Short Ribs & Discos Pastry - Frozen Find at Whole Foods Market

The holidays are upon us, which means last-minute appetizers for Christmas parties could be looming on the horizon. These Discos were a nice find for someone like me who is challenged in the pastry department but still wants crank out some crispy & flaky food for the shared table.

For some unknown reason I happened to be browsing the frozen foods section of Whole Foods (we normally don't buy too much frozen, processed food - organic or not) and I saw these little pastry shells sitting beside an array of pre-made empanadas. Somewhere between a wonton or spring roll wrapper and full-on puff-pastry sheets, these 'discos' looked like the perfect solution for quick-fix stuffed appetizers who require a flaky shell.

I bought short ribs, which were seared then braised for 2 hours at a low temp - 325 - until the fell apart into a nice shred. Elizabeth cleaned out the bits of gristle and what we were left with was a decent pile of shredded tender rib-meat.

The meat was sauced in a mild tomato-base, with a liberal douse of vinegar to break up the gelatinous character of the meat...a handful of ancho powder, smoked paprika and a few other seasonings nudged the filling into shape.

The shells were then stuffed and sealed tightly. The first batch we deep-fried and they turned out delicious...crispy on the outside, cracking open with a crunch to reveal a soft and creamy inside. We kept the oil hot enough to prevent sogginess, but you pretty much need to eat these as soon as you can. Overstuffing was the only thing I would avoid next time...it threw off the balance between the crust and the filling and made for a soggier pie.

We also threw one of the pastries in the oven and baked it around 350 until golden brown and flaky. The difference was startling...the shells puffed up nicely and were beyond flaky, much the opposite of the crisped pockets of the fried shells. Unfortunately, our experiments with savory baked pies were overall less impressive, as the filling tended to dry out in the oven.

The baked aren't as decadent and really tended to work better with desserts. For example, the flaky crust paired well with some of Elizabeth's parent's homemade pear preserve as a filling...a bit of vanilla ice cream was all that was missing for that perfect 'pie' effect.

Pastry-Wrapped Lamb Lollipops w/ Shitake & Salsify Hash

Ok, I didn't quite get the best angle in this thing, but what you're supposed to be looking at are a pair of pastry-wrapped lamb chops resting on a bed of Shitake mushroom and salsify.

The chops we did like any other night...seasoned & seared on all sides, then wrapped in pastry sheets that have had herb de provence pressed into the dough. Popped into a 375 oven until 140-145 degrees in the center, these little guys are like flaky, meaty lollipops...reminds me of an upscale corndog.

The real star of this dish was the mushroom & salisfy saute.



We were in Reading Terminal Market and found some great organic watercress and some fresh Shitake mushrooms from the Fair Farm stand, then we spotted some cigar-like salsify root at another veggie stand. The salsify is called the "Oyster Plant" because it has an oyster like taste, with a tinge of sweetness, like a white yam.

We peeled and cut the salsify into biased wafers, chopped the mushrooms and commenced to cooking.



I had bought some ground lamb, which I mashed into tiny bits and then browned in some olive oil, along with a dash of some mushroom dust I bought at the Spice Corner; this is quickly becoming my crutch for creating instant gravy-like heartiness in a dish.

Next, the salsify goes in to begin cooking down...I've never cooked this before, but it resembles carrots in the way it sweated off...finally the mushrooms and a splash of water to deglaze any of the lamb bits.


Here's yet another bad angle on what turned out to be a decent dish...I should've bought another 3 or 4 salsify roots to keep experimenting with the mushroom/salsify combo.