Pastry ... and a watercress tart

This weekend I have cracked pastry-making. Perfect every time (4x). And, of course, it's not rocket science; but it's satisfying, all the same, to be able to write it down.

Put into a processor bowl:

200g strong* white flour
100g cubed butter, preferably straight from the fridge, but, actually, it doesn't matter
1 egg
1 tbsp water

Blitz until it forms a ball.

Roll it out until it will cover a 23cm** tin. If you used warm butter, it will stretch to a larger tin, but you will have to roll it around your pin to put it in place, AND you will have to patch it more. Speaking of which, this pastry takes well to patching.

Put it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. All the pastry cases I made were rock hard when I put them into the oven, and this may well be a factor in their success.

Bake blind for 15 minutes at 190-200C, covered with paper and beans. The first time I gave the pastry an additional five minutes without the beans to dry it out.

You can press straight on, or leave the pastry to cool before going further. The custard will need to cook for 30 minutes, although you may need to turn it down a little for the last 10 minutes. Let it settle for 5-10 minutes before serving ... better for the tart, easier for the cook.

*strong flour is what you need for making bread, as it is full of gluten; this pastry is noticeably stretchy once it has come together in a ball .... so I think the flour is probably the secret

**A 23cm tin is just a bit too small for a 6-egg flan, but if the butter is warm and the pastry has stretched to a slightly larger tin, then the 6 egg mix is perfect: 2 whole eggs, 4 egg yolks, 500ml single cream poured over ... bacon for quiche Lorraine, or chopped watercress and a sprinkling of finely grated strong Cheddar, which I made for the vegetarians for Easter lunch but which was wolfed down by the carnivores too.


Related links

The shaken hot water pastry is an old French recipe. The olive oil pastry is good too.

Butterless pastry - and a fruit tart
Shaken hot water pastry
Olive oil pastry
Egg and bacon tart

Garden notes

Last week was not good. I suddenly came upon a pot of last year's tulips (Red Hunter) and they made me feel better. They are in full flower now, opening with the sunshine. Very cheering.

My annual Easter arrangement consists of beech hung with painted eggs. It's crucial to pick the boughs ahead, so that they come into leaf, otherwise the decoration is just twigs. The weekend before is not too soon. This Easter I had twigs and eggs (assembled on Good Friday). Now I have a vibrant green display .... but Easter was so late this year that they're barely ahead of the leaves in the wood. Our bluebells are starting to come out, too.

Lamb with dates and chocolate - an Easter feast

Years ago, I was in Delphi on Easter Sunday. It was in the 1960s, before the days of mass tourism. The main street was closed off, because the road was being used by villagers who set up their fires to spit-roast whole lambs with herbs from the surrounding maquis. The smell was wonderful - and so was the hospitality: we were all invited to join in the eating, dancing and singing. There was a real sense of a Christian festival, of joy, of release from the privations of Lent. And so my Easter menu is always roast lamb. Until this year.

For the past few years, our daughter Lettice has played a huge part in making the Easter feast - she lays the table beautifully with flowers and chocolates; she helps prepare vegetable dishes; and, crucially, she makes the last-minute gravy. She's in South Africa, teaching in a township school, the first time she has been away for Easter. So a new plan, new traditions. The boys laid the table: an austere arrangement of cutlery and glasses, nothing more. And I made a gently spiced lamb stew, with cinnamon and saffron, chocolate and dates. Seriously delicious. Alfred insisted on roast potatoes (some things are not allowed to change), but this would be better with couscous, rice, or even mashed potato.

The recipe is adapted from Willie Harcourt Cooze's excellent book Willie's Chocolate Factory, in which all sorts of surprising foods are given the cacao treatment. Once you've got over the initial shock, you realise that good cacao is a fabulous flavour enhancer, up there with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. Willie's cylindrical bars of cacao are, without question, a must-have in my kitchen - and, although they are expensive, as with good balsamic, a little goes a very long way.

Lamb with dates and chocolate
Enough for 4-6 people (I'll add notes at the end about scaling this up for a crowd).

1 kg lamb leg slices
2 chopped onions
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp saffron threads
3 cloves garlic, chopped
25g finely grated cacao
200g tomatoes, skinned and chopped
stock to cover
100g pitted dates

Put everything apart from the dates into a casserole dish, cover with stock, and simmer with the lid on for an hour and a half. Add the dates and simmer for half an hour with the lid off, so that the sauce can thicken.


NOTES: this simple recipe lends itself well to scaling up. I used tinned whole tomatoes (if you use their juice, you'll hardly need any stock), one can per 1.5kg lamb. I also used tinned Spanish onion, which I often do when I'm mass catering, at the same rate. Saffron is an essential element to the success of this dish: mine was highly scented & from Iran - anything less pungent, and you'll need more. AND, this is better made a day ahead: I put the dates in at the end of the first cooking stage, cooled the pan, and then reheated slowly the next day without the lid.



















Related links

Willie's quick chocolate pud
Easter roast lamb with ginger rub
Very easy lamb with olive paste
Lamb shanks

Hot uncrossed buns

I made some more hot cross buns on Easter Sunday, and they were gobbled up for tea, gone in moments. These were a slight refinement from the Good Friday recipe, better - only I forgot to slash crosses in them, so I suppose that makes them teacakes. Or crossless buns. Eleanor's favourite, anyway - and she's been very helpful with improving this recipe.

The main changes are making the buns half the size, ensuring that the oven is very hot indeed, and using a lot more spice. Yet to be tried is a little lemon zest - I think it would give the dough a lift.

Here's how it goes:
this makes 12

1/2 tsp instant yeast
300g strong white flour
20g melted butter
150g water
pinch of salt
dssp honey
3 tsp mixed spice, maybe even four (I used the Christmas pudding mix from The Spice Shop)

a handful of sultanas (best soaked for a while, but, obviously, not always possible) kneaded in while you are forming the buns

When the dough is mixed (I've been using the machine), form into buns and leave to rise in a warm place. Decorate with a cross - but that should really only be on Good Friday. Bake in a very hot oven.

While the buns are still warm, brush with honey melted in a little water - I put a pot on the edge of the stove, and it amalgamated into a fragrant syrup in moments, even though it was the solid English sort of honey.

Related links

Hot cross buns, Mk 1
Antioxidant tea bread
Fabulous cinnamon rolls - another of E's favourites