DAN LEPARD'S ALE-CRUST POTATO PASTIES

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Three years ago, my lovely stepdaughter, Cat, convinced me to join twitter. As if I didn't spend enough time already on my computer!

But it's fun to follow Dalai Lama (whose tweets are not about food, but food for thought), or the The Onion ("Lucrative New Oil Extraction Method Involves Drilling Directly Into Gas Stations!")

Usually I look at tweets from baking buddies, food-magazines, and renowned chefs and bakers like Dan Lepard.

Brown Ale tastes good in and with a pasty!

For many years the author of Art of the Handmade Loaf und Short & Sweet published his recipes in the Lifestyle section of the  Guardian (alas, no more!)

When I saw his Ale-Crust Potato Pasties, I jumped on my bicycle (yes, at the end of November! In Maine!!!) to get local brown ale, sharp cheddar and white onions.

Pasties are meat and vegetable filled hand pies, originally the (easy to carry) lunch staple of Cornish coal miners.

Meanwhile they spread to other places, even Mexico, possibly due to a popular British Comedy-Show about the pasty munching, Newcastle Brown Ale slurping Geordies.

Like with many of Lepard's breads, the dough is minimally mixed, without much kneading. Hands, a spoon or rubber spatula suffice - the butter cubes should remain visible and not melt.

The beer dough is rolled and folded several times, and chilled in between, like croissant dough, to make it nice and flaky.

I spruced up the potato onion filling with a little bacon. The filling would have been enough for nine pasties, so I reduced the recipe amounts accordingly. 

The pasties tasted very good, we were especially pleased with the wonderful ale crust.

These don't last long!

ALE-CRUST POTATO PASTIES (adapted from Dan Lepard's recipe)

 (6 Pasties)

DOUGH
325 g bread flour, plus extra for rolling
175 g spelt flour, or whole wheat (I used spelt)
10 g salt, (2 tsp.)
300 g cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm (0.4") cubes
250 ml Newcastle Brown Ale, or similar

FILLING
2 slices bacon, cubed
265 g white onions, chopped
¼ tsp. salt
15 ml olive oil
65 g water
salt and pepper, to taste
50 ml heavy cream
350 g potatoes, cooked and diced
70 g sharp cheddar, grated
egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash

Mix the dough only until it's clumping

CRUST:
Stir together flours and salt. Toss butter cubes through flour mix. Pour in beer and mix to rough lump (the butter pieces will still be visible).

This is what the dough should look like

Transfer dough to floured worktop and roll out into a approximate rectangle, about 1 cm (0.4") thick.

Even after rolling the butter pieces remain visible

Fold it like a business letter, roll it out, and fold it again into thirds. Wrap dough package in plastic foil and freeze it for 30 minutes. Repeat this double rolling and folding 2 x more at 30-minute intervals. Chill the dough for 1 hour in the fridge.

The dough package needs chilling after each turn

FILLING:
In a saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Using slotted spoon, take out bacon bits, place on paper towel, and set aside.

Add onions, oil, water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Cook until all water has evaporated, and onions are very soft.

Stir in cream, let thicken a bit (mixture should not have too much liquid). Remove from heat, add potatoes and reserved bacon, season well with salt and pepper, and set aside to cool.

Roll one half of the dough into a rectangle, then cut in thirds

Divide dough in halves. Return 1 piece to refrigerator. Roll other half into rectangle of ca. 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13"), then cut into thirds (a pizza cutter works well), each about 23 x 11 cm (9 x 4 1/3").

Place filling on one half (this is a filling with Christmas dinner leftovers)

Brush dough stripes with water, spoon filling towards one end, covering about half of piece (leave edges clean, otherwise you can't seal them!), and sprinkle with cheese. Fold other half over filling, and seal edges with a fork.

Repeat with other pastry sheet. Chill pasties until firm, at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC.

Brush pasties with egg before baking

Brush pasties with egg, and trim cut sides, if necessary (and if you are a neat freak). Place on parchment lined baking sheets and slash tops.

Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate sheet 180 degrees for even browning, and continue baking for another 15 - 25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Freshly baked pasties

LEFTOVER RECYCLING

Pasties work really well for leftover recycling of holiday dinners. After Christmas I filled pasties with our roasted goose-, red cabbage and potato leftovers including gravy. They tasted great!

FREEZING
Unbaked pasties can be easily frozen (before applying the egg glaze). You don't have to defrost them, just brush them with egg before they go in the oven, and bake them a little longer.

