Sunday, November 29, 2009

Puff Pastry!!

Puff Pastry! Sausage Rolls!!!

Hey Everyone!! This weekend I made Sausage rolls...

It is a fairly lengthy process..but well worth the effort when done properly.  I started with my home made extra lean sausage meat..and I made puff Pastry. Now, Puff Pastry is a very simple process..but it takes Patience and MUSCLE...so before you get all excited..make SURE you have a GOOD SOLID rolling pin..OK?

Start by setting aside 3 pounds of FRESH   never FROZEN sausage meat in fridge. ( Home made is the best.. store bought has to high a fat content...I have blogged my lean sausage meat recipe)

Ingrediants for Puff Pastry:

1 LB unsalted..or half salt, CHILLED BUTTER...( In brick form..not whipped)
1 tsp salt
1 TBS lemon juice or white vinegar
4 cups All Purpose Flour
1& 1/3 cup water ( As cold as it can be without being frozen)

In a bowl mix sifted flour and salt pour lemon juice in water...making a well in the flour start mixing in the water and lemon juice mixture...you are going to mix and knead this basic dough until it is SMOOTH and firm...Using your hands roll into a log and mark into six equal sections..


Then cut into 6 equal portions...
Then do the same with the butter.


Believe me when I say..dividing it into 6 portions makes it MUCH easier to work..And WORK you WILL!!
Now comes the muscle part...
Using the rolling pin, roll out one portion of the dough..roll it out enough that it can enfold a portion of butter.


Wrap the dough around the butter...


Now PLEASE follow these instructions carefully..the next step may be easier if the butter was softer,,BUT..you will not get proper puff pstry with soft butter...I used to work at a bakery that used something called " hard fat" instead of butter..it looked like yellow tinted hard vaseline...When I asked why did they not use Butter, (as I assumed that ALL puff pastry was made with butter..) I was told that butter would not stay hard enough to we worked properly...After leaving the bakery..I set out to debunk that bit of miguided information...and so I have...
NOW...
Gently but FIRMLY roll out the dough..This will be a trial and error process for you..all I can say is..you DON'T want the butter breaking THROUGH the dough...


This is about the size you want it to be...you can see the butter colour THROUGH the dough..but it IS covered...(Sorry about the darkness of the shot..(
Now you fold the dough in what is called a pocket book fold.


Do this to all six portions..When each portion has been folded..gently wrap in waxed paper and chill in fridge FOR AT LEAST ONE HOUR!! This is very important...the butter has to REFIRM..it will have softened somewhat during the working. I suggest wrapping them indiviually so they chill quicker.
THis is the patience part...Once the folded dough has chilled for the minimum of one hour..you take it out of the fridge...leaving the dough folded..you gently but firmly roll it out again! This process needs to be repeated until it has been folded and rolled out FOUR TIMES...with an hour chill in between each rolling. There are NO SHORTCUTS...What this proccess does...is with each fold and roll out..you are layering the butter in BETWEEN the layers of dough...and when you bake it..the butter melts and leaves hollows between the dough..making the pastry puff up and flake...done properly it is to DIE FOR!!
Once You have rolled it out for the final time..you will find your dough is in perfect sized sections for making the sausage rolls.

Take your sausage meat from the fridge...flatten it out on a piece of butcher paper or waxed paper..to about 3/4 of an inch thick.


Have a small bowl of cold water and a basting brush ready..the with a knife..cut a 3/4 inch strip from the edge of the meat patty.


Carefully lay the strip of sausage meat on your prepared strip of puff pastry.


Bringing the meat to the edge of the pastry..gently roll the pastry around the meat..leaving a flap of about a half inch..Then dipping the basting brush in the water..paint the edge with a bit of water..


This helps to seal the edge..roll closed.


Cut into two inch sections.


Now place them seam side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet..bake at 360 DF . Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffed.  The rest can be placed seam side down in a sealable container and frozen.  When cooking frozen..do not thaw..but place on the cookie sheet frozen and bake right away. This recipe Make approx 60-70 sausage rolls!!
True these are alot of work..Enough that I only make them for special occaisions..BUT..well worth the effort!! The ooooos and ahhhhhs you will recieve when presenting this to company at a Christmas party..or just your hubby not being able to wait for them to cool..


Makes it All WORTH WHILE!!
 Please leave your comments and ideas at the bottom of the article..you need not have a web ID...just put it under ANONYMOUS!!

Merry Christmas!!

2 comments:

Bronwin said...

oh I'm SO excited to make this with you Aunt Bev!
love love love,
Bronnie

Jayashiangel said...

Howie Looks Really Happy.. & relaxed for a min.. Thanks for Sharing. Miss you in Peoria.....