The new Albatross recipe book

4, When making pastry, use as little flour as possible on the pastry board. Remember that the flour on the board will be rolled into the pastry thus reducing the proportion of fat used. Roll with short sharp strokes and let the "away" stroke be the one that rolls the pastry thin. Heavy rolling makes a pastry that shrinks when it bakes. If you wet the edge of the rim on which the pastry is laid, it will help to prevent shrinkage. 5. Short pastry needs a hot oven. The more fat that is used, the hotter the oven should be. SUET PASTRY Use this for meat, fish and sweet puddings. 1. Allow from 2 to 4 oz. suet (beef for preference) to 8 oz. Albatross Self-Raising Flour, a pinch of salt and water to mix. 2. Chop or grate the suet as fine as possible. Add it to the flour mixture with a little more water than you use for short pastry, as suet pastry should be a little more moist. PUFF PASTRY 4 lb. Albatross Self-Raising Pinch of salt Flour 4 Ib. butter 4 teaspoon lemon juice Cold water First wash the butter in cold water by placing it in a basin under the running tap. Work the butter in the water, creaming it, so that any salt and buttermilk are worked out. Place it then on a floured cloth and work out any moisture. Next, mix the sifted flour and salt in a basin, add the lemon juice and enough water to make a not too soft dough. (Some pastry cooks first work about a half ounce of the butter into the dry ingredients before making the dough as it is said to make softer flakes). Knead the dough well and roll out into an oblong. Place the butter in the centre, shaped to conform but with a margin of dough all around. Now turn the two ends of pastry over the butter and press the edges all around with the rolling pin. Give the pastry a half turn, press the pastry three times in a row to trap and enclose the air and roll it out to about 10 inches, press and roll out again and leave it to rest for 15-20 minutes. Repeat this folding and rolling, until you have rolled it and turned it seven times in all, allowing it to stand for 15-20 minutes after each two turns. Then cover and leave it for a few hours before using. ROUGH PUFF PASTRY Rough Puff Pastry is just what its name implies, a rough imitation of the Puff Pastry. It is useful for meat pies, mince pies, vanilla slices and for any of the uses to which you put the real thing. 8 oz. Albatross Self-Raising Pinch of salt Flour 6 oz. butter or butter and 4 teaspoon lemon juice lard mixed Cold water to mix Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, cut the fat into walnut sized pieces direct into the flour bowl. Add water and lemon juice to make a soft but not too wet pastry. Work into a pliable dough with as little handling as possible, turn it on to a board and roll out into a strip, sprinkling it with a little flour. Fold in three and press the edges together, again press down with the rolling-pin to trap and hold the air. T Give the paste a half turn and roll out. Repeat this rolling and turning four times, resting the pastry, after every other rolling, in a cool place for 10-15 minutes. If possible, allow to rest for an hour or so after it has been made. Note.—All pastry should be kept as cool as possible during its making and until it is used. MEAT PIE 4 lb. puff or rough puff pastry 14-14 Ib. cut up steak or ox (see page 7) cheek 1 teaspoon salt Pepper to taste 1 tablespoon flour and gravy powder (mixed) Cut the meat into suitable pieces. Cover with water and simmer gently for 2} hours, adding the salt and pepper after 1 hour. Thicken with the flour and gravy powder, blended in a little water. Simmer for a few minutes. Turn into a pie-dish, place funnel in position and leave to become cold.