shortening?? beef dripping??
Ed Kuijpers
scones etc. but now I would like to try a pie, esp. Steak and Kidney
pie. In my recipe it says I need 'beef dripping'. (Yorkshire television
farmhouse cook book). I don't quite understand what that is. Other
recipes mention 'shortening'. There is a site that says that this is any
kind of fat used for baking, like butter, margarine, lard, etcetera. Is
that so? And what kind of fat would be the best for Steak and kidney
pie?
Jet
Alan Boles
drippings in the bottom of the pan,usually the beef gravy is made from
it. Shortening is usually a vegetable oil in solid form such as Crisco
if that helps...
In a steak and kidney pie ...Lard or beef drippings would make the
best tasting pastry. Lard comes from pork , beef drippings come from
beef.
Steak And Kidney Pie
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter - (cold cut into; 1/2
inch cubes)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2-3 tablespoon iced water -; (to 3 tbspns)
5 tablespoon oil
1 lb well-marbled steak; cut into 1 cubes
12 oz trimmed veal kidney (abt 2 kidneys);
cut into 1 cubes
1 salt; to taste
1 freshly-ground black pepper; to taste
10 oz mushrooms; quartered
3 onions; chopped
3 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 cup hot water
1 milk; for brushing pastry
1 sea salt; to taste
1 freshly-cracked black pepper; to taste
Prepare the pastry: In a large bowl, combine flour with butter and
salt.
Mix lightly with your fingertips until butter forms pea-sized pieces.
Whisk
together egg and 1 tablespoon of the water. Add to flour mixture all
at
once, mixing gently with your fingertips. You should be able to see
chunks
of fat, and the pastry should be moist enough to begin to stick
together.
If the pastry is too dry, add up to 2 more tablespoons of water. Turn
the
pastry out onto a lightly-floured work surface, dust with flour, and
knead
it until the pastry is smooth, about 3 to 4 times. Transfer to a
plastic
bag and form pastry into a disk. Refrigerate a minimum of 30 minutes,
or as
long as 3 days. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a
casserole or
Dutch oven. Add the steak and kidneys, season with salt and pepper,
and
cook, stirring, until just browned, about 3 minutes. Remove to a
plate and
reserve. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to casserole, and add mushroom
quarters. Cook over high heat, stirring, until light brown. Reserve
on
plate with meat. Add the remaining oil to the casserole, and add
onions.
Cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the
onions and stir so that the juices soak up the flour. Cook, stirring
constantly, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the Worcestershire sauce into
the
hot water, and pour over the hot onion mixture while whisking. Add
the
reserved meats and mushrooms, and any juices that have collected, and
season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 3 to 4
minutes or until slightly thickened. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out
the pastry to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Fill a 9-inch pie dish with
the
steak and kidney mixture. Dampen the edges of the dish with water,
then fit
the pastry on top, pressing it down well all around the edge to
seal. Make
a steam hole in the center, brush the top with milk and sprinkle
with sea
salt and freshly-cracked black pepper. Bake for 25 minutes, or until
pastry
is golden. This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.
Recipe Source: TOO HOT TAMALES WORLD TOUR with Susan Feniger and Mary
Sue
Ed Kuijpers <ekuy...@casema.net> wrote in message
news:36FBCD92...@casema.net...
Alan Boles
Steak And Kidney Pie
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter - (cold cut into; 1/2
inch cubes)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2-3 tablespoon iced water -; (to 3 tbsp)
5 tablespoon oil
1 lb well-marbled steak; cut into 1 cubes
12 oz trimmed veal kidney (about 2 kidneys);
cut into 1 cubes
1 salt; to taste
1 freshly-ground black pepper; to taste
10 oz mushrooms; quartered
3 onions; chopped
3 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Beef drippings are what is in the bottom of the roaster after you cook
roast beef.
Shortening is usually a manufacturer mix of vegatable oils in a solid
form (butter like consistency)
Beef drippings or lard would make the tastest pastry for Steak and
Kidney Pie
PENMART10
purposes, are both classified as Shortenings, high in cholesterol, but produce
much tastier bakery products than vegetable shortenings.
Sheldon
````````````
On a recent Night Court rerun, Judge Harry Stone had a wonderful line:
"I try to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out."
Jon Kitchin
Suet is the hard fat from around the kidneys and is usually sold as a coarse
granular powder for making suet puddings, suet pastry, forcemeat etc.
I don't think English-style suet is available in the US although one can
sometimes find unprocessed suet that has just been cut off the kidneys.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Jon
____________________________________________________________________________
______
PENMART10 wrote in message <19990326180914...@ngol04.aol.com>...
Gary O.
>Rendered beef fat is suet. Both lard (rendered pork fat) and suet, for baking
>purposes, are both classified as Shortenings, high in cholesterol, but produce
>much tastier bakery products than vegetable shortenings.
Yep. Great stuff. I'm always curious when recipe specifies beef
drippings or whatnot. Often suet or lard would be the ticket.
Occasionally, the recipe specified the drippings for a good reason.
Gary O.
trac...@pacbell.net
Alan Boles
unrendeered beef fat ,sometimes used in bird feeders in the winter...
PENMART10 <penm...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990326180914...@ngol04.aol.com...
