Beef Pastie with Caramelized Onions

Night of 1000 Pies was about a month ago, but we're just now catching up with recipes. Oops? Here's one of mine, the Beef Pastie with Caramelized Onions.

This was originally based on a recipe by the same name in Bon Appetit Magazine. However, in keeping with the theme of Weekly Delicious, there have been some changes. Until my big fancy grocery store moves into town, cheeses are subject to changing. And it's already been established that we've come across the perfect crust recipe, so there were some changes in that way, too. Math was done. It was scary. But you need not be afraid, the work is done for you.

INGREDIENTS:
CRUST:
- 3 cups and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups butter, chilled and diced
- 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons ice water (approximate)
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

FILLING:
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 10 oz skirt steak, cut crosswise on diagonal into 1/4-inch-wide strips [fajita cut steak cut into 1/4 inch strips also works great]
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 6 oz coarsely crumbled Stilton blue cheese (1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups) [I used a mix of sharp white cheddar and regular blue cheese]
- 1 large egg white, beaten to blend


PREPARATION:

CRUST (do at least 45 minutes ahead of time):

1. Mix the flour, salt, allspice, rosemary, and thyme together.

2. Incorporate the cold butter into the dry ingredients a handful at a time. A food processor can be used to make the work easy, a pastry cutter is the second best thing, though if you have cold hands that don't mind tedious work, you can just use your hands.
- You want as much flour touching the butter as possible, so you want the butter end up pieces as small as you can manage (If you were to take some of the mix and rub it between your fingers, large chunks of butter shouldn't smear between your fingers)
- Keep any butter you won't be getting to immediately in the fridge or freezer to keep it cold.
- Keep adding butter until you've added all it.
- The finished mix should look mealy, sort of like damp and clumpy breadcrumbs.

3. Add the ice water a tiny bit at a time (a few tablespoons, at most), and completely mix before adding more water
- Only add enough water so that it comes together in ball.

4. Divide the ball into four pieces, and shape those pieces roughly in the shape of a disk. Wrap these disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes
- Do not just place dough unwrapped in the fridge, it will dry out and become impossible to work with.


FILLING:

1. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onions.

2. Sauté the onions until deep brown, for at least 30 minutes. Yes, it takes that long.

3. Add the wine and thyme and continue to sauté until most of the excess liquid evaporates (about 15 minutes, your time may vary)

4. Allow to cool in a separate container, and try not to pass out from how amazing this smells.

5. In the same pan you cooked your onions in, cook your beef until it's cooked all the way through. Remove and allow to cool.


PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

2. Between two sheets of parchment paper (or with a well floured rolling pin), roll out each disk of dough until it is 9 inches in diameter
- Make sure there are no tears in the dough and that the final shape is a circle. The point of these crusts is to hold in your filling, remember?

3. Place all crusts on a piece of parchment paper
- One big baking sheet? Put them all on there, so long as they aren't on top of each other.
- No parchment paper? Just make sure you can move these without them falling apart in the process. Somehow. Be skilled, I know you have it in you.

4. Put 1/4 of the onion filling on half of each round, leaving about an inch along the side. It should be a delicious half moon of onions. On top of the onions, place 1/4 of the beef on each round, making the same shape. And on top of the beef, place 1/4 of the cheese on each.

5. Brush the border (about an inch) of the crust around the filling with the egg white.

6. Fold over the crust to cover the filling, sealing it into a pouch.

7. Brush the top of each pastie with egg white and make 3 small cuts in the top to vent steam
- No one likes an exploded pastie. At least no one will admit to liking it.

8. Still on parchment paper, move to baking sheets.
- Big sheet? Put them all on, so long as there's an inch or two between them.
- No parchment paper? Move them carefully to baking sheets that have been liberally greased.

9. Bake until golden brown (about 30 minutes), and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

10. Cut and serve!


VARIATIONS:

1. Feel free to do this without the herbs and spices in the crust.
2. Try it with some of the same cheese sprinkles on the outside
3. You can do like I did the first time and make two pastie volcanoes instead of four pouches. Just use one round like a bottom crust, and divide the filling in two between the bottom crusts. Lay the top crust on and seal as you would the regular pasties (you will have to stretch the top crust a little).

Lonley Island Chocolate Banana Pie

A bit of a warning before we begin. The Lonely Island Pie is intended to be almost tangy in its bitterness. If you would like to alter the recipe to sweeten it, I would suggest adding either sugar or condensed milk to your melted chocolate before adding that to the bananas. You can also try lightening the chocolate with 2% milk. If you would like to keep the recipe as-is, I would suggest enjoying a slice along with a glass of Merlot, or any similar red wine which goes well alongside bitter, dark chocolate.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Recipe for Lonely Island Pie

--Ingredients

- 1 unbaked pie crust

- 4 ripe bananas

- 4 units of unsweetened baking chocolate (1 oz each)

- 2 separate tablespoons of sugar

- 1 dollop of dark corn syrup

- about 30 Nilla Wafers or so

- 2 tablespoons of almond extract

--Directions

- Peel all four bananas and mash them together well in a large mixing bowl. Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler saucepan and mix in the corn syrup. Immediately upon removing the chocolate from heat, pour it into the bananas and mix thoroughly. Add almond extract to mixture and stir.