Ale-Crust Pasty with leftovers from our Christmas goose dinner!

This post, first published December 2011, has been completely rewritten and updated.

PUMPKIN WHEY BREAD - STRIKING GOLD

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I'm baking a lot, but, since it's summer, mostly for sale.

And then there are other time consuming projects like painting windows (with some tireless mosquitoes for company), massaging my husband's cramped neck (after installing aforementioned windows), and hunting for those friggin' Japanese beetles that turn my raspberry leaves into lace.

Beetle "lace"!

My list of "Equal Opportunity Breads" still waits for more items to be checked off - I did some more, but got a bit listless after a few stubborn loaves just didn't turn out the way I liked.

But in a recent weekend edition of "The Guardian", master baker Dan Lepard published an interesting bread made with whey instead of water. From my last batch of Greek yogurt I had a lot of whey left over, sitting in my fridge, while I wondered what to do with it.

Pumpkin Whey Bread was just what I was looking for!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Whey Bread: pumpkin puree, seeds, and whey

Dan Lepard cooked fresh butternut pumpkin for his puree, but here in the US good quality canned pumpkin is readily available, and preparing and draining pumpkin puree a time consuming process.

I always have a supply of pumpkin puree in my pantry (to satisfy a sudden craving for pumpkin pancakes or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins). But for those who don't (or prefer making their own), I'll include a link to the procedure.

What I like about Lepard's loaves is his minimalistic approach to kneading. Much as I admire Richard Bertinet's breads: compare his 30-minute-complete-upper-arm-workout to Lepards 10 seconds of gentle handling.

Normally I would use a stand mixer, but this soft dough can be easily (and less fussy) made by hand.

Preferring longer fermentation (with less yeast!) I mixed the dough the day before, and let it slowly rise overnight in the fridge. And, (for the good conscience,) substituted some white flour with whole wheat.

The crumb has a beautiful golden color

My Pumpkin Whey Bread turned out really nice. It had a delicate crisp crust, and a rich, dark golden crumb. Very flavorful, it is a true multi-purpose bread, and can be enjoyed with ham as well as jam. It is also good for toasting.

Stored in a brown paper bag, it keeps fresh for several days.

Wet ingredients for Pumpkin Whey Bread plus yeast and seeds

PUMPKIN WHEY BREAD  (adapted from Dan Lepard/The Guardian)
(2 loaves or 24 rolls)

450 g good quality canned pumpkin (like Libby's or 1-Pie) (for homemade: click here)
450 g whey, lukewarm
    5 g instant yeast (down from the 7 g of the original recipe)
200 g pumpkin seeds, toasted and cooled
  40 g olive oil (50 ml)
900 g bread flour
100 g white whole wheat flour
  18 g salt (4 tsp)


DAY 1
In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, whey and yeast until well combined. Stir in pumpkin seeds and oil, then add flour and salt. Using your hands, mix until all flour is hydrated, and you have a soft, sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 10 minutes.

The dough will be soft and sticky

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface and, with oiled hands, knead briefly (10 seconds), then place it in lightly oiled container, turn around to coat with oil, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using.

Mighty overnight rise means the yeast can be safely reduced

Divide dough into 2 equal pieces (or 24 pieces for rolls, about 90 g each). Shape 2 oval or round loaves (or rolls), place loaves, seam side up, in floured rising baskets (rolls seam side down on parchment lined or perforated baking sheets).

Place shaped loaf, seam side up, in floured banneton

Sprinkle breads with flour, and cover with plastic foil or a clean kitchen towel. Let loaves (or rolls) rise for 45 - 60 minutes, or until they have grown 1 1/2 times their original size (finger poke test: a dimple poked in the dough should not fill again, only come back a little bit.)

Preheat oven to 425ºF/210ºC, including steam pan. For the loaves, line baking sheet with parchment paper.

The bread is sufficiently proofed when it has risen by half

Turn breads out onto prepared baking sheet. Using a lamé or sharp knife, score in desired pattern. (Rolls: re-flour, if necessary, and slash across the middle).

Ready for the oven!

Place breads in the middle of the oven, (bake rolls on 2 tiers, using convection mode*), or keep second sheet in a cool place, until the first batch is done), steaming with 1 cup boiling water.

After 20 minutes, remove steam pan, rotate breads 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 20-25 minutes (rolls: 15-20 minutes), or until they are golden brown, sound hollow when thumped on the bottom, and register 195ºF/90ºC (instant thermometer).

