Gluten Free Pastry, Red Onion and Bacon Bites, and Mixed Fruit Pie

Ok, I promise right here, right now to never again ready made, in any form, gluten free pasty. 

I have now tried two different types:

                The first one was a completely made pastry which just needed kneading for about a week before it was fit to do anything with, and then the pies I made with it fell apart if you even looked at them sideways.  The taste was dry, it kind of glooped itself to the roof of your mouth and welded itself there, if you could get it to your mouth in the first place!

                 The second one was a pastry kit.  I had to add butter, eggs, vinegar and water (so in a way they had sold me a very expensive box of flour with xanthan gum!)  I had to rub the cold butter into their mix, then add the eggs and vinegar (which had been mixed until frothy) and stir into a dough, adding water if needed (it was) then I had to divide the dough into two and wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for somewhere between and hour and overnight.  Then get it out and let it come back to room temperature before rolling out.  I used one of my balls of dough after just over an hour.  It was a crumbly mess, I added a bit more water and kneaded again, I did manage to roll some out and make some bacon and red onion pastry bites, but only by being extremely careful and they were pretty crumbly once cooked as well.  The other ball I left over night, it took ages to get to room temperature, as you would if you'd been in the fridge all night lol, but it was still just the same crumbly mess as the first ball, again I added a bit more water and had wanted to make individual fruit pies but the pastry wasn't strong enough to stay together to get into the tin, I ended up making a larger one, which I could just dish up from the container rather than have to take out of the tray once cooked (that would never have happened!) and again, although perhaps not as gloopy once in the mouth as the first pack I tried, it still wasn't an overly pleasant experience, and just as bad at falling to bits the minute you try to handle it as the first one. 

My son has turned his nose up at both pastries so not a big hit there either!  He loves the Bakewell tart that I make, making my own pastry, which is much easier than either of the options above, as well as handling like ordinary pasty and holding its form once cooked, and so I have decided that I will never again buy ready made gluten free pastry, I will just make my own.

Red Onion and Bacon Bites:

Ingredients:

                  Pastry (I would make your own!)
http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/gluten-free-pastry/

                  2 Red onions

                  4 Rashers of bacon

                  Splash of red wine vinegar

                 1 egg to eggwash

Method:

                  Slice your onions and fry until cooked, add a splash of red wine vinegar and fry for a further couple of minutes, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen roll.

                  Slice your bacon into bite sized strips and fry until cooked, remove from the pan and drain on kitchen roll.

                  Roll out your pastry on a floured work surface and cut into squares (I did rounds, but squares would have worked much better)

                 Place your squares onto a lined baking tray, and spoon on some onions and bacon, bring two opposite corners to the middle and pinch shut and glaze with egg wash.

                Place in the oven on gas mark 5 for 25 minutes or until golden.

Fruit pie:

Ingredients:

                  2 peeled, cored and diced apples

                  1 peeled, cored and diced pear

                  1/2 tin of peaches, drained

                  2 tablespoons of caster sugar

                  Enough water to cover your fruit
    
Method:

                 Place your diced apple and pear into a saucepan with enough water to cover the fruit, sprinkle the caster sugar over the fruit and bring to the boil, reduce to simmer until the fruit is tender, but still holds it shape.  Remove the fruit from the pan and allow to cool.

                 Roll your pastry on a floured work surface, and either cut out a large round, and a middle sized round for a top and bottom for each individual pie, or roll out your pastry large enough to cover the bottom and sides of your dish, and then enough to be a lid.

                Grease your pie dish, or individual pie cases and put your bottoms in.



                Spoon your drained fruit, including your peaches, onto the pie bottoms, then egg-wash the edge(s) and place your lid(s) onto your pie(s) and egg-wash the top(s)

                 Place into an oven on gas mark 5 for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown.

I really hope you have better luck with your pastry than I had with mine, and if you have any tips I would really appreciate them as pastry was never a strong point of mine, but a skill I am going to have to improve.

Lupin Girl x