FLOWER POT KITCHEN: PORK PIE HAND RAISED HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY

18 Jan 2013

PORK PIE HAND RAISED HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY

Hot water crust pastry, hand raised no jelly pork pie with egg for my husband.

I love to cook all the time and Christmas is a exciting time for me as I get to cook for lots of people, I have the pleasure of making pork pies, game pies, rabbit pies, sausage rolls, flying saucer mince pies and mini Christmas puddings for all my friends, family and neighbours.

One of my most treasured pleasures is that my nan (87yrs) always made 200 sausage rolls for the family to enjoy over Christmas and I am so proud that I now have that responsibility and I love the anticipation from my family when I make them they get all bossy and check in that I am making them.

PORK PIE DOLLY'S

My fabulous husband had these traditional pork pie dollies handmade for me by a local woodsman who forage's in the woodland where he has his workshop, he found a fallen log of wood, as this is what he does, and then he made the commission from that.

I love them they are so personal and such a thoughtful thing to have made for me. (Big brownie points!)

Hand raising the hot water crust pastry up around the dolly.

MAKING THE JELLY

Ingredients

2 fresh trotters

1 ltr water

Salt & pepper

1 bay leaf

6 peppercorns

1 tsp mustard powder

1 sprig thyme
1 stick celery chopped
1 leek chopped
1 onion halved
1 carrot chopped

Not a process I really enjoy if I am honest, I find the cooking smell unpleasant, never the less my dad loves his jelly so I infuse, boil, simmer, strain and set the jelly.

METHOD

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, skim off any froth and discard. Simmer for approx 2-3 hrs until the trotters are gelatinous and falling apart. Leave to cool and then sieve. Set the jelly aside in in the fridge until you need it, I use a bladder syringe available from your chemist as this is easier than pouring in the pie hole.

FOR THE HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY

550g plain flour

110g lard

100g butter

200ml water

1 lrg pinch of salt

1 lrg pinch white pepper

2 eggs beaten

Love rendering my own lard, I always roast some pork belly and crackling at the same time, of course for the flavour in the lard, but what a bonus after having to smell all that gorgeous pork cooking I then get to munch on moist chunks of belly pork with crispy crackling, knowing that all the flavour I am tasting is also in the rendered lard that will flavour the pastry.

FOR THE PORK PIE FILLING

500g pork shoulder hand diced

250g belly pork minced

250g bacon minced or hand chopped

1 pinch mace

12 sage leaves fine chopped

4 sprigs of thyme leaves chopped

1 good pinch cayenne pepper

Big pinch salt and white & black pepper

3 6 min boiled eggs

Love making a pie in this mould, it is such a beautiful way to present a pretty food gift.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.