koko's corner

 

To make a Pâte Brisée we need flour, butter, shortening, salt and a pinch of sugar. 

 

 

I sifted together the flour, 

 

 

salt, 

 

 

and a pinch of sugar. 

 

 

Sift, sift, sift. 

 

 

Add the butter and 

 

 

shortening. 

 

 

Here's where my handy dandy wire whisk comes into play. I use it for so many things, even as a pastry blender. 

 

I pounce it up and down to cut the butter and shortening into the flour.

Like how I make my pounced potatoes. 

 

 

It should resemble coarse meal. 

 

 

Mix the water in with a fork to make a workable dough. 

 

 

Turn the dough out on your work surface. 

 

Working with a fourth of a cup of dough at a time, 

 
using the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you. 

 

 

Smeared dough. 

 

 

Scrape the smeared dough into a ball. 

 

 

 

Wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours. 

 

 

Unwrap dough, place on floured work surface and pound it a few times with a rolling pin to soften it. 

 

I set my camera on what I call rapid fire. It'll take a series of pictures instantaneously. I don't know the camera geek name for that feature but I love it. 

Look at the cool shot I got because of that feature.

 

Dang, it looks like you can see right through the rolling pin, how cool is that. 

I tried to get that shot again but couldn't. Guess it's one of those lucky shots. 

 

Roll out the dough to 1/8th inch thickness or to desired thickness. 

If you roll up the dough on the rolling pin, it's easier to transport it to the pan and center it. 

 

 

 

Just roll the pin over the pan to trim off the excess edges. 

 

 

Easy peasy pretty pie shell. 

Until...

 

 

you blind bake it and realize the pan is wayyyy too small and the dough shrunk too much. 

Now I know why I had so much extra dough. 

Back to square one.

The next day I had to go buy a proper quiche pan <like the recipe stated but I thought I could work around it>  After my pedicure of course, hey, I had to make the trip worth it ya know. I think they call it multi-tasking right? ;-)

 

 

Now with the proper quiche pan, lift and pat the dough into place.

I was concerned about the dough shrinking again so I didn't cut it off level with the pan. 

Here's where the ugly comes in. Don't laugh, just remember the beautiful but too small pastry shell I made earlier. 

 

I built up the sides of the dough over the top of the pan. 

Dock it with a fork, 

 

 

line with foil and fill with beans for a blind bake. 

 

 

Now it's deep enough, not pretty but it will work. 

 

The Pâte Brisée is finished, now on to the filling.

The leeks need to be cooled after they are cooked so they can be made while the dough is chilling. 

 

 

The filling is made using leeks, heavy cream, light cream, butter, eggs, egg yolks and Gruyère cheese. 

 

Cut the leeks in half and place in a pan of cold water to leach out any dirt from between the leaves. 

Thinly slice the leeks. 

 

Then our friends called and asked us to join them for dinner. Because we really like our friends, and because busy schedules don't allow for a lot of time with them, we dropped everything and joined them. 

I quickly cover the leeks with a tea towel and ran out the door. 

We came home to a house reeking, absolutely reeking of onion, enough to make your eyes water. Our cat smoky has just now started talking to us again. 

So, on with the filling. 

In a large skillet cook the leeks in some butter and olive oil. Cook them over low heat until they are tender and lightly colored, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

 

 

Mix together the light and heavy cream, 

 

 

add the eggs and egg yolks, 

 

 

and nutmeg. 

 

 

Whisk, whisk, whisk. 

 

 

Put the leek mixture in the partially baked tarte shell. 

 

 

Pour the cream egg mixture over the leeks. 

 

 

Sprinkle the Gruyère cheese over the top. 

 

Bake in a 300* oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until...

the filling is completely set and the cheese is turning brown. 

While the pastry may not look all that great, it is very, very good and flaky.

My friend Squeaks and I are pastry crust challenged, we just don't know how to handle the dough with any finesse so we decided we are going to take a pastry class. I can't wait, we will learn so much and have so much fun doing it. 

Here's the recipe I used. Please, please make it, you'll love it. 

 

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Tarte Saint-Germain

cheese/eggs, pies, vegetables

4 tablespoons sweet butter

6  leeks, trimmed, well washed; thinly sliced

2 large eggs

2  egg yolks

1 cup light cream

1 cup heavy cream  

Salt; to taste  

freshly ground black pepper; to taste  

freshly grated nutmeg; optional

1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese

1 9-inch Pâte Brisée-see note; partially baked  

Pâte Brisée

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon Salt  

pinch of granulated sugar

5 1/2 tablespoons sweet butter (2/3 stick); chilled

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening; chilled

1/4 cup ice water

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add sliced leeks and cook, covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes or until leeks are tender and lightly colored.Stir frequently or leeks may scorch. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Whisk eggs, yolks, and light and heavy cream together in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a grating of nutmeg, if you like.

Preheat oven to 300°F Spoon cooled leek mixture into partially baked tart shell. Add cream and egg mixture to fill the tart to within 1/2 inch of the top. Sprinkle the Gruyère evenly over the tart. Set the tart on the middle level of the preheated oven and bake for 35 to45 minutes, or until top is well browned and filling is completely set.Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

NOTE:Use a quiche pan approximately 2 inches deep

Pâte Brisée
Sift the flour, salt and sugar together into a bowl; add butter and shortening and cut them into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is like coarse meal.

Sprinkle on and blend in enough of the ice water to make a workable dough, mixing water in lightly with a fork.Turn dough out onto your work surface using the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you, about 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape up the smeared dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Unwrap dough, place on floured work surface, and pound it a few times with your rolling pin to soften it. Roll it out 1/8 inch thick or to desired thickness.Drape dough over quiche pan or tart pan, ease it into the pan without stretching, pat into place, trim off excess, and crimp edge if desired. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400*F Remove chilled dough from refrigerator and prick the bottom and sides well with a fork. Line the pan with foil or wax paper; fill with beans or rice to weight the crust. Bake for 10 minutes, until dough is just beginning to color.Remove from oven, remove weights and lining, and cool slightly.

You now have a partially  baked shell which can be filled and re baked for a quiche or tart. For a fully baked shell, for a fresh fruit tart, for example, remove weights and lining from shell after 10 minutes and continue to bake until it is golden brown and crisply flaky, about 25 minutes total. Cool completely before filling

Yield:one 11-inch shell for 5 or 6 tart shells

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.84 **

 

And that's that