To say that I was pleased with myself after making this is a bit of an understatement. Those of you who subscribe to this blog know that I am not much of a dessert-maker or baker, except for bread. Well, the crust pictured above was flaky, tender, delectable; in fact so delicious that L. and I ignored the fact that Ms. Manners (AKA G-ma or mommy, generationally speaking) was dining with us; we plucked and ate the remaining crust right out of the dish in front of her. I have a strong suspicion, so good was this crust, that - had she not had her reputation as an arbiter of deportment to protect - she might have joined in. And the short rib filling wasn't half bad either...
I strongly recommend adding this to your baking repertoire. You can use it in its original incarnation in the inspiration recipe below as a crust for quiche, blueberry pie might be good, or apple, and it would also taste great as a crispy lid to any stew. A true multi-tasker. It will next appear in our household as the crowning glory to an updated version of that 1970s stalwart - chicken a la King! That will probably happen in the next few weeks or so.
Anyway...this recipe makes enough for one 9" crust and could serve 6 if served with an appetizer and a hearty salad on the side. In our household it served 2 adults and a teenager with a generous lunch for one of the adults the next day.
1/4 cup rye flour
3/4 cup white flour + a bit more to keep it from sticking when you roll it out
1 stick butter, directly from the freezer
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 Tbsps ice water
1 egg yolk, well beaten
Measure the flours and salt directly into a bowl.
Using your box grater, grate the stick of butter into the flour. Mix quickly with your hand just to combine.
Add 4 tablespoons of the water and mix with your hand, squeezing from time to time to see if the ingredients are coming together to form a cohesive ball. I keep my flour in the freezer and it was a dry day so I had to add 6 tablespoons of water before that happened, more than the original recipe.
As soon as the dough looks like it might want to form a ball, so as not to overwork it, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight) to relax and to let the butter chill again.
When ready to use it, place a sheet of parchment paper on your counter and lightly dust its surface with flour. Unwrap the dough, place it on the parchment paper, dust the surface of the dough lightly with flour and cover with a second sheet of parchment paper. This is helpful for those of you like me, who are not graceful bakers and will keep you from adding to much flour to the rolling process and toughening the dough. Roll out the dough into your best approximation of a 9 inch circle. You will end up with a dough that is flecked with tiny blobs of butter.
Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper and cut a small circle in the center of the dough to serve as a vent for the filling. Invert your dough over the pie tin containing your filling and then peel off the remaining sheet of parchment paper. No fuss, no muss (if you are lucky).
Seal your pie well - either by running a knife around the edge to remove excess crust and then pressing down with it along the perimeter of the pan or, as I did, by folding the excess crust under and sealing the edges of the crust to the pan by pressing down with the tines of a fork and forming a pattern. This is hard to explain verbally but easily understood by looking at the image associated with the inspiration recipe for short rib pot pie below.
Brush the entire surface of the crust with beaten egg yolk. This will make your finished pie look very shiny and professional but you can skip this step if you want.
Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour or according to the directions for your particular recipe.
And on to my short rib filling which should have been the star of the show and got slightly out-shadowed by the crust above. Exceedingly tasty though, and could be made and served with noodles or mashed potatoes rather than topped with a crust.
2 lbs bone-in short ribs
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
1 onion, diced into bite sized pieces
2 cups carrots, diced into bite sized pieces
1 cup peas, frozen are fine
3 cups spinach or greens if desired
2 cups diced potato or rutabaga, which I planned on adding and which L. nixed in passing, mushrooms would be yummy too - up to you, really
1 bay leaf
2 tsps olive oil
More salt and pepper than you think you need
Preheat your oven to 350.
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, oven-safe pot. As soon as it shimmers add the short ribs, bone side up. Do not crowd the pan; I had to do this in 3 batches and patience will pay off.
Lower the heat and cook for about 4 minutes or so. As soon as you can turn the meat without it sticking to the pan, turn, salt and pepper well and cook bone side down for an additional minute or two. Set aside on a plate and repeat until all of the short ribs have a nice dark brown crust.
Turn off the heat, add all the meat back to the pan along with bay leaf, onions and carrots (potatoes and rutabaga if using). Salt and pepper one more time and then add the water and red wine.
Cover and place in the oven. Go about your business for 2 1/2 hours while your house fills with the most delicious smells.
Remove from the oven after 2 1/2 hours. You should be able to easily remove the bones from the pan and shred the meat between two forks. Once you have done that, add the frozen peas, stir in your greens (if using) and decant into your pie pan.
Top with the above mentioned crust and follow the cooking directions for that. The end result will be exceedingly hot so I would recommend allowing the finished pie to rest for five to ten minutes before serving it.
Crust inspiration recipe, here.
Short rib pot pie inspiration recipe, here.
