Suet Pastry Dough

 Oh, my god. Did I just make Hot Pockets? That's crazy. I don't think I've ever even had one. I just remember that comedian saying "Hot Pockets" in a high voice and it made me laugh. Well, Hot Pockets weren't the original idea. They were born of pasties (not the ones for nipples, people!). Little pockets of pastry filled with savory goodies, like meat and cheese. I think most cultures have them. In this instance it was ham and monterey jack cheese. And the pastry dough? Made from grass-fed local suet, baby. Yes, it's not just for tallow anymore, folks! Actually, it never was, but that's besides the point.

I'm super excited about this because I haven't had or made such an incredibly tasty pastry dough in a long time. Or maybe since I made pop tarts...Anyway, when I went in on a split of a steer I was offered some suet and not one to turn down anything free and vaguely edible, I accepted. It took me a while to get to it, but it all came together the other day.

I based my recipe on the Beyond Nose to Tail cookbook and this recipe from Epicurious. The dough was very dry and crumbly, maybe because I used the suet straight from the freezer. To prepare the suet, which by the way, is the thick, hard fat that surrounds the kidneys of a cow, I picked through it and removed what little bits of meat I could find. Then I put it in the food processor and pulsed it to a consistency like coarse cornmeal.

Suet Pastry Dough

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of cold, finely chopped beef suet (I used a little extra)

1/4 to 1/2 cup of cold water

Combine all the ingredients, holding the water. Then, add the water 1/4 cup at a time, slowly, until you get the desired pastry dough consistency. After the dough is formed, let it sit, covered in wax paper, in the fridge for up to two hours. Let it come to room temperature before rolling.

My dough was very tough to work. It isn't, in my limited experience with suet pastry dough, very elastic dough. I used a large circular lid I had to press out circles. I didn't roll them very thin. I filled them with chopped ham and grated cheese---about 2 cups of ham mixed with a cup of cheese. I didn't add anything else! Bake these in a 375 degree oven for about thirty minutes, until light golden brown. They were stellar right out of the oven. This recipe made eight large pastries that will probably disappear by the next morning.

Roasted Ramp Stuffed Trout with Asparagus Salad

I keep this blog as a food journal so I remember what I did, but there are some things that just happen and probably won't again. I subscribe to the haphazard "what do I have on hand" way of cooking. This whole trout stuffed with a few ramps, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon was roasted for twenty minutes in a 375 degree oven. The salad was fresh, local asparagus shaved thin, tossed with fava beans, garden radishes and chives, olive oil, pepper and ume vinegar. Topped with some local chevre and more olive oil. Goodness!

Grilled Cheese, Potato Nik, and Cabbage, Leek and Blue Cheese Slaw

It was a rainy Halloween yesterday, and we ate some super soft grilled cheese sandwiches with Emmentaler on potato bread. What can be better than a grilled cheese sandwich? Sad to say I eat way too many of them. Alongside I had some sauteed cabbage, the healthiest vegetable on the planet, they say. Good for me! you say. Well, not entirely. Said cabbage was a leftover from the night before. We had Potato Nik (essentially a large potato pancake, recipe from Mark Bittman from his minimalist column in the Times, which I have always enjoyed) with this hot cabbage slaw of my own invention. What was deleterious about the "healthy" slaw was that, in actuality, it was coated in a nice, thick cheese sauce. Blue cheese sauce, to be exact. So, I had a grilled cheese with a side of vegetables smothered in cheese. Sad, really. At least it didn't have two sticks of butter like that cabbage strudel I was going to make...

Two leeks, cleaned and sliced

Half of a large cabbage, cored and sliced thin

Saute in olive oil until cabbage wilts. Salt and pepper. A copious handful of crumbled blue cheese. Toss until cheese melts and it looks gooey and delicious enough to eat.

Big, Fat Quesadillas

I never understood the quesadilla thing. When at restaurants, I always suspected a scam. At home, the only reason I ever ate them was because it was the only thing left in the fridge: cheese and tortillas. I would always opt for a grilled cheese if bread was around. But, in the interest of ease and speed, I have succumbed to them and find them quite satisfying and versatile. We've had this for dinner a few times and it always revolves around what might be in the fridge. The other day it was chicken, avocado, and tomatoes. Mmm. Big crispy tortilla holding cheesy goodness inside. What was my problem years back when I would sniff at a quesadilla?

I sauteed garlic in olive oil, added a few ripe tomatoes in chunks, let it simmer a bit, Added one shredded, poached chicken breast, salt, pepper, 1 tsp of curry powder (yes!) and a sprinkle of turmeric (try to get it in when I can; they say it's so good for you). I placed a tortilla in an oiled cast iron pan, sprinkled some cheddar cheese on one side, topped with some filling mixture (drained of juice) and folded the tortilla, placing another, smaller pan on top to apply pressure. After a few minutes I flipped it, let it cook for a few more minutes, and voila, dinner is served. I topped it with a dollop of full-fat yogurt, avocado slices, and poured a bit of the sauce left in the tomato pan around the sides of the tortilla.