Pastry appeal not lost when frozen

Barbara
NMcGreadie

BUDGET BEATERS

1 ADMIRE cooks who pre-
pare fancy pastries from
scratch. if they still exist,
that is. 1 can’t imagine any-
one but a professional baker
bothering with the stretching
and fiddling that phylle
requires. Puif pastry can be
made at home but why both-
er? The frozen stuff is excel-
lent and quite cheap.

Puff pastry can be a wonderful

secret weapon. Use it occasionaily

_and everyone thinks you're one hot-
shot cook — even though the pastry
squares contain nothing more exot-
ic than ham and cheese.

But, unless you don’t mind out-
growing your wardrobe, don’t do it
too often.

When I want to disguise plain
old stew, I pour it into a baking dish
and top it with fancy squares of
pastry. It bakes crisp and fluffy in
about 35 minutes.

You-can buy the pastry in flat
pieces, usually two to a package,
and roll them cut. Or, you can buy
various sizes of “cups” — tiny ones

for finger food, larger for main
dishes. When you remove the lids
after baking, and the unbaked fila-
ments inside, return the filaments to
the oven for a few minutes and
they'll puff and brown too.

For company meals, nothing
beats the glamor of a pastry
wrapped entrée. It makes you look
so creative but we know the truth
— it’s dead easy.

Seimon Filets in Pastry

You'll need two filets, about 10
inches long and 1!4-inch from the
same fish so they match. Go toa
fish shop for these — you don't
want the narrow tail pieces — the
salmon should be the same width
and thickness throughout and
skinned.

2 salmon filets, about 2% Ib. total

1 orange, grated rind and juice

cracked pepper

1 Tbsp. fresh dili or 2 tsp. dry

i package (2 sheets) frozen puff
pastry

Filling: 1 package frozen
chopped spinach, thawed and
drained

4 oz. German Butter cheese

sait and pepper

1 Tbsp. butter

1 bunch green onions, finely
chop)

% ib. cooked shrimpmeat

1 egg, beaten

Seal the fillets in a zip-loc bag
witli the orange juice, dill and pep-
per. Refrigerate several hours. Set
aside the rind to use in the filling.
Thaw pastry. Roll one sheet out and
cut out an even rectangle an inch
larger than the fish on all sides.
Place pastry on a baking sheet and
bake at 400° about 15 minutes or
until golden brown and cooked
through. Set aside. Roi! out the
other sheet of pastry avout 3” larger
in all directions. Cover so it won't

dry out. Save all the trimmings.
Prepare the filling —- add orange
rind to spinach, cheese and season.
Cook the onion in the butter until
limp. Stir in the shrimp and egg.
Place one drained filet on
cooked pastry. Top with filling, not
quite to the edges. Lay the remain-

66 When I want to
disguise plain old
stew, { pour it into
a baking dish and
top it with fancy
squares of pastry. 99

ing salmon piece over filling. Lay
the uncooked pastry evenly over
salmon like a tent. Cut out the cor-
ners so you can “box” the pastry
over the salmon in an even layer.
Seal the edges with cold water and
a firm pinch. Press the uncooked
pastry to the baked slab the same
way, only be gentle so you seal but
don’t crumble the base.

Roll out the pastry trimmings
and decorate the top of the loaf.
Brush all exposed surfaces with
another beaten egg. Bake at 400°,
40 minutes. Do not prepare this
more than an hour before baking
but you can do all the preparations
—— marinate the salmon, mix filling
and roll pastry (cook bottom layer).
Cover rolled pastry with waxed
paper. then foil, then a damp towel.

Multi-purpose blueberries
more than just for the birds

From page 49

Our cultivated berries are much
larger and very sweet to the taste.
And we are not the only ones who
appreciate this lush summer treat.
Birds come from as far as Europe
and South America to enjoy our
local blueberries. in fact, they con-
sume some 15% of the total crop!
In fact, this year, our feathered
friends enjoved some $3,300,000
worth! No wonder they choose the
Lower Mainland as a favored vaca-
tion spot.

