1001 kitchen tips #23 - Flour pie/ parcel force

Friday, May 09, 2008
“What is that?” said my nana in the chocolate-and-rock-salt tone of voice. It wasn’t poisoned I can promise you. And it wasn’t flour pie either.
In the domestic kitchen you use baking beans (not to be confused with baked beans). But how many times have you picked them up from underneath the kitchen counters, and almost fallen over them on the way to the cat’s bowl?
Go to the pastry section of any restaurant or hotel kitchen and you will find these cling film (clingus filmus in latin, Gladwrap in Oz) parcels of rice, or as I prefer to use, flour. They are the pastry chef's friend that is always there.
Fold your clingus filmus over on itself so you have a double layer. It should overlap the tart case generously. Fill the cling filmed tart with flour - tucking it into the corners. If it doesn’t reach the corners they are not pressed during cooking so you end with inverted edges, less space for the filling, and that‘s where the flavour is. And besides that, I don’t like cutting corners.
Draw all the corners of the cling film together into the middle and bake tarts in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes till the pastry is golden. Remove with asbestos fingers (or gloves) and use the hole in none egg-wash trick for that no-leak tart case. Place back in oven to finish.
Keep the flour parcels and use them again…..and again….. and again…. and….

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