...AND THE NEXT.....

Can you see the common denominator yet?
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!

Today started with me trying to decide primarily what to cook for my son Leo and myself.
It's sad to say but the wife Tracey as gorgeous as she is comes 2nd cos she's happy with reconstituted frozen rubbish that you buy in supermarkets

Anyway I decided to defrost some steak and kidney and make the obvious Steak and Kidney Pie.
In order to do a pudding using suet pastry I would've of course needed some suet which,not only did I not have,but I've never used.
As it happens I didn't even have any lard so I started a thread on the BBC Messageboard asking for pastry recipes using oil and a substitute shortening.
A good friend of mine Lesley found a recipe and I decided to go with it.When I'd finished it I found it was one of the easiest pastry consistencies I'd ever used. I'll definately use the same recipe again and here it is:-

Ingredients: 1 cup self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg, beaten
2-3 tblspns water

I used my food processor to make it by firstly adding the flour to the salt and just pulsing it.
Then it was as simple as adding the egg and olive oil and putting the machine on medium speed and adding a little water a tablespoon at a time until it came together into a ball of dough.
The recipe suggested resting it in the fridge for 30 minutes but I went straight on rolling it out.
This was the perfect amount for 2 small pies in ramekins that measure 4" diameter and 2" deep.

I had;-
280g of cubed steak
196g pork kidney
½ red onion finely diced
3-4fl oz gravy

I fried off the onion in a little butter and olive oil until soft and then put them to one side.I then tossed the steak and kidney in seasoned flour and again sealed in hot oil and butter.
It was then a simple matter of lining the ramekins with the pastry and filling them with the onion,steak and kidney mix.
I then poured the gravy on top and place the pastry on top,sealed it,brushed it with milk and cut an air hole in the top.
I placed into a hot oven(220°C)for 20-25 minutes until a nice golden brown.

I forgot to mention a product that I've recently become aware of thanks to my good friend Melissa who bakes better than I do that I'm not sure I could do without now.
It's Wiltons Cake Release and it's brilliant.

In case Melissa ever reads this she ought to know that I'm aspiring to bake better than her.

Can you guess fro the photo which is the mass produced frozen vegetable pie.