i feel really stupid but those pastry looking things up above... what were they? and is there a recipe?
serena
:salam2:
They are "Carelian pastries" filled by mashed potatoes, traditional in Finland.
pasty dough:
500 ml fine rye flour *)
½ tsp salt
150 - 200 ml water
(1 - 2 tbsp turnip rape oil)
filling:
about 700 g potatoes, peeled
50 - 100 ml potatoes' cooking liquid
50 - 75 ml cream
2 eggs
lump of butter
pinch of salt
for brushing:
whole milk
lump of butter
Cook the potatoes in water until tender. Reserve the liquid. Puree the potatoes through a food mill and let cool a bit. Add the eggs and enough cooking liquid and cream to get a smooth mixture. The amount of liquid depends on the quality of the potatoes — the filling must not be too runny. Add a lump of butter and mix. Season with salt, cover and set aside to cool.
Prepare the pasty dough: mix the flour and salt, add the oil and water little at a time and mix to get a firm, non-sticky dough. Divide the dough in 15 - 20 equal-size pieces and roll them into small balls. With a tapered rolling pin, roll out the flattened balls one at a time into very thin disks, about 1 mm thick and 10 - 15 cm in diameter. (You could also try to use a pasta machine for rolling.) Cover the pie disks lightly with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
Spread about ½ cm thick layer of the potato filling evenly in the centre of the pie disks, see figure 1 below. Note: the filling must not be too runny, it should hold its shape when spread on the pie disks.
Raise the edges of the pie disks over the filling towards the centre, pinching the edges with your fingers (see figure 2) to make the pasty look like shown in figure 3.
Place the pasties on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 255 - 300 °C for about 5 - 7 minutes or until brown specks start to appear on their surface.
Meanwhile, heat about 150 ml whole milk in a saucepan, add a big lump of butter and let it melt. Using tongs or spatula, dip the piping hot pasties one at a time in the hot milk-butter mixture and place them in a large, shallow bowl or a plate, preferably in one layer. Cover the bowl tightly with parchment paper and a towel, and let the pasties soften for about half an hour.
Serve the warm pasties spread with butter. They may also be served with various savoury toppings, cheese, etc. Pasties can be reheated in oven or a toaster.
*) Use rye flour milled from partly hulled rye kernels, which has a finer texture and lighter colour than regular rye flour. If this flour is unavailable, use half regular rye flour and half wheat flour.
