What’s underneath that crown?
July 24th 2009 23:18
Puff pastry crowns are typically made over bowls of soup. Golden brown and glistening, it entices you to dig through that pastry to get to the soup. I suppose it makes having a bowl of soup more exciting and more interesting. It’s also probably an alternative to serving bread with the soup, as you can just break up the pastry into the soup.
I like soups but they’re not exciting, and sometimes you just need something more hearty so my version is, puff pastry crowns over beef stew.
What you need:
500g of beef or lamb cubes/chunks
2 carrots – cut bite-size
3 medium potatoes – cut bite-size
2 stalks of celery – finely diced
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of cornflour
Rosemary
Oregano
Salt
Water
1/2 cup of vegetable stock
1 egg (lightly beaten) – optional
What to do:
1…Marinate the meat with the Worchestershire sauce, salt, rosemary and oregano to your liking. Mix in the cornflour. Set aside.
2…Prepare the vegetables and place all in a slow-cooker. Add meat and can of tomatoes.
3…Add enough stock (and water if you prefer) to cover all ingredients. Add more herbs if your like.
4…Cook on ‘low’ for five-six hours. Set aside to cool thoroughly before ladling into bowls – otherwise the steam/heat may cause the uncooked pastry to sag into the bowls.
5…Putting it all together:
Follow thawing instructions on the pack of frozen puff pastry sheets. Cut the puff pastry sheet to the size of your oven-proof bowls/pie dish, making sure it’s big enough to cover over your bowl. Pre-heat the oven at 180 C/350 F.
6…Ladle cooled stew into oven-safe bowls or pie-dish – about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Cover bowl with the pastry. Seal edges of the pastry. Brush with beaten egg if desired.
7…Bake for 15mins or till golden and puffed – refer to baking instructions on pack of frozen puff pastry sheets.
8…Serve immediately.
Yields: 2 medium pies and 2 single-serve pies.
Click here for another stew idea as an alternative for this recipe, 'Spicy Lamb and Beans'.
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Total Randomness
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Simple to put together and the element of surprise for the diners was great to watch -- it was like receiving a nice unknown present
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