Monday, June 28, 2010

More Good Work from Betty Brooklyn

Check out this link for another great fundraiser event supported by Betty Brooklyn on July 3ed!

http://brooklynbased.net/everything/portside-bbq-and-fundraiser-july-3/

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Betty Brooklyn's Pies Take the Cake!

Betty Brooklyn was the winner of the People's Choice award at Pie Lovers Unite, the BK Farmyards Pie Cook-off held on June 12. Many thanks to all who came and showed their support! And thanks to BK for my awesome prizes!

Now get ready, cause these pies are coming right back at you! Betty Brooklyn is giving an encore performance, serving her delicious savory pies at Meatopia, the cities biggest meat event ever! The event is going to be held on Governor's Island on Sunday, July 11th . Get you tickets now! http://meatopia.org/

Here's a recipe to make these yummy pies at home! Beware, this is a multi-day process, but boy is it worth it!

I made 4 times this much, but I wanted to keep the quantities manageable for those who may want to try it at home. This amount should make about 25 mini pies. But hey, if you are going through the trouble, why not make a few extra to give to friends or save in the freezer for a rainy day. You could even heat them up in a toaster oven for breakfast!

Ingredients

For the braised shortribs:
1 1/4 LBS. Local, grass-fed shortribs
Salt and Pepper
12 oz. Home-brewed stout (or you could use Guiness)
Chicken stock
1/4 can Tomato paste
1 Red onion
1 Carrot

To make the filling:
1/2 Red onion
1/2 Jalepeno
Braised short ribs
Salt and pepper
Homemade whole grain spicy mustard (or you could buy whole grain mustard)
Slotted spoon or spatula

To make the crust:
2 1/2 c All purpose flour
2 TBS Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Vegetable shortening
1/4 cup and 2 TBS Buttermilk

To assemble the pies:
Mini muffin tin
Short rib mix
Crust
More home made whole grain spicy mustard
Light egg wash

For the shortribs:
-Pat the short ribs dry and season them generously with salt and pepper.
-Sear the short ribs in a pan or skillet until they have a nice brown color on all sides. Try not to allow the pan to burn.
-Deglaze your pan using a little beer to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Place the liquid in a pot deep enough to hold all of your ingredients.
-Peel the onion and carrot. Cut them into large chunks and brown them in a pan or skillet. Then add the tomato paste and cook it until it begins to darken.
-Transfer all your veggies to the pot containing your liquid from the previous deglazing.
-Then, deglaze your vegetable pan using a little beer and add that liquid to the pot as well.
-Add the shortribs to the pot. Add the rest of the beer and add chicken stock until the ribs are just covered with liquid.
-Cover the pot and cook at a simmer for 4-6 hours or until the ribs are completely tender. You can do this on the stove on low heat or in the oven at 225F.
-When the ribs are very tender, remove the pot from the heat and cool rapidly in an ice bath.

To make the filling:
-When the mixture is cool, remove the ribs and place them on a cutting board.
-Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and reduce the liquid at a simmer, skimming regularly, until it is thick enough to barely coat the back of a metal spoon.
-Remove bones and sinew from the braised ribs (you can save this to make a weak stock later).
-Chop the meat finely.
-Dice the red onion and jalepeno very finely and sautee them in a pot that is large enough to hold the sum of all of your filling ingredients.
-Add the reduced liquid and the chopped ribs.
-Cook the mixture, stirring with a slotted spatula or spoon to break-up the beef into more uniform pieces.
-Cook until the mixture is thick and fairly homogeneous (it doesn't have to be completely without chunks).
-Season with salt, pepper and spicy mustard.
-Cool the mixture in an ice bath.

To make the crust:
-Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.
-Add the butter and shortening and rub it into the butter with your hands. Make sure to not rub it in too thoroughly, you want some buttery bits.
-Add the buttermilk all at once and mix just to incorporate.
-Knead for 1 or 2 turns on the counter top and rest the dough (wrapped in plastic wrap) in the refrigerator for an hour.

To assemble the pies:
-Roll out the pie crust very thinly and cut into appropriate sizes for your muffin tins (top and bottom). I use a round cookie cutter set and just find the right size out of the set, but you could use the rim of a glass if it is the right size, or just roll a sheet of dough over the tray and remove the excess dough that you don't need after pushing it into the molds.
-Fill the pies to the rim with your cooled short rib filling. Then put about a teaspoon of spicy mustard on top.
-Then put on your top crust.
-Seal the top crust to the bottom crust with a fork and punch a small hole in the top of each pie to vent.
-Brush with a light egg wash using a pastry brush or a digital pastry brush (your fingers).
-Pop them in a 375F oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are bubbly and golden brown.
-ENJOY!!! You've earned it!