If I had to choose between savoury or sweet, savoury would win hands down every time! What about you? Moving into some savoury baking is very welcome and in this lesson we made, Salmon and Cherry Tomato mini Quiche, Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pies and Apple Jalousie Tart.
There is a lot of resting time with pastry, but there was more than enough to do whilst the pastry ‘relaxed’ in the fridge. Puff pastry takes the longest to make and is a labour of love, which pays off if your pastry turns out buttery and flakey… which I’m pleased to report mine did. There is a lot of pinning, (aka rolling), and folding which creates the lovely layers you are looking for. I’ve made Puff from scratch a few times but have never used ‘sheet butter’ before, using this means you don’t have to bash the cold butter to the required shape…what a good idea. Once the base ‘Puff Paste” has rested, it is pinned to what should be a cross shape, the butter is placed in the middle and the four edges folded in, pinned and ‘turned’. For this pastry we did 5 ‘turns’; 1st roll x 2 turns then rest, 2nd roll x 2 turns then rest, 3rd roll x 1 turn then rest. After the final resting period the pasty should have nice lamination & is good to go.
Cross ‘like’ 
Butter Added 
Almost a ‘turn’
Making Shortcrust Pastry is much more straight forward and the quality points are; don’t over-mix once the flour is added or it will get tough, don’t over handle or it will get tough, use your finger-tips only as your hands are warm and will heat the pastry, roll/pin the pastry in different directions to reduce shrinkage, keep a well floured board when working with the pastry so it doesn’t stick, be fast and finally, rest the pastry sufficiently after each roll. A good little cheat to speed things up is to grate the cold butter into the flour ( I love these little tricks). Look at the difference in colour of the Puff Paste, before the butter is added to the shortcrust which has the butter added….
The Shortcrust pastry was used for the base of the pies and the mini quiche, whilst the Puff was used for the tops of the pies and the Apple Jalousie. The mini quiches were easy. The tart tins were docked to assist in cooking the base, the pastry was rolled to 3mm and cut to size and moulded carefully in the tart tins before distributing the salmon, dill and tomatoes amongst them. The quiche mixture, (eggs, cream, a pinch of cayenne and seasoning), was added to 3/4 full and a final flourish of grated cheese was added before popping in the oven to bake at 175C for 30 – 35 minutes, or until light brown.
The Chicken and Leek Pies were very tasty and the quality points are; ensure the pie filling, (chicken thighs, leek, mushroom, garlic, seed mustard, chicken stock, flour, sour cream, tarragon and seasoning) is cold when it goes into the chilled tart cases and don’t overfill them, spray and dock the tart tins but not the pastry itself, ensure the puff pastry tops are cut slightly larger than the bases and make incision on top after egg washing to allow steam to escape. The bases were not blind baked before filling, topping and baking at 175C for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden.
Mise en place 
Chilled pie filling
Filled Pies 
Ready to bake
Crisp and brown 
No soggy bottoms
The final task was to make the Apple Jalousie Tart. In French, the word Jalousie can either mean jealousy or shutters and the tart borrows its name from the second as, usually, the top is slashed with horizontal lines which when baked resemble shutters. Ours did not have this particular decorative finish, but looked lovely just the same. The pastry was pinned to 4mm thick and the bottom docked before piping frangipane (almond cream) down the middle and covering with thin slices of Granny Smith apple and the edges egg washed. The slightly larger top was put on and sealed before making the slashes and crimping the edges. The top was egg washed and the tart was baked in a hot oven for 12- 15 minutes.
Cut the Puff Pastry 
Pipe the frangipane down the middle 
Cover with sliced apple 
Seal and egg wash
The next class is all bread, it’s yeasted bread and not the kind I usually make at home, which is sourdough using my sourdough starter, but nonetheless a process with which I am very familiar. I hope you come back to see the last lesson in this block. Until then….
Bon Appetit
Kathryn 💙👩🍳
Apple Jalousie Tart
This is very easy but impressive looking tart, particularly if you use a good quality shop bought Puff Pastry. All you need is some frangipane (almond cream) and a few uncooked Granny Smith Apples…can’t get easier than that. Once made, a sprinkling of icing/confectioners sugar finishes the tart nicely.
