Tag: pastry

Faux Gregg’s Steak Bake

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Puff pastry cases filled with savory meat and vegetables are the thing of beautiful dreams. The way warm herby gravy coats the inside of the pastry case and combines with the abundance of butter in the crust and holds onto your perfectly cooked meat and veg filling allowing you the perfect bite every time. It’s glorious.

There is a bakery chain in the UK that I had never heard of till about five or so years ago called Gregg’s. They do a range of savory hand pies in roughly the shape of a pop tart and they look amazing. Unfortunately I would have to travel many miles and a whole ass ocean to get one. So I made one at home.

Ingredients

  • Puff Pastry
  • Thinly sliced steak, diced
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1 tsp. rosemary
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • cornstarch slurry: 2 tsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water
  • salt/pepper
  • 2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
  • egg wash: 1 egg and 1 tsp of water
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Put oil in a pan on medium high heat until it shimmers in the pan. Sizzle your steak in the pan until it gets deeply browned.
  3. Add onions and cook until they start to color which will take about 5 minutes.
  4. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add beef stock, cornstarch slurry and rosemary and cook until gravy reduces by about half. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Roll out your puff pastry into a big enough square that you can cut at least 8 rectangles. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Lay two pastry rectangles on each sheet and spoon your filling into the center of the square. Leave room on the sides of the pastry.
  7. Using a pastry brush egg wash around the edges of the rectangle. This will help seal your pockets together. Top each with your other pastry rectangles. Using a fork crimp the sides of your pastry. Then egg wash the top.
  8. Score the tops of each pocket once to give them steam some place to escape. Not a hole big enough for your gravy to escape when you eat it though. That would be awful!
  9. Cook for 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown and flaky.
  10. Serve with chips(french fries) or roasted veggies like I did in the picture.

Sausage Roll

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Welcome to the next post in a series of recipes inspired by my local ingredient shortage. Its my version of a sausage roll with shortcrust pastry. You can make it with any flavor smoked sausage you can get your hands on. The shortcrust pastry is only four ingredients and super simple.

Ingredients

For Pastry

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, cubed
  • about a 1/4 cup water
  • 1 egg mixed with water for brushing

Filling

  • Smoked sausage any flavor, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch long pieces

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a food processor put your flour, butter and salt and pulse it until the cutter and flour combine in a bread crumby texture. (If you don’t have a food processor you can do it with a fork.)
  3. Slowly combine water and pulse until dough comes together. It will look a little dry.
  4. Dump it out onto a floured surface and combine it into a ball. Mashing the dryer bits into the ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes so the butter chills again.
  5. When the pastry has chilled roll it out onto a floured surface about a 1/4 inch thick. Place your sausage pieces on the pastry and cut the pastry big enough to wrap the sausage completely.
  6. Place your sausage rolls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and brush the tops of the pastry with the egg wash.
  7. put in the oven for 30 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Recipe should make about 6 rolls