Steak and Pesto Pinwheel Bread

I do believe I have already established my love of the Great British Bake Off and so once again we return to a show inspired dishes.  During Season 5, Richard made a Pesto Pinwheel Bread that, according to the judges, looked and tasted quite good.  The look of it is in fact rather intimidating but, I decided I was up for the challenge. 

However, I wanted something a bit heartier than Richard's original recipe.  I wanted something that I felt confident I could just tear off a couple twists, take to work for lunch, and feel completely satisfied.  This is why my version is made with steak.  This bread can be made with anything though.  Pick a few items that entice your own taste buds and make a great party appetizer or fun lunch item for the week.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 lb 2 oz white flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 oz superfine sugar
10g quick-rise yeast
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 eggs - beaten
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. warm water
olive oil for greasing

Filling:

1 lb stew beef - quarter each cube
1 red onion - quartered and sliced
1 red bell pepper - sliced
5 Tbsp pesto
olive oil for drizzling
1 egg - for egg wash

Directions:

The night before, marinate stew beef in 2 Tbsp pesto.

For the dough:

Put the flour, salt, yeast, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, and 1/8 c. of warm water in your stand mixer.  Using a bread hook, mix until just combined.  Add 1/8 to 1/4 c. of warm water and mix again.  Continue adding portions of the water and mixing until you have a soft dough. 

Turn out the down onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead for approximately 10 minutes.  You want the dough to be smooth and elastic.  Put the dough into a greased bowl and let rise for one hour.

The vegetables:

Preheat oven to 325F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper - one for onions and the other for bell pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 15 minutes.

Putting it all together:

Turn out the risen dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for 20 seconds.  Split the dough in half, set aside one portion.

Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of approximately 12 inches.  Let rest for 5 minutes and then roll again to diameter of 13 inches.  Place on a pizza tray.

Spread remaining pesto onto the bread then layer with beef, onions, and peppers.

Repeat the above rolling instructions for the top layer.

Wet edges of bottom layer with water then lay down the top layer and join together.

Place a small bowl in the center of the pinwheel and cut 16 equally sized striped coming out from the bowl.

Twist each strip twice.

Set aside to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Brush the top of the pinwheel with a beaten egg.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

The dough is a bit on the sweeter side, which surprised me at first but I really like.  Don't worry about the sturdiness of the twists, I have not had a problem with the filling falling out once they are ripped off the pinwheel.  It should turn out to be a sturdy bread and it can handle heavy fillings.  Finally, if you cannot find superfine sugar, do not despair.  Use a blender or coffee grinder to turn granulated sugar superfine.  Just a couple of pulses should do the trick.

I wish you the best on your own pinwheel experiment!

My Great British Bake Off Obsession

Thanks to PBS I recently discovered the greatness that is The Great British Bake Off.  I watch it before Downton Abbey on Sunday nights and I binge watch old episodes and clips on Youtube.  Oh, Youtube, you destroyer of all my evening plans! So, it's really GBBO that we all have to thank for my return to blogging and this time blogging about food.  I watch the show and all I want to do is recreate the dishes they make.

Sadly, PBS Food does not have every GBBO recipe however, it has some, including the recipe from Season 5 for Kate's plum, apple, and rhubarb pork pies.  Now, when you go grocery shopping on January 30th in New England it is unlikely that you will find rhubarb.  So we are already wading into the world of recipe adjusting.  Add that to not finding boned pork shoulder (no, I had no desire to spend an hour cutting around a bone, I'm too lazy for that) and wanting to get rid of the puff pastry in my freezer versus making hot water crust pastry and you have a not even remotely like Kate's pie result.  However, I don't care.  Why?  Because I am making a recipe inspired by Kate so I have decided it counts.  And, I have never made a meat pie so I get that added challenge element to the whole deal.

So, welcome to my Fruit and Pork Pie Concoction

Ingredients

Oven preheated to 400F
9" pie dish
1 gala apple - peeled, cored, diced
6 pitted prunes - chopped
1 1/2 oz superfine sugar
1 lb ground pork
2 strips bacon - chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1 sprig fresh thyme - leaves picked and chopped
1 sage leaf - chopped
1 bay leaf - chopped
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt
2 sheets puff pastry

Because I couldn't find superfine sugar I used regular granulated sugar that I then put into my coffee grinder.  You don't want confectioners so be mindful not to grind the sugar for more than a pulse or two.  I am also a prep first cook second person, so all my ingredients were measured out and ready to go before I moved over to the stove.

In a sauté pan over medium heat cook apples, prunes, and sugar.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.  You want all the excess liquid evaporated.  (For those of you who watch GBBO, you know Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood's utter distaste for soggy bottoms!)  Set aside in bowl to cool.

Now, on to the meat.  Cook the bacon first then just before desired crispness add the ground pork to brown.  Just before that is done add the spices.  Mix to just incorporated, drain excess liquid, then add to fruit mixture.  Squish the two mixtures together then transfer to prepped pie plate.

The pie plate:

Grease and flour a 9" pie dish.  Roll out thawed puff pastry on floured surface and roll to appropriate size.  Transfer to pie dish.  Check for holes and cracks.

Once the mixture is in the pie dish, roll out the second pastry sheet.  Brush with egg wash and place on top of pie. Crimp edges together.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown, in 400F oven.

The prunes give the mixture a nice burst of sweetness.  The ground mace gives a really good flavor to the meat, but be careful.  Too much and it will take over the dish and not in a good way.

All in all, a successful foray into the world of meat pies!