Help with River Cottage Veg recipe please

mummybearx

Afternoon all :wave:

Does anyone have the River Cottage Veg book to hand? I'm looking for help with the swede and potato pastries recipe.

Firstly, I'm sure the recipe calls for butter. What exactly is 'butter'?? I buy what's it called..... Butter for Baking? The one thats in the yellow and blue wrapping? Is that okay to use?

Secondly, can I freeze these? Should they be cooked first or frozen uncooked?

Thirdly, if it's not too much trouble, can someone please help with the pastry making side of it? The recipe says to add the cubed butter to the flour, then add in enough cold water to bring it together into a ball. Roll this out onto a floured surface. I think it's like a rough puff pastry. Now when I do this, I follow the recipe, bring it together, then roll it out. My DH says my butter should be mixed into the flour, so it's like breadcrumbs, but I think it should be cubed and tossed in the flour then the rolling and 1/4 turns mix the butter into the flour.

Any ideas if me or DH is right?? My way the cubes of butter sometimes stick to the counter or to the roller, not tried DH's way yet

Thanks :rotfl:

westlothianlass

Hi,
I've made pastry with "real" butter and cooking butter and both have worked, but have found it easier when the butter is cold as it crumbles better.
You will need to add butter to the flour before rolling so that you get a decent consistency that will hopefully not stick to the counter. You and DH are both right in a way. Your pastry should be like breadcrumbs before coming together, but when making puff pastry you add more butter blobs after you have rolled it out, then you do the turning rolling thing, does that make sense:o.?
Ive frozen the pasties after cooking but imagine they would be fine uncooked too.
Hope that helps I know what i mean but reading back im sounding a bit vague:rotfl:.
HTH x

mummybearx

Yeah that makes sense :rotfl:

I'm going to make another batch tonight, will try it crumbling the cold butter into it.

It's just the recipe itself, maybe it's not clear, or maybe I'm just reading it wrong. It definately says something like 'toss cubed butter in the flour, add cold water to bring together and roll out'. It doesn't mention at all crumbling the butter.
And it doesn't help that the picture in the book shows the pastries put together but uncooked!! Not sure if it should be puffed like puff pastry or now :rotfl:

THIRZAH

That is right for rough-puff pastry-it will puff up and be flaky but not as much as the puff pastry that you buy.That is made by putting the cut up butter between the layers as you turn and roll it. You also have to let it rest between rollings.Not sure if I've explained that very well but it does sound as if you are supposed to make rough puff.

If you rub the butter into the flour so it looks like breadcrumbs you'll end up with shortcrust

mummybearx

I've saw puff being made before, cubed butter between the layers, that's why I though I was right and DH was wrong :T

So, by the sounds of it this recipe in the River cottage book is like a quick rough puff?? Cos the butter is cubed into the flour and rolled altogether, rather than pastry dough then adding cubed butter to the layers?

Or I may just be overthinking things!! It's turned out nice the twice now I've tried to make it. Pastry was a little bit 'firm', but that might be that I'm not resting it inbetween rollings.

Thanks for the help guys! x