From time immemorial in Russia baked pies with very different fillings. In their honor, the people even came up with a proverb that says: "If there were cakes, there would be friends." This dish was served during the holidays, so its name originates from the word feast. Pies are baked and fried, as well as they are made of the most diverse dough: yeast, flaky, made on a brew or on kefir. Unfortunately, history has not preserved the exact name of the culinary specialist, who first cooked pies, but through the centuries carried the most diverse recipes of this wonderful dish.
Puff pastries - general principles and methods of cooking
The peculiarity of making puff pastry pies is its rolling into several very thin layers. In order for such a dough to be more elastic, it is added with edible acid, which contributes to an increase in the viscosity of flour and proteins. The finished dough is rolled into a rectangular layer, the thickness of which should not exceed ten millimeters. It is necessary to roll the dough very smoothly and slowly, equally in all directions, otherwise the baking will be bad to rise. Finished dough must be left in the refrigerator for forty minutes. Baked products should be ruddy, golden, and when pressed with a knife should rise without bending.
Puff pastries - food preparation
Puff pastries can be served as a separate dish or as a hot snack. Meat, vegetables, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, as well as all sorts of sweet jams or cooking are perfect for their fillings. They can be baked in the oven or fry in a well-heated vegetable oil in deep fat. Puff pastry can be bought in the store or cooked on your own, it does not require any special culinary skills. For puff pastry need flour, water and salt. The balloon formed from the above products should be placed in the refrigerator for a day, and the next day, add a little butter and roll out. You should not put much pressure on the dough, otherwise the cakes will be hard and not airy. And in order for the pies to be more rosy it is necessary to lubricate them with fresh egg yolk before baking. Puff pastries - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Puff Meat Pies
Such pies are easy and quick to prepare, and to create them will require a minimum amount of products. In addition, you can safely experiment with the filling. Inside the dough, you can put the meat of one variety or mix several types of it.
Ingredients: 500 grams of meat or prepared minced meat, 2.5 cups of flour, three-quarters cup of fresh milk, 1 egg, a pinch of baking powder, 150 grams of butter.
Method of preparation
Flour the butter with flour into a crumb, add the milk mixed with baking powder and a slightly beaten egg into the resulting mass. All salt and make a lump of dough. It can not be kneaded, you only need to fasten it into a homogeneous mass and leave for ten minutes. After that, the dough should be divided into two equal parts, roll out and grease with melted butter. Next, the dough rolls into a roll, from which a bun is made, which should be cooled in the refrigerator for about half an hour.
At this time, preparing the filling. Twist the meat in a meat grinder, fry with onions in butter, add salt and pepper to taste.
Next, you need to get the dough, thinly rolled out, using the glass to make the same round billet for the pies, in the middle of which to put the stuffing. Fill the edges of the pies carefully, smear them with an egg on top and put them in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
Recipe 2: Sweet Puff Pies
You can make these tender pies with both sweet and goat cheese fillings. Their cooking time is one hour and forty minutes. Such pies will be an excellent addition to home-made tea drinking or will be an ideal solution for treating guests.
Ingredients: 800 grams of flour, 1 cup of low-fat sour cream or whey, 3 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of soda, 2 teaspoons of sugar, salt to taste. For the filling you will need half a cup of walnuts, melted butter, 2/3 cup of sugar and liquid honey. Method of preparation
In order to prepare the dough, you need to mix the flour with soda and salt, make a small depression, break an egg into it and add sugar. Knead the dough well and leave it for ten minutes to make it soft. Next, cover the dough, put in a warm place and leave for another thirty minutes.
While the dough is infused, you can make the filling. It is necessary to well push in a mortar nuts, mixed with sugar.
Divide the dough into six equal parts and lay out on a floured surface. Each piece is thinly rolled and greased abundantly with butter. Then put 1/6 part of the nut-sugar mixture in the middle. Use a wheel for dough to cut a rectangle measuring 7 by 8 centimeters and pin the corners so that the edges remain open on top.
Put the pies on a baking sheet made with parchment paper, which should be put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and baked until golden brown for fifteen minutes. Pies cool a little and pour honey.
Recipe 3: Puff Apple Pies
Such pies can be cooked at any time of the year, they are extremely tasty, sweet and fragrant
Ingredients: For the dough, you will need 400 grams of sifted flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of citric acid, 180 milliliters of water and 350 grams of softened butter. For the filling you will need 500 grams of ripe apples and 80 grams of sugar.
Method of preparation
4-5 tablespoons of flour mix well with butter. Roll the mixture into a square layer, the thickness of which should not exceed 2 centimeters. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then remove and place on a floured surface. Next you need to make a mixture in the recess into which to pour water, add salt and citric acid. Immediately knead the dough, it should turn out soft and thick. Then you need to roll the dough into a bowl and let it stand for another half hour. After that, roll the ball into the square and put on it the cooled butter and sprinkle with flour. Roll into the bed, one and a half centimeters thick, and again put in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. This process will need to be repeated four more times and each time the dough must be cooled for fifteen minutes.
While the dough is cooling, you should prepare the filling. It is necessary to wash the apples, remove the core from them, peel the skin and cut into small cubes, which are mixed with sugar.
Then you need to make triangular-shaped patties, put them on a greased baking sheet and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for twenty minutes.
Puff pastries - useful tips from experienced chefs
In order for the pies to acquire a beautiful brilliant and ruddy color, it is necessary to lubricate them with a cooled egg, and after baking, put a piece of butter on them. When frying pies in deep fat, you can add a piece of carrot to the oil - this will give them a more beautiful color.