Let breads cool on wire rack.

*)I bake breads usually with convection mode, my oven reduces the temperature automatically.

Submitted to YeastSpotting

Submitted to Panissimo:  Bread & Companatico

                                        Indovina chi viene a cena                                            

DAN LEPARD'S STILTON CRUST SAUSAGE ROLLS

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Dan Lepard, master baker from England ("The Art of Handmade Bread"), travels (and bakes) all over the world. He also contributes regularly to the weekend issue of the "Guardian", and is always good for an interesting recipe.

I tried several of them, and never had a bad experience. Whether marmalade, pancakes, pasties, cakes or his "boozy" Ale House Rolls, we liked them all. When I saw his recipe for Stilton Crust Sausage Rolls, I was intrigued by the idea to spruce up simple store-bought puff pastry with layers of blue cheese.

There was still some puff pastry in the freezer, and I overcame my inner Scrooge to purchase real, imported Stilton.

Stilton crumbles easily, just use your fingers

Preparing the crust was easy. I crumbled the Stilton evenly over one sheet of thawed puff pastry, placed the second sheet on top, pressed it down with my hands to adhere, and then rolled it out to two times its original size.

It looks like a lot of blue cheese, but it is just right and not too strong!

The package is then folded, re-rolled, and folded again, creating several layers of cheese within the pastry. After these turns it needs a nap in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.

While the dough was resting, I prepared the sausage filling. An opened package with Johnsonville's "Stadium Brats" - the only American bratwurst that tastes like a German one - was my sausage choice, and, instead of the ground pork the recipe suggests, I took 80% lean ground beef (another leftover in the fridge.)

The idea of a fennel seasoning didn't appeal to me too much. Though I like fennel, and use it regularly in my breads, I do not care for the pervasive anise-y flavor of American Italian sausages (something never heard of in Italy, as my half Italian husband assures me.)

Bratwurst, ground beef, marjoram and white bread crumbs for the filling

With the German type bratwurst a marjoram seasoning instead of the fennel seemed the obvious choice (I used only 1/2 teaspoon.) "Stadium Brats" don't have casings that need removing, and my food processor made mixing a cinch. (I recommend chilling the filling until using.)

A few pulses and the filling is done

The next step was arranging the filling on the chilled pastry. I wasn't quite sure what size of rolls I would end up with - you have to consider that before you roll out the dough - but mathematical imagination is not my forte, and my rolls turned out a bit larger than Dan Lepard's. 

Arranging the filling. The blue Stilton is visible through the puff pastry

I placed the filling on the lower half of the pastry, leaving a free edge for the seam. The upper half is then folded over, and crimped with a fork. To create a neat edge, I used a pizza roller to cut off the excess dough.

Stilton crust loaf with crimped seams

Since I wanted to freeze some of the rolls, I did not apply egg wash over the whole loaf, but cut it first into slices. My loaf yielded 10 slices/rolls (about 1 1/2 inch wide.)

Applying egg wash and scoring

After brushing the rolls with the beaten egg, I slashed them with a sharp knife, parallel to the cut sides.

The sausage rolls baked for 25 minutes, at 400ºF/200ºC, to be golden brown and sizzling. I realized, though, that a lot of fat was rendered from the filling during the bake, leaving the bottom of the rolls soft. Next time I would elevate the rolls with a rack on top of the baking sheet.

We had the Stilton Crust Sausage Rolls for dinner, and LOVED them! The blue cheese in the crust added a pleasant spiciness, and the seasoning of the sausages, plus the marjoram, was sufficient to flavor the whole filling - no extra salt or pepper is needed.

Dan Lepard's recipe in the "Guardian" you can find here.

TO MAKE AHEAD: The cheese pastry and the filling, or the filled loaf (without egg wash), can be kept in the refrigerator for at least a day.

The shaped rolls (without egg wash!) can be easily frozen, individually wrapped in plastic, and placed in a container with lid. They don't need to be thawed, but before baking, brush them with beaten egg, and slash the top with a sharp knife. The baking time will be a bit longer for frozen rolls.

We loved the spicy sausage rolls!

DAN LEPARD'S ALEHOUSE ROLLS

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When I was a student, I traveled with my best friend, Andrea, through England, Cornwall and Wales. We didn't have a fixed itinerary, we just followed our nose to places we had read or heard about.

We didn't stay in hotels (only once, and that was as dusty as it was expensive), we preferred B&Bs, always looking for interesting old buildings. We slept in grand manor houses, rustic inns, cozy farm houses, and even a water mill from the sixteenth century.

