Welcome to this weeks Kids in the Kitchen. We are all fit and well again now and we’ve been cooking up a storm. Today Boo made home made pizzas and Chocolate Brownies with her big sister and they are also planning some very very pink cupcakes. My recipes this week, though, are inspired by the Great British Bake Off Pies and Tarts Week. I just love making my own pastry and was taught how to make it at a very young age by my Gran. So now I’m passing it on to my own children and the little man learnt how to make shortcrust pastry and I made a steak pie and an apple and blackberry tart.
Before we begin, first may I say thank you to those who linked up last week. We had some lovely Gingerbread Biscuits from The Adventures of Jack Jack and The Beesley Buzz tell us all about their fantastic day of Making Lunch Exciting with Actimal Kids. Thank you both for joining in and sharing your cooking experiences.
It’s so easy to join in, just tell us about some cooking that you have done with your children, link up posts old or new. I store all posts on my Pinterest Board and also tweet any posts linked up as well as mention them here on Kids in the Kitchen. So do please come and join us.
Steak Pie and Apple and Blackberry Tart.
I have two recipes for you this week, but first I will tell you how I make my shortcrust pastry.
Ingredients:
A basic way of remembering shortcrust is ‘half fat to flour’ which is the method my gran always used.
however, you can change this a little and choose which fat to use.
To make a large pie:
250g plain flour
70g cold unsalted butter
50g cold vegetable fat (lard)
100ml ice cold water
Method:
The Little Man had much fun measuring all the ingredients.
We put the flour in a large bowl
We chopped up the butter and lard into small cubes
We added the fat to the flour
The Little Man mixed together the dough with a knife until it resembled breadcrumbs
We added the water and quickly brought the mixture together trying not to work it too much or let it get too warm
We wrapped the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge.
Fillings:
Steak Pie
700g cubed braising steak
1tbs cooking oil
570ml water
2 beef stock cubes
1 tbs cornflour
egg wash
You may also add carrots, mushrooms or onions depending on your taste, we prefer just steak.
In a large pan fry and seal the steak in the oil.
Add the water and stock cubes and bring to the boil
Cover and Simmer for around two hours or until the steak is really tender.
Mix the cornflour with a little water to make a paste then add to the pan.
Stir until thickened.
If you still have a lot of liquid you can boil it a little longer. You want a thick gravy that covers all the steak.
Making the Pie:
Roll out half of the pastry and line an 8inch pie tin.
Fill with the steak mixture
Roll second half of pastry and place on top of the filling.
trim the edges and seal them by pinching or pressing in a fork
Brush the pie with an egg wash
Stick a fork into the lid a couple of times.
You may also wish to decorate the top of the pie using some of the leftover pastry.
Bake at gas mark 5/190C for around 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Apple and Blackberry Pie
Ingredients:
Sweet pastry
Method:
Filling:
Method:
So now it’s over to you, get in the kitchen with your kids and come and share what you’ve cooked, then share it with us here.
Both your pies look great. I am not confident at making pies at all – There is just one savoury one that I can (fairly reliably) make but would like to try something like steak pie. We were inspired by pie week too and I did make my pie but haven't had time to write it up yet so we're linking up the blue cake this week. Glad you are all feeling better now. x
These look great! For pie week Jacob made a meatball pie – you linky was closed so we couldn't add our post http://www.theboywhocooked.co.uk/pie-week-great-bloggers-bake-2014/