Pasties (also: an easy puff pastry recipe)

Another experiment brought about because of River Cottage Every Day, even though all we used of that book here was the recipe for cheaty puff pastry. Cheaty because it isn't as complicated as "real" puff pastry, but I couldn't tell the difference between this and any other puff pastry I've tried, especially on those pasties in which the dough wasn't rolled out too thinly.

Puff pastry 
[Makes 6-7 pasties]
2 cups flour
pinch salt
2/3 cup butter, chilled and chopped into small cubes
ice water

[I would recommend adding more salt!]

Procedure
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Throw in the cold chopped up butter and toss until all the butter chunks are covered with flour. I found it easiest to do this with my hands. Add the water a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing it in with a wooden spoon, until you have just enough liquid to make a firm dough. The butter is still in chunks at this point.

Shape the dough roughly into a rectangular prism with your hands and put it on a well-floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out in just one direction (away from you is easiest) until it makes a long, flat rectangle -- about 3/8" thick. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up over that (like a letter) so that you have a rectangle that's three layers thick. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the process. Roll out, fold, and rotate a total of six times. Then cover the dough with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep the fillings (see below for some examples). When ready, preheat the oven to 375F and pull out the chilled dough and roll it out so that it's about 1/8" thick. Use a plate or pot lid to cut out circles (I used a smaller pot lid, which gave me 6-7 pasties from each rectangle of dough). Spoon the dough just off center, and fold the dough circle in half. Brush the edges of the pastry just a little bit with water and crimp them tightly, making sure the filling is sealed in. I think the more you can fit inside, the better it'll taste, but that's up to you. Brush the tops with an egg wash (use 1 egg beaten together with 1 tablespoon of milk), lay on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet, and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Fillings 

In this first and unreasonably ambitious experiment, we made four savory and one sweet type of pastie. This is a great medium for shoving it full of whatever leftovers or random ideas you have, so the following filling descriptions are pretty vague -- no exact amounts or instructions. You can figure them out yourself. :) 

1. Mushroom & Barley
   barley
   chopped mushrooms
   cooked spinach
   onions
   salt
   black pepper
2. Chickpeas & Curry
   chickpeas
   boiled chicken
   red pepper
   green beans
   potatoes
   curry
3. Butternut Squash & Chicken
   boiled chicken
   boiled butternut squash, pureed
   potatoes
   raisins (optional)
   onions
4. Keema Matar
   
   I made keema last night with this recipe and used the leftovers for this pasty. :)
5. Butternut Squash, Ricotta, & Raisins
   
   boiled butternut squash, pureed
   ricotta
   brown sugar
   raisins

Peanut Butter Cups

I have had a bad craving for peanut butter covered in chocolate. Seriously guys, it has been unbearable. I went so far as to buy a peanut butter Twix at a gas station late at night but it didn't satisfy the craving. Because it was gross. 

Yesterday, we decided to go to the store to try to get some good chocolate (in particular, I had tried a piece of Lake Champlain's peanut butter filled milk chocolate a few days ago, and I figured no imitation would do to fill the hole in my soul left by not eating more of that bar). And of course, the store was closed by the time we got there. So I finally took matters into my own hands and put this together.

My soul is whole once again. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 5 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter
• pinch of kosher or coarse sea salt

Procedure

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and (5 tablespoons) of butter together. (See link for more fun with dipping chocolate.) 

Meanwhile, combine the other ingredients (peanut butter, powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon of butter) in a cup and microwave until soft but not liquidy (took about 50 seconds for me; check the cup after every 20 seconds). 

Prepare something to make the peanut butter cups in. I lined a mini muffin tin with foil, which is convenient because you can pop the foil cups out after you form them. 

Pour in a bit of chocolate to each cup and let it set (about 2-3 minutes in the freezer). Add in about a teaspoon of peanut butter filling, and top with another layer of chocolate. 

Sprinkle just a pinch of salt on top, and put the cups into the fridge to set. They'll be ready in about 15 minutes. If you're in a big hurry, toss them in the freezer for about 5 minutes. 

Note:

How much peanut butter or chocolate goes into each layer is up to you -- if you want a thin layer of chocolate, add only a bit and spread it around evenly. If you want lots of chocolate surrounding the peanut butter, thicken the chocolate layers accordingly.