Baby, it’s cold outside!
So what better time than to indulge in pies and puds? However, as always I take some shortcuts – but not to sacrifice flavour and authenticity. As always it was soooooooooooooo hard to choose which recipes I could show – and then I had to find simpler ways of doing things, or find a twist. I am such a proud Australian, I had to do a beef and red wine pie. Here I used a classic French technique of reducing red wine and Australian muscat to marinate my beef. Forget using anything too cheap and cheerful – when you are taking so much care only use the quality of wine you would want to drink. This also makes matching the food to your wine much easier! I chose a Nepenthe Gate Block Shiraz and a 20 year old Yaldara Muscat* to marinate the pie filling with which gave a fantastic depth of flavour.
I then took a short cut by using butter puff pastry for a much easier, but amazingly flavoursome, pie crust. Certainly the outcome pleased my dinner guests at the end of the show! I also use one of my favourite extra virgin olive oil tricks when making this pie – when cooking with butter over high heat (I was cooking vegies), I add a drizzle of EVOO to stop it from burning. That way you get great flavour without the butter burning.
Now, I know everyone is not comfortable making pastry, so I had to show a wonderful olive oil pastry – using Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, of course – which is foolproof even for the novice baker. No machines, no difficult techniques, just mix olive oil, water, wholemeal flour and salt in a bowl and push it into a freeform pie shell. That is quite apart from the health benefits and advantages of using local product – with an added bonus of being egg free. Given olive oil’s origin in the Mediterranean, I used this base for a pie full of sweet vegetables and just melting cheese which will please carnivores and vegetarians alike.
It’s not all savoury food though so in the theme of this episode I had to make a warm, gooey delicious banana caramel sticky pudding. There is something appealing about the old-fashioned self-saucing pudding. I am still amazed at how gently pouring boiling water over this puddings makes the sauce!
But as with every episode, I go out and about. I have long been a fan of the work TAFE does in educating so many in our community. So I was thrilled to visit Hervé Boutin, an acclaimed patissier whom I have known since his days as the pastry chef at the restaurant in the Hotel Nikko in Potts Point. Fast forward and there he is fronting up the brand new Australian Patisserie Academy at the Northern Institute of TAFE in North Ryde, to meet some of the bakers of the future. The best thing is that this academy offers everything from one off classes, to short courses, to long professional courses for everyone from the novice to the career-seeker.
Much as I am the choux pastry queen (yes, that is one of my specialities), Hervé still had a few tips to share with me which will make them even easier to make – but you’ll have to watch to find out what!
As always, I share a few of my secrets along the way – including the most important, the how-tos of blind baking to ensure crisp bases.
Happy Baking!
*Yaldara Muscat available from Chateau Yaldara Cellar door. ph: +61 (0)8 8524 0225 email: barossa@mcguiganwines.com.au
Hi i was wondering where I might be able to find the recipe for the Banana and Caramel Sticky Pudding as seen on your program
thanks it sounds lovely
Hi Carolyn
Thank you for your comment! You can find the recipe for the Banana & Caramel sticky pudding by clicking here! Thanks for watching the show, we hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
Hi – can you please give me your recipe for your free form vegetable tart you made in this episode. thanks
Hi Karen, thank you for your comment – you can find the recipe here. Thanks for watching Baking Secrets!
Hi there, love watching your show!! Was trying to find the beef and red wine pies you made on one if the episodes? Thank you 🙂
Hi Kerri, thank you for your lovely comment! You can find the recipe for the Beef and Red Wine Pies by clicking here. Enjoy! x
Hi, absolutely loved the show!
I really want to make the beef and red wine pies that Lyndey made but I have often heard people say not to cook with a wine that you would not enjoy drinking, problem is that we are not wine drinkers at all, so I don’t have an idea of what to buy, can you please advise me on this?
Thanks *_*
Hi Karin! Thank you for your comment. You are correct – it is always best to use a wine you would rather drink when you cook with it to get the best result. In the episode “Pies and Puds”, Lyndey used a Nepenthe Gate Block Shiraz and a 20 year old Yaldara Muscat to marinate her pie filling on the show. The Yaldara Muscat is available from Chateau Yaldara Cellar Door and their phone number and email is: +61 (0)8 8524 0225 email:barossa@mcguiganwines.com.au
You can purchase the Nepenthe Gate Block Shiraz online by clicking here : http://www.nepenthe.com.au/go/online-shop The 2010 Gate Block Shiraz goes for about $36.00 per bottle.
I hope this helps – and happy pie making!
Hello, I truly enjoy watching your show, you are so informative and your recipes are different however achievable. Thank you.
Hi Anna, thank you for your lovely comment and for watching the show, we are glad you enjoy it!
Hi , could you tell me how I can fine the recipes that was on your tv show on the 18 August please. Regards Marlaine Coutts
All recipes are on my website http://www.lyndeymilan.com. Just search by name. Also, you might like to register to receive my weekly update which I send out most weeks full of what’s in season, recipes, what’s on, interesting reading and much more. Thanks for your interest.