- 50 gm Caster sugar
- 50 gm Butter, unsalted
- 50 gm Almond meal
- 1 Egg
- 10 gm Plain flour
- .25 Lemon zest, of a lemon
- 2 Apples, Granny Smith
- 1 Egg
- 50 ml Milk
- Water, dash
- Icing sugar to dust
Make the frangipane:
Beat the caster sugar, softened butter and grated lemon zest until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and almond meal until just combined and place in a piping bag.
Prepare the Apples:
Peel core cut in half and slice apple into thin slices
Prepare the pastry:
Roll out to approximately 4mm thick. Cut 2 strips, 1 at @ 10 cm wide (bottom) and the other @ 11cm wide (top).
Dock the base only and pipe the frangipane down the middle – don’t pipe too much.
Place the sliced apples atop the frangipane.
Egg wash the sides, top with the other strip, seal, crimp, make slashes across the top and egg wash.
Bake in hot oven (200C) for 12 – 15 mins.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
oh yum how delicious do those pies look! the chicken ones look divine. i really like savoury dishes myself so these would go down a treat. isn’t pastry a wonderful thing to make? i didn’t know you could get sheet butter – how clever…. cheers sherry
Hi Sherry…. yes I agree, pastry is wonderful to make and, if you follow a few rules/quality points, relatively straight forward…just takes a bit of time. Thanks for stopping by 😊
Puff pastry, salmon and tomato quiches, a chicken, mushroom and leek pie and then an Apple Jalousie Tart all in one cook. Very impressive Kathryn. I’ve not made puff pastry so that section was very interesting. I’m a savory guy myself, but that Apple Jalousie Tart looks very tempting. Well done.
Hi Ron, yes it was a busy but fun class. All the items were pretty straight forward and good shop bought pastry would make them even easier! Thanks for your continued interest and support.
My goodness! Everything you made is just stunning!
Hi Mimi – thanks so much Chef! It was a very fun class, and noisey at times with 10 students bashing the puff to start with 😊
These all look really beautiful Kathryn! I’ve only made puff pastry once, and one of the things I disliked was the bashing of the butter, it was difficult to get it even and I was afraid the butter was getting too soft. It was a tedious process, and I’m afraid that even though my dough came out really well, I didn’t make it again! I think the sheet butter technique might change my mind. With this dough, i love imagining how it will look once it has its time in the oven, and it is fun to play with even if I cheat and buy a frozen package.
Thank you Dorothy – I know what you mean about trying to get the right shape with bashing out the butter, the sheet butter is a game changer for sure! Having said that, we have a particularly good frozen brand in Australia, so I’d have to be particularly motivated to make it at home….would need to be a special occasion.
Huh, I had no idea that sheet butter even existed! I’m loving all the culinary secrets you impart as you learn them from your classes. Your quiches and your tart look scrumptious…off to find a savory pie to taste now.
Yes….it was definitely a revelation for me. I love the little tips that the chefs impart…I am continually scribbling their words of wisdom down on my recipes… between that and taking photo’s it makes for a busy time 😆
I think I’m sweet and savory. I adore both. I remember when I first learned how many layers of better puff pastry had – over a thousand, right? By the time do all of the folds, rolls, etc. I was astonished, but give the final results of the buttery, flaky dough, it makes sense. Yours looks like it turned out perfectly — that Apple Jalousie Tart is truly spectacular. Lovely all around. Breads will be fun, too, I’m sure. 🙂
Thanks Valentina.. I appreciate your comment. I think the hardest aspect of the class was not tasting any of products – I am supporting my husband on a low carb eating plan at the moment (which appears to be working for him) so I didn’t want to cheat.😳
Everything looks wonderful and even though I like savory over sweet, the Apple Jalousie Tart would be very hard to resist.
Thanks Karen…it was a special class that’s for sure…. I LOVE pastry but having recently started a low-carb diet it’s currently a no-go zone.