Jerry MacKenzie's Time-Traveling Pasties

Hello Lovelies! 

The Outlander Kitchen Cookbook: To the New World and Back Again has some truly wonderful recipes that I wanted to try out. First being the Time-Traveling Pasties! Filled with chicken, turnip and potatoes they seemed like the perfect little treat.

Starting with the dough I mixed 2tsp of salt and 4 cups of flour together, creating a 'well' in the center. Then I poured in 3/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup warm water and an egg into that 'well'. Mixing by hand I carefully transformed the contents into a thick dough, ready to be kneaded!

For some reason dough always seems complicated to me, but this didn't take any time at all. After I kneaded the dough into a smoother ball, I wrapped it in plastic and placed in the fridge to chill out for about an hour. 

While waiting for the dough, I started preparing my filling. Dicing up a potato and turnip. Shredding a carrot, chopping some fresh parsley and soaking one luscious leek. Which I found out was an important step because a fresh leek is covered in dirt!

After soaking in cold water I halved the leeks and added them to the rest of the filling, along with 1 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper. For the meat eaters in the family (I made a few without) I diced up a pound of boneless chicken thighs.

On a floured surface I rolled out my chilled dough and cut out three 7-inch circles. Placed about a 6th of the filling in each center, making sure each pasty had equal parts chicken, potato and turnip he he! Then after wetting the top edge of the pastry I brought the top to meet with the bottom and pinched. Creating a little crescent pocket.

With a sharp knife I made three little cuts on each side, to let them vent while baking. Then I repeated these steps for the remaining dough and filling. Once all my tasty pasties had been filled I wrapped and placed them in the fridge for 30 mins. Again, this helps the dough set and properly bake later on. While you wait, set the oven to 400 degrees and move the rack to the upper-middle rung.

After their fridge time was up I whisked up an egg and 1tsp of water to brush over the pasties. This got a tad messy but I knew they would taste even more delicious!

Once brushed I set them in the oven to bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Checking after about 30 to see their progress and they were already turning golden brown. After giving them an additional 5 minutes I pulled them out to cool. 

Voila! Beautiful golden pasties! Now they did not look as perfect as they do in the cookbook, but they were pretty close! 

These little creations are like rustic hot-pockets...hoooot pooocket! Sorry not sorry!

 These pasties were not exactly decadent, however I really liked the flavor of the leeks and potatoes. The chicken definitely added extra flavor to the pasties. Creating a very earthy rich flavor! Their simplicity really makes them great for a quick bite too. Little handheld snacks, both filling and delicious.

After finishing these up I started to think about what else I could add to them! I bet some bacon would go over very well! 

Thanks!

Bunny

Get You Some Wings and Fly Away - True Blood Style

Howdy!
Guess who got a mini deep-fryer for Christmas! This lady!! Now I can properly make ANYTHING fried! Muahahaha! Which is kind of funny because we rarely eat fried food but it was one of those...I need this is my tiny kitchen items he he! Ok let's be honest...I knew it might elevate my beignet game and I was all for THAT! 

The True Blood Cookbook has a great recipe for wings and for a long time I had wanted to make fried chicken for Craig. The man deserves some meat!  
First thing was marinating the chicken in some Tabasco for about an hour, refrigerated of course. Then pouring in more veg oil than we would have thought into the fryer and letting it heat up to 350. While we waited for the oil to heat up, it was time to get the chicken ready. Mixed up the flour with some salt, pepper and garlic powder and then in a separate bowl whipped eggs and milk together.

Craig was helping me prepare the chicken legs and it wasn't until I took one of the little cold thighs into my hands that the realization hit me...I am not okay with this. Not to bring down the True Blood magic but my vegetarian nature was coming out and handling the chicken bits was so unappetizing. I've never been super picky about touching meat if it meant helping someone else. Other people eat meat and I have accepted that...so like a champ I battered those thighs....flour to egg to flour but after three I was done. It hurt my heart. Okay...back to the yummy.

Craig finished battering the rest of the legs/wings while I worked on the sauce! And nothing says southern comfort food like fried chicken with blue cheese sauce! This particular wing sauce included: crumbled blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, minced shallot and fresh lemon juice. 

It was fun plopping the chicken into the basket and letting it work it's magic. I could only dream of the beignets...fries...funnel-cakes....who knows! We let the chicken fry until golden brown, about 5 mins really. This little cooker is freakin amazing!

 Once cooled and drained of excess oil these babies were ready to serve. Obviously I have no idea what they tasted like but Craig likened them to a picnic in the park. They satisfied that need for fried meat and took him back to younger days, siting on a checkered blanket and scarfing on homemade chicken. The blue cheese sauce was a nice touch and definitely elevated their flavor.

Even though it was touch and go for me, I was really happy to try out my new fryer! It works wonderfully! I can't wait to try other recipes now that I have this new weapon in my kitchen arsenal he he!

Thanks for readin!

Love, Bunny