Old Water Mill Inn & Pub, England 1971

People always complain about the English food - I never had a really bad experience, I would always find something I liked, as long as it started with "apple" and ended with "pie"!

We often ate in pubs, having sandwiches with cheddar and chutney, and I was delighted to try the different beers.

With all these fond memories in mind - no wonder I wanted to try master baker Dan Lepard's Alehouse Rolls. You will find it in his book "Short and Sweet", or here.

I had just bought Newcastle Brown Ale at the Bangor commissary, and thought this was very appropriate for British rolls.

The dough is made with a hot beer soaker - ale and oats are brought to a boil, with butter and honey added to the hot liquid - and the rolled oats are toasted.

It also has some whole grain flour, to make the rolls even heartier (and give health conscious bakers a better conscience!)

Hot soaker with ale, oats, butter and hone

Dan Lepard has a nice, minimalistic approach to working the dough, he handles it gently, kneads it very briefly, and allows it to develop while resting (autolyse).

As a psychotherapist this method appeals to me a lot: give the patient dough the means and time to develop, without pushing and hectoring - and it will grow just fine!

At different times I had to add varying amounts of water to the final dough, the consistency should be soft and somewhat sticky.

Instead of letting the dough rest for a final 30 minutes on the counter, I did what I usually do - and put it to sleep overnight in the fridge.

This cold fermentation of the dough fits much better in my schedule than doing it all on one day. Though I like baking in the morning, I don't want to get up in the wee hours, so I prepare everything the day before, and only have the shaping and baking left to do.

Having to choose between large sandwich rolls (à 235 g a piece) or smaller dinner rolls, I opted for the more petite version - 12 rolls à 92 g.

The recipe suggests rolling the rolls first over wet kitchen paper towels and then in oat flakes. I didn't read the instructions thoroughly, and, therefore, dunked only the tops in the oat meal.

Alehouse Rolls - ready for baking

Whereas the giant sandwich rolls have to bake for 20 minutes at 210º C/410º F, and then some more at reduced heat, my little rolls were golden brown after 26 minutes (without reducing the heat.)

They tasted just as good as they looked, a semi-soft crust with a little crunch, and a hearty, somewhat nutty flavor.

I have made these rolls with rye flour and brown ale, whole wheat and stout, as well as spelt flour and a rather hoppy ale. All versions tasted excellent, spicy and slightly sweetish.


ALEHOUSE ROLLS  (adapted from Dan Lepard)
(12 Rolls)

75 g rolled oats
440 ml ale or stout
25 g butter
25 g honey
450 g bread flour
100 g rye, whole wheat, or spelt flour
6 g instant yeast
8 g salt
20 g cold water, or more, as needed (I used up to 80 g)
rolled oats, for topping

DAY 1
Toast oats in oven at 400ºF/200ºC for ca. 7-10 minutes, stirring in between, until they turn a rich golden brown (or toast them in a dry skillet on the stove top.)

In a saucepan, bring beer and toasted oats to a boil over medium heat. Remove pan from the heat, add butter and honey, stir until melted, cover, and let cool for ca. 30 minutes.

Mix flours, yeast and salt together in large bowl. Add lukewarm oat mixture and stir with your fingers, adding a little cold water if needed to make a soft, somewhat sticky dough (hand mixing gives you a better feeling for how much extra water you should add). Cover bowl and leave for 10 minutes.

Transfer dough to lightly oiled work surface, and, with oiled hands, gently knead it for 10 seconds. Scoop dough back into bowl, cover, then repeat the light knead 2 x more at 10-minute intervals. Place dough in oiled container, cover and refrigerate it overnight. (At this point I divide the dough into 2 portions).

Alehouse Roll dough after bulk rise - ready to be shaped

DAY 2
Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 12 pieces. Shape into rolls.

Place sheet of wet paper kitchen towel on one dinner plate, and rolled oats on another, then roll each roll first across wet paper and then through oats. Place on parchment lined or perforated baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 45 - 60 minutes, or until they have grown by 1 1/2 times their original size.

Preheat oven to 210°C/410°F. (Steam optional.)

Bake the rolls for 12 minutes, rotate, (remove steam pan if using) and continue baking for another 13 minutes, until golden brown.

Post updated 9/6/14 to include formula and BreadStorm downloadable file.

As tasty as they look - freshly baked Alehouse Rolls.