potato pies as i had some leftover filling-but then i had leftover dough. What to do, what to do??? Well, i had one lonely apple sitting in the fruit bowl, getting bruised, so i cut it into small cubes, put it in a frying pan, added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon. I made little apples pies, and after egg washing the apple pies, a sprinkle on a little more sugar and another pinch of cinnamon.

Whaddaya think??