This week — watch the local
flyers and scan your supermarket
section for a final shopping trip wo
load up on these blue delights. Ask
your iavorite produce man to save
you a flat or two.

Load up on berries and freeze
them ia small lots in airtight plastic
freezer bags to use all winter long.
Blueberries are one fruit that is
ideal for freezing. No need to
defrost either — just pop, straight
irom the freezer, into your favorite
pancake, waffle, cake or muffin
batter.

The great folks at the enthusias-
tic B.C. Blueberry Council sent
these recipes to me last week, along
with a jar of the unique Blueberry
Salsa (which was terrific alongside
our grilled salmon filets last night).

Here’s to some berry, berry
good eating! Enjoy.

A bit about blueberries
Fresh blueberries add color and
flavor to your fruit, tossed green or
gelatin salads.
 Blucberries are great toppers for
hot and cold cereals, ice cream,
cheesecake, puddings and short-
cakes.

@ Add blucberries to your favorite
oatmeal cookie recipe —- just
remember to fold in gently.

B Toss | cup fresh or frozen blue-
berries with | spoonful of flour
before adding to cake or muffin
batters. This tip helps keep them
suspended in the finished product,
and prevents sinking or streaking.

@ When using frozen blueberries
for pies, extend the cooking time by
10-15 minutes.

% Frozen berries work best in bat-
ters or doughs. Baking time may
increase by 5-10 minutes.

See Blueberries page 31

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If you pop this in the oven just
as your guests arrive it will allow
time for you to serve drinks and
your first course. [t cuts better if
you fet it stand five minutes before
cutting.

Entertaining is a Jot easier when
you don’t have a dozen last-minute
chores. For example, with the
Salmon Filets, serve foods that can
be made ahead such as a cold soup,
a green salad, a rice or potato dish
that can bake alongside and a
dessert you can make the previous
day.

eee

Until my first visit to Italy
(seems like 100 years ago), pasta
was spaghetti with meat sauce or
taacaroni casserole. Then I tasted
Spaghetti Carbonara! Any connec-
tion between this and Canadian
spaghetti is slight. In Italy it is
served in small quantities as a first
course and often prepared in a chaf-
ing dish at the table.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
Don't be concemed about the

raw eges — the hot pasta cooks

them.

1 medium onion, diced

1 gartic clove (or more) minced

1 Tbsp. olive oit

4% Ib. lean bacon, cooked crisp and
well drained

3 eggs

4c. whipping cream

4 ¢. grated parmesan cheese

“% c. Chopped parsiey

8 oz. dried spaghetti (the fresh
spaghetti is toa soft)

Many recipes fer Spaghetti
Carbonara omit the onion and gar-
lic. Suit yourself. If using. cook the
onion and garlic gently in the oil

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until limp but don't brown it. Beat
the eggs with the cream, Everything
can be assembled ahead of time —
if you intend to do table presenta-
tion, have the ingredients (except
the spaghetti) ready to go, in attrac-
tive small bowls. Cook the spaghet-
ti al dente. Transfer toa chafing
dish or return to the pot over low
heat. Toss the spaghetti with the
onion-garlic mix, then the bacon
(crumbled), the egg mixture and
finally the cheese and parsley. To
serve, grind pepper over. This is
enough for six appetizer 50) rvings,
for side-dish servings or 2-3 main
dish sized for pasta ‘overs.

I like rice any way at all -— and
any kind of rice. Even some of the .
commercial rice mixes are quite
good, if expensive. Here's a simple
rice combo you may enjoy, espe-
cially with fish.

LEMON-MINT RICE

1c. regular rice, not instant

2 ¢. chicken roth (from granules
or reconstituted tinned)

1 Tbsp. grated feraon zest (just
the yellow part of peel)

2 Thsp. fresh mint, chopped (and
extra leaves for top)

Cook the rice, covered, over low
heat 15 minutes or until tender and
all the liquid is absorbed.

Toss with lemon zest and mint.
If you like, stir in a bit of grated
carrot, especially if your main dish
is light colored (sole?). This is very
good with shish kebabs, Greek
salad and pita, too.

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