"This is a revelation and one for which I will be forever grateful!" Creative Cooking in the Time of the Corona
This is a lucky dip post - a recipe from Belinda Jefferey's book A Year Of Sundays. David picked the book. I picked the page, and I have to say my heart sank. Well I've done lemon curd, so nothing really to say on that, and well it's just a tart isn't it? And not that interesting a tart at that. It just looks sort of brown and uninteresting in this photograph from the book, even if it is rather beautifully styled. So what on earth is there to say?
Well maybe not much, but I hadn't read through the recipe and therefore didn't notice the most interesting thing about it. The pastry is semi-frozen and grated - both on the base and on the top. Now this is something I have never heard of.
I have heard, courtesy of Delia, how to make flaky pastry by grating the frozen butter - a technique used by many professional cooks. And I did try Delia's recipe, and it was quick and it was easy and it produced lovely pastry.
This recipe from Belinda Jefferey is different again, however. In this recipe you grate the actual pastry. Instruction are given for making the pastry with a mixer - very easy, and then you divide it in two and chill for quite a while in the fridge - overnight even, or you could freeze it briefly too. So that it's chilled and somewhat firm anyway. Then you grate it into your greased tart case, put on your filling - in this case a home-made lemon curd (recipe included in the main recipe) - and then grate your other half of the pastry on to the top. No rolling and flour all over the place. What's not to love?
I did check and The New York Times had a recipe for doing this - well not so much a recipe but a brief 'how to' article, although to be fair it was behind a pay wall, so I couldn't read it all. There was not much other evidence for it however, so I wonder whether it's just a Belinda Jefferey thing. Her baking recipes, I have to say, are generally very good.
All I can say is that a couple of people tried her recipe with one of them - a website called Creative Cooking in the Time of the Corona including the recipe for this Lemon curd and shortbread tart. The other was from a lady called Katy Nunn. And they were both impressed. Other book reviewers mentioned it as well and one lady from The Morning Cooking Club had an Instagram video of the whole thing as well.
It must be a technique that Belinda Jefferey herself uses from time to time, because I also found this Shortbread and fruit mince pie on her website, which David, passing by my computer saw, and said "Ooh that looks nice". Well I'd make it if I could find some mincemeat. But I guess you could put anything in the middle - fruit, fruit purées, nutty mixtures ...
Anyway - I guess not a lot to say but a technique to add to your skills.
POSTSCRIPT
September 9
2021 - Nothing
2020 - A sense of satisfaction
2019 - Nothing
2017 - Jicama
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