I had a pound of frozen ground beef that I slowly browned in a pot with 1/4″ water and a splash of bacon fat. This took about an hour. I reduced all the liquid so none of that wonderful beef flavour was lost. I only added a sprinkle of salt halfway through the cooking process.
I prefer the hot water crust recipe for savoury dishes, and I’m thinking of making individual meat tartlets with a fancy potato topping.
The crust takes about 15 minutes, 1 hour to chill, then 15-20 minutes to blind bake; the filling and topping will be made while the crust is resting.
Since the meat is already browned, I just need to make the mirepoix (15 minutes + 5 of prep), add the meat, add the other stuff, cook for 15 minutes.
In the middle of the mirepoix, I’ll be boiling the heck out of the peeled potatoes until they are super mushy, at least 20 minutes.
The potatoes take about 30 minutes to make, and then the final 30 minutes of baking.
This should be a straightforward 2 hour recipe, start to finish.
Hot water crust
Ingredients
- 200 ml warm water 1 cup
- 75 g unsalted butter 1/2 cup
- 75 g lard 1/2 cup
- 450 g all-purpose flour 3 cups
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place the water, butter, and lard in a saucepan, heat gently until a low boil..
- Place flour and salt into a large bowl, and whisk in the egg and oil.
- Add the melted fat mixture, and stir together with a wooden spoon, or cut in with knives. Make sure to scrape the bowl while combining the dough.
- Gently knead for 1-2 minutes. You should end with a greasy dough that's smooth and shiny.
- Form a ball, cover with clingwrap, and chill for an hour.
- Save 1/3 for the top portion. Roll the big part to 13" diameter to make a 9" deep-dish pie, or 3 x 6.5" or 2 x 8" pies.
- Bake at 375F for around 25 minutes, or until the top of the pie is golden brown.
Notes
- The amounts in the notes are slightly more than the metric, but are approximately the same ratios for flour-water-fat mixture.
- Check the edges of the pie crust after 20 minutes. If they are significantly more brown than the middle, cover with a pie shield, or gently wrap some aluminum foil around the outer edge of the pie.
- Optional - add up to 1/4 cup sugar if you want a sweet crust.
- Optional - beat an egg and wash the top crust before baking.
Duchess Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon gold or russet taters, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter, divided
- 2 tbsp heavy cream 10% works
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
- 3 egg yolks
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes on high heat until very tender, approx 20 minutes.
- Drain very well.
- Using a masher and a lot of elbow grease, a ricer, or something creative like my masticating juicer, get the potatoes as smooth as possible. Bonus points for squishing the mash through a fine mech sieve.
- Add 1/2 the melted butter, and everything other than the eggs, and stir until well combined.
- Once cool, slowly stir in the egg yolks. We do not want to make scrambled eggs in our potatoes.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Pipe rounds approx 2.5" wide and 2" tall on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Carefully brush with the remaining melted butter.
- Bake at 425F or until the edges are golden brown.
Notes
Shepherd’s Pie
Preheat oven to 400
On med-high heat, make 1 cup of mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery)
Add 2 minced garlic cloves
Add 1 lb ground meat, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, cook until browned through.
sprinkle with 2 tbsp flour, toss to coat.
Add 2 tsp tomato paste (or ketchup), 1 cup stock/broth, 1 tsp Worcestershire, 1 tbsp total of aromatics (rosemary, thyme, etc).
Bring to boil, recude to simmer, cover 10-12 minutes until slightly thickened.
Optional add 1/2 cup corn kernels, 1/2 cup peas.
Spread evenly on blind-baked pie crust, then top with mashed potatoes.
Bake 25-ish minutes, until potatoes start to brown.
Let cool on a rack at least 15 minutes before serving.