Thursday, December 6, 2012

Cooking in Guyana....Pine Tarts!!

In Guyana we have the best pineapple!  Here everyone calls it "pine."  I never knew that pineapples actually on sort of a bushy plant in the ground.  I believe they also take about 9 months or so to grow.  Each plant has one big pine that comes out on top.  Since fresh pine is so easy to come by, a nice sweet treat is something called a pine tart.  It is kind of like a cherry turnover or a mini pine filled with pineapple. As volunteers we joke about finding who makes the best pine tart (and other baked goods) in our communities.  I haven't tried to make them yet myself, but here is the recipe:



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Guyanese Short Crust Pastry Dough (Makes 1lb pastry dough)
Ingredients:
4 cups flours
1 cup vegetable shortening (1 stick)
1/4 cup butter
about 8 Tbsp ice cold water
Directions:
Rub/cut/mix shortening and butter into flour until mixture forms a bread crumb like texture. Add ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, and pinch mixture together to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Separate mixture into two and chill in the refrigerator for as least 1 hour. When chilled, use dough to make any Guyanese pastry combination.
Pine (Pineapple) Tarts (makes about 1 dozen)
Ingredients:
Filling:
3 cups crushed pineapples
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 egg yolk (beaten)
(You will need a large circular object to use as a mould and a rolling pin)

Crust:
1 lb short crust pastry dough (see above for recipe)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Filling: combine all the ingredients into a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until pineapple juice cooks down and mixture forms a jam-like paste. Set aside and let cool.
Crust:(See above).
Shaping pine tarts: Separate pastry dough into 10 or 12 pieces. Roll each piece on a floured surface until dough is the thickness of a coin. Using a circular mould cut rolled dough into circles. Fill circle with a heaped tablespoon of pineapple filling and shape into a triangle. Seal ends with a fork. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper,  then coat with egg yolk and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 mins.
Tips and Rambling:
1. Now that you know how to make pastry dough you can make pine tarts, patties, cheese rolls, cheese pies and many other Guyanese short crust pastries.
2. You can make the pine tart filling as sweet as you like, or not so sweet if you prefer, but adding more or reducing the amount of sugar.
3. Some people also add ground cloves to their pine tart filling.
4. In the video I add the butter after I’ve mixed in the shortening to ensure that it is well blended. You can add the butter at the same time as the shortening if you prefer.

Recipe adapted from: http://metemgee.com/tag/how-to-make-guyanese-pinetarts/

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