FLOWER POT KITCHEN: HOT WATER CRUST RAISED GAME PIE

10 Dec 2017

HOT WATER CRUST RAISED GAME PIE

I love to make this old fashioned pie, every Christmas I cook several for my friends and neighbours, most love the old fashioned game pie layered with pigeon breast, pheasant, rabbit and venison, with a middle layer of chicken and brandy pate and a jelly top.

This pie is a show stopper, which makes it feel special, You can fill this pie with what ever you love, serve it hot or cold, take it on a picnic, this is why I love making this pie. I follow a very old recipe for the hot water crust to use with this pie tin. The tin comes in three sections that you clip together, the tin is from France as this is where this fluted pie originated from. The tin is available on line, just Google, French raised game pie tin, and you will find a cook shop that stocks them, this is where I got mine, I am still looking for that old vintage tin tho!

PIE INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp butter

1 onion fine chopped

2 cloves of garlic grated

2 pheasant breasts (200g)

4 pigeon breasts (300g)

250g diced rabbit

250g diced venison

2 sprigs of thyme

1 sage leaf

1 small pinch of mace

1 egg beaten

Salt

White and black pepper

300ml game or beef stock

Gelatin leaves

FOR THE PATE

1 shallot finely diced

1 garlic clove grated

A knob of butter

Dash of ooil

500g trimmed chicken livers

1 sprig of thyme

1 small pinch of mace

Salt

Black pepper

150ml brandy

50ml double cream

HOT WATER CRUST

110g lard

110g butter

200ml water

2 eggs beaten

10g salt

550g plain flour

THE HOT WATER CRUST

Make the hot water crust first, the reason for this is to allow it to chill slightly, so that when you line the sides of the tin the pastry will stay up easier. Place the butter, lard and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then take off the heat, meanwhile in a large bowl place the flour and give a little whisk, this is just as good as sieving without the mess! Season the flour with the salt, pour in the beaten eggs and with a knife cut into the flour, pour over the hot fat and with a spoon or your hands mix the two together to form a ball, leave on the side covered with some baking paper while you make the pate.

THE PATE

In a non stick pan gently soften the shallots and garlic in the butter and ooil, add the chicken livers and thyme, pan sear until almost cooked, add the brandy and simmer for a minute, add the season and mace, place in a blender and pulse until smooth, add a little cream if you want a