Pies and Tarts

 

 I would have to say Stephane Reynaud is one of my favorite chefs.  I love, love, love his cookbooks.  I ordered Pies and Tarts from England in November.  It got lost.  I ordered it again and finally it arrived.  And just in time for the snow. Really, is there a better time to cook up pies than during the snow?  There are rabbit pies, beef pies, fish pies, cheese pies, apple pies, every type of pie one could ever want!  In fact, you will find pies that you never thought of and familiar pies put forward in new ways.

While Reynaud often has recipes that might feel overly complicated, he walks the reader through them in such a way as to make the most complicated concoction seem totally do-able.  All of his books have been like this.  The beautiful photographs often make the recipes in Pies and Tarts seem unobtainable, but following the straightforward instruction will turn you into pie rock star.

This is the cover pie:

Lorraine Pie 

2 packets puff pastry (500 grams)
4 French shallots 
4 garlic cloves
250 g veal topside
250 g  pork scotch fillet
1 bunch tarragon
1 sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
200 ml Gewürztraminer wine
Salt and pepper
1 egg

Peel the shallots and garlic, then finely chop. Cut meat into strips about 1 cm wide.  Pluck the tarragon,rosemary and thyme leaves.  Marinate meat with shallots, garlic, herbs and wine. Season, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator 12 hours.

Divide dough in half and roll out two rectangles of the same size until about 3mm thick.  Line a baking tray with baking paper and lay one rectangle of dough on top.  Spread over the drained strips of meat with shallots, garlic and herb, leaving 1 cm border all around.  Whisk the egg and use to glaze the edges.

Cover with second piece of pastry. Seal the two rectangles of pastry dough by pinching edges.  Glaze them and roll the edges inward so they tick together.

 Criss-cross the dough lightly with the tip of a knife and glaze the top of the pie.   Bake at 180 C for 45 minutes. 

OK this is the British edition so veal "topside" is loin and pork "scotch fillet" is a simple shoulder.   In the US, most frozen puff pastry come in two sheets, so you need only one box.  We chose this recipe because we wanted you see the final product.  We don't eat veal, but Reynaud is French so he eats anything.  Today we are inspired and are heading into the kitchen for a beef and mushroom pie.
More later.