Ghibli Week 3: Kiki's Herring and Pumpkin Pot Pie and Bread

This post we're up in the clouds, but first we've got some deliveries to make! Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) was released in 1989 and was based on the novel of the same name. If you haven't seen it yet, give the soundtrack a listen; I'm especially fond of Rouge no Dengon (listen to it here). So the thing I most remember about this movie, was the bread. 

(source) One day I'll make bread like that...

My track record with yeast recipes is not great, to be honest, but I've kept at it! I've got a bread-maker somewhere, a long since past gift or impulse buy (I forget), and the household went through a phase of having fresh bread; and let me tell you, there may be a lot of things better than waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread, but it's definitely up there. And man, oh man, eating freshly baked bread? So good. I like my bread crusty but not overly so, with fluffy insides that are perfect for soaking up melted butter or margarine or olive oil with spicy, crunchy dukkah or tart balsamic vinegar or runny honey or warm, gooey peanut butter...sigh.

Back on track, this recipe calls for a lot of kneading (it needs to be kneaded hehe) so don't forget to stretch! True story; when I made this, I ended up pulling my forearm muscles so you've been warned. I've covered the technique before, but a quick refresher: push the dough away with the heel of your palm, fold it over, turn dough 90 degrees, repeat. Unfortunately there aren't that many process photos, because I thought this would be a complete write off. I also found this dough to be quite sticky and ended up adding roughly two extra tablespoons of flour. Science disclaimer! Not a food scientist, not a professional chef, never went to culinary school, recipe books and the internet are my sources of information and I think Play School may have covered this once? Baker's flour has a higher percentage of gluten than your everyday run of the mill plain flour, which gives bread a more elastic dough. This, when combined with the yeast's formation of carbon dioxide, traps the gas in the dough and causes it to rise. It also creates a better crust versus regular flour. Science over.

The bane of my baking existence.

Photo courtesy of dad sloth. 

Yooooooooooo. Dust them with flour before baking for that artisan look.

We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other.

It's a pretty dense bun, but it's great sliced and toasted.

Same deal with the herring and pumpkin pot pie, no process photos. I actually didn't use herring (and I'm not quite sure what kind of fish it is) so technically it's just a fish and pumpkin pot pie. To-may-to, to-mah-to. The fish, I found in the freezer and there were just three, sad, sorry looking fillets that I cut into ten pieces and scattered throughout the pie. Poor dad sloth didn't even realise there was fish in the pie until we told him later.

 I used Japanese pumpkin because I find it to be sweeter than other types, but I'm sure butternut or grey pumpkins would work as well. The base of this pie is a white, or bechamel, sauce. It's basically flour, butter or margarine, and milk. I don't actually have a recipe for this; if I want a thicker sauce, I add more flour,less milk and if it's thinner, I add less flour and more milk. You kind of get the hang of it after a while because it's all about proportions, but it's easy pie! Tips: be mindful not to burn the flour and add the milk little by little to make sure you get a nice, smooth consistency! It's a super impressive but low effort sauce that goes well with a lot of dishes, and you can make it richer by adding other stuff like stock or cream or cheese. Don't forget to season it as well; salt and pepper go a long way to making it tasty, and I like to add ground nutmeg for extra flavour. I also used store-bought puff pastry to save time and effort. One day I will make a laminated dough, but that day is not today. Laminated doughs kind of scare me as well; you have to use an entire pat of butter, and that's too much butter for one person.

(source) The original! I used it as a reference picture for the fish on top.

Pretty close, if I do say so myself! Mama sloth helped on the crimping of the crust. Can you tell which one's hers? Hint: it's the pretty looking ones. Those weird indents are knife marks (literally made by stabbing the pie) so the insides will cook.

The movie version..

And mine! 

Creamy and delicious and deceptively hearty

Dinner rolls (recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly: The Baking Collection)

Makes 8 rolls (could make more depending on how big you make them)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 1 packet of dry yeast
• 1 tsp of caster sugar
• 2C of warm water
• 4C of baker's self raising flour (I just had a bag of this in the cupboard, but you can use plain flour)
• 2-3 Tbs extra flour (if required)
• 2 tsp salt
• canola spray

METHOD

1. Mix together yeast, water and sugar and set aside until mixture is foamy (roughly 10 minutes)
2. Mix together flour and salt in a separate bowl and create a well in the middle. Pour the yeast mixture in the well and mix until a soft dough forms.
3. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
4. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn over once to coat both sides with oil. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and set aside to rise (roughly 1 hour)
5. Preheat the oven to 200'C (180'C fan forced) and grease and line a baking tray
6. Knead the dough for ~ 1 minute until it's smooth again, then divide it up into 8 balls.
7. Place balls of dough on the greased tray about 5cm apart, and spray lightly with the canola spray. Cover with glad wrap and let rise for ~ 25 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Optional: Before placing the dough in the oven, slash the top in a 'X' formation or dust with flour for a rustic look
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until rolls are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm with your favourite spreads.

Fish and pumpkin pot pie

Makes 1 pie in a ~23cm pan

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 5-6 fish fillets (anywhere between 100 - 300g) depending on how much fish you want in the pie
• 200-250g Japanese pumpkin (skinned and cubed)
• 2 small potatoes (skinned and cubed)
• 1 small onion (peeled and diced)
• 150mL of water
• 4 sheets of ready made puff pastry, defrosted (you only really use 3.5 sheets)
• 11 olives (for decoration, not necessary for the recipe)
• Egg for egg wash

White sauce:

• Roughly 2-3 Tbs of butter/margarine
• Roughly 2-3 Tbs of flour
• 1C of milk
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, parsley
• 150-300mL of stock (I had chicken stock in the fridge, but fish would probably be better)
• 100g grated cheese (I used 2 handfuls of Pizza Plus cheese)
• 50-100mL of white wine

METHOD

1. Preheat an oven to 180'C fan forced (200'C electric oven) and grease a ~23 casserole dish and line with two of the puff pastry sheets.
2. Fry the diced onion in oil in a saucepan until transparent then add the pumpkin and potato and water, 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of sugar. Cover with a lid and boil until all the water's evaporated, stirring occasionally. Once it's softened, take off the heat and set aside. 
3. Make the white sauce:
• Melt the butter/margarine over medium heat in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir the mixture constantly so it doesn't burn, and the flour begins to cook. 
• Add the milk bit by bit, stirring well between additions to get a creamy consistency.
• Add the cheese and wine then add sufficient quantity of stock to make it up to volume. 
• If sauce is too runny, then simmer the sauce until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 
• Season with salt and pepper (nutmeg optional) and herbs.
4. Add the pumpkin mixture to the sauce and stir to distribute the pumpkin evenly. Re-season with salt and pepper if necessary. 
5. Pour half of the mixture into the pastry lined pan, then make a layer of fish fillets, then pour over the rest of the mixture. 
6. Roll out one of the puff pastry sheets to cover the filling then use the other puff pastry sheet for decorations. Use the olives for decoration, pierce the top of the pie with a knife, then brush with the egg. 
7. Put into the oven and bake for ~30-40 minutes until golden brown and the pastry top is puffed up.

Happy slothing!!
xx