Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry

From Time/Life's Foods of the World - The Cooking of the British Isles, 1969:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, thoroughly chilled and cut into 1/4-inch bits

1/4 cup lard, thoroughly chilled and cut into 1/4-inch bits

4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Sift the flour and salt together into a large chilled mixing bowl. Drop in the butter and lard and, working quickly, use your fingertips to rub the flour and fat together until the mixture looks like flakes of coarse meal. Pour 4 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture all at once, and gather the dough into a ball.

If the dough crumbles, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the particles adhere. Dust lightly with flour, wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Place the pastry on a lightly floured board or table, and press it into a rectangular shape about 1 inch thick. Dust a little flour over and under it, and roll it out into a strip about 21 inches long and 6 inches wide. Fold the strip into thirds to form a 3-layered rectangular packet, reducing its dimensions to about 7 by 6 inches.

Turn the pastry around so that an open end faces you and roll it out once more to a 21-by-6-inch strip. Fold it into thirds as before and roll it out again to a similar strip. Repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the pastry folded into a packet.

Wrap the pastry tightly in wax paper, foil or a plastic bag, and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. The pastry may be kept in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days before it is used.