- In another mixing bowl, crush the Nilla Wafers to large crumbs and then mix in the first tablespoon of sugar.

- Line the inside of the pie crust with the second tablespoon of sugar and then pour the chocolate-banana mixture into the crust, using a spatula to make the surface even. Top the pie with the crushed cookies. Bake the pie in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool on rack.

Remember what I said about the wine. Enjoy.

Let's Bake A Pie

One of the most talked about events on the Weekly Delicious calendar, Night of 1,000 Pies, will be upon us in only a few days! For my part, I had, until last night, never before made a from-scratch pie in my life. After the tuna hot dish that I made for last semester's, Night of 1,000 Casseroles, I didn't want to be one of the people who will show up to next Tuesday's event offering only money for supplies rather than a finished product. As a disclaimer, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE. We welcome them with open arms full of pie. I saw this however as a chance to learn a new skill and so decided last night to start looking up online pie recipes and make my first attempt so that I wouldn't end up with only hours to go next week and no idea what I'm doing!

For novices such as myself, I've decided to post here the easy pie-crust recipe which was sent to me by my wonderful friend Michelle. Hopefully this will sway even one person who had not intended to bring something of their own to our little get-together to give it their best shot.

Simple and Deliciously Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

--Ingredients
- 1&1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of butter (half a stick)
- 1/4 cup of chilled water

--Directions
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbles. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Chill the ball in plastic wrap in the refrigerator while you prepare the innards of your pie.

- Using a rolling pin, or kneading if one is not available, roll dough out to fit over a 9'' pie plate. Place crust in pie plate and press evenly into the bottom and sides of the plate. Cut off overhanging edges.

...and it's that easy! Now that you have the crust of your pie ready, you can use it for nearly any type of filling that you desire. I myself made a tasty and simple egg custard pie (recipe can be found here: Grandma's Egg Custard Pie).

...but what you make is up to you! For some suggestions, here is a recipe for blackberry pie and one for apple pie which also tells you how to give your pie a really neat lattice top.

Before I finish, here is a list of tips I gathered during my crust-forming experience.

• When they tell you to "cut in the butter," they really mean it. Try freezing the stick of butter and then using the finest side of your cheese grater to create a "butter powder" which will be much easier to fold into your flour.
• I found that after adding in all of the water called for in the recipe, my mixture was still to dry to stick together and form a ball. What I did was to measure out another 4th of a cup (the smallest measurement that my cup would count) of water and then add half of that, discarding the other half. I then kneaded the mixture into the ball I wanted, making sure to fold the inside of the ball out many times, soaking up all of the extra water.
• Not wanting to have my dough tear as I was pressing it into the plate, I accidentally made the crust a bit too thick and thus the sides slightly lower than I wanted. The pie still came out fine, but just a heads up that if you want a thinner crust, you will have to make sure that you work it into the pan thoroughly.
• When you are rolling the ball of dough into a flat "circle, " you want to make sure that EVERYTHING has some flour on it so that your dough will stick to nothing but itself. You want flour on your hands, your rolling pin and the surface you are rolling it on. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Hope that helps. If I think of anything that I missed, I'll edit it in later. Happy baking!

Suzie's Chocolate Cake

This recipe was devised by my mother, and it was many, many years before she agreed to let me share it. This cake has the most unique chocolate flavor- not just unique for a cake, but different from any confection I have ever tasted.

The cocoa for both the cake and the frosting is bloomed in hot butter, which really helps develop the flavor. The addition of sour cream adds a slightly acidic note. My favorite part might be how my mother cautions against using too much sugar- this keeps the cake dark and intense.

Oh, and when she says heaping tablespoons, she means HEAPING. I've seen her make this cake before, and I'm just proud of her for not breaking down and throwing in the cocoa by handfuls.

In her own words:

Suzie’s Chocolate Cake

350 degree oven / greased and floured 9" X 13" baking pan / 20 – 25 minutes or until done

2 sticks butter
1 cup water
4 HEAPING T. Cocoa (The Cocoa chosen will effect the flavor, of course. Try different kinds to see which you like best.)
2 cups sifted flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine 1st 3 ingredients in saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat.
Add flour, sugar and salt.
Beat until well blended.
Add sour cream, soda, egg and vanilla.
Mix well.
Pour into greased and floured 9" X 13" baking pan.
Bang pan on counter to make bubbles in batter rise to the surface and pop for a better texture.

Frosting

Boil together:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sour cream
4 HEAPING T. cocoa
Stir it to keep it from scorching, but if you cook it a little while until it looks really ugly, the cocoa tastes better.

Pour into mixing bowl and add powdered sugar, mixing well. Only add enough sugar to make it sweet enough to please you. I never use a whole box of sugar. I find that the cocoa flavor is enhanced by holding back a little on the amount of sweetness added.
Add 1 tsp. vanilla, and blend well.

Pour frosting on cake while cake is warm, and then spread it out. I have tried to remove this cake from the pan to treat it like a regular cake, but the icing is hard to handle. I find leaving it in the pan it was baked in makes everything work better.

I also like to toast nuts, pecans, almonds or hazelnuts to sprinkle on top as people desire. I find they add a lovely flavor.