> Rendered beef fat is suet. Both lard (rendered pork fat) and suet,
for baking
> purposes, are both classified as Shortenings, high in cholesterol,
but produce
> much tastier bakery products than vegetable shortenings.
>
>
PENMART10
>I thought rendeered beef fat and lamb fat was tallow. And suet was
>unrendeered beef fat ,sometimes used in bird feeders in the winter...
Suet and tallow are somewhat synonymous in a general way in that they're
derived from the same commodity, but technically different. Suet is the hard
white fat derived from about the kidneys and loins of sheep and cattle but in
practice that rule is not so closely adhered to, fats from other areas are
often included, especially in the production of tallow. Generally, to remove
impurities and to lengthen it's utility, suet is rendered (heated, strained of
solids, and allowed to harden) before used in cooking, but not for all
applications (ie, sausage making). Tallow is the same animal fat taken some
steps further, rendered, then boiled with lye and other chemicals to neutralize
much of the animal taste. Among many other products, tallow is used in soaps,
waxes, lubricants, cosmetics, and candles - you'd not use tallow for culinary
purposes.
Lynn K Busby
<il...@cris.com> writes
>At least in the UK, rendered beef fat in general is known as "dripping" .
>Suet is the hard fat from around the kidneys and is usually sold as a coarse
>granular powder for making suet puddings, suet pastry, forcemeat etc.
>
>I don't think English-style suet is available in the US although one can
>sometimes find unprocessed suet that has just been cut off the kidneys.
>
>Correct me if I am wrong.
>
>Jon
>
the butchers. You just grate it to use.
For what it's worth, I use the following for pastry:
Suet pastry .. suet
Flaky pastry.. half lard, half hard margarine
Shortcrust... butter or soft margarine
--
Lynn K Busby
PENMART10
(PENMART10) writes:
>In article <7die6c$rja$1...@remarQ.com>, "Alan Boles" <bo...@127.0.0.1> writes:
>
>>I thought rendeered beef fat and lamb fat was tallow. And suet was
>>unrendeered beef fat ,sometimes used in bird feeders in the winter...
>
>Suet and tallow are somewhat synonymous in a general way in that they're
>derived from the same commodity, but technically different. Suet is the hard
>white fat derived from about the kidneys and loins of sheep and cattle but in
>practice that rule is not so closely adhered to, fats from other areas are
>often included, especially in the production of tallow. Generally, to remove
>impurities and to lengthen it's utility, suet is rendered (heated, strained of
>solids, and allowed to harden) before used in cooking, but not for all
>applications (ie, sausage making). Tallow is the same animal fat taken some
>steps further, rendered, then boiled with lye and other chemicals to
neutralize
>much of the animal taste. Among many other products, tallow is used in
>soaps, waxes, lubricants, cosmetics, and candles - you'd not use tallow for
>culinary purposes.
>
>Sheldon
I aplogize for following up my own post but figure if I add a recipe I may be
excused.
"Suet [SOO-iht] Found in beef, sheep and other animals, suet is the solid white
fat found around the kidneys and loins. Many British recipes call for it to
lend richness to pastries, puddings, stuffings, and mincemeats. Suet was once
widely used to make tallow candles."
from THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
---= SUPERB ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING =---
This pudding is really best when made a year in advance and allowed to mellow.
It was customary to make it early in Advent — the religious season before
Christmas — and use it the following year. Everyone in the family was supposed
to stir the pudding once for good luck. If you can't make it the year before,
at least give it a few weeks to age.
Fruit Mixture (To be made 4 days ahead)
1 pound seedless raisins
1 pound sultana raisins
1/2 pound currants
1 cup thinly sliced citron
1 cup chopped candied peel
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound finely chopped suet - powdery fine
1 1/4 cups cognac
Pudding
1 1/4 pounds (approximately) fresh bread crumbs
1 cup scalded milk
1 cup sherry or port
12 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Cognac
Blend the fruits, citron, peel, spices and suet and place in a bowl or jar. Add
1/4 cup cognac, cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, adding 1/4 cup cognac
each day.
Soak the bread crumbs in milk and sherry or port. Combine the well-beaten eggs
and sugar. Blend with the fruit mixture. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Put the
pudding in buttered bowls or tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Cover with foil
and tie it firmly. Steam for 6-7 hours. Uncover and place in a 250°F. oven for
30 minutes. Add a dash of cognac to each pudding, cover with foil and keep in a
cool place.
To use, steam again for 2-3 hours and unmold. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated
cognac. Ignite and bring to the table. Serve with hard sauce or cognac sauce.
Each pudding serves 12.
House & Garden
December 1963
James A. Beard
```` ```` ```` ````
Don Wiss
>Suet is the hard fat from around the kidneys
Correct.
>and is usually sold as a coarse
>granular powder for making suet puddings, suet pastry, forcemeat etc.
I have not seen it for sale this way in the US.
>I don't think English-style suet is available in the US although one can
>sometimes find unprocessed suet that has just been cut off the kidneys.
What I have seen in the US is 1 pound packages sold like a brick of butter.
But it isn't pure suet. It is suet and partially hydrogenated suet. Yuck.
Don (donwiss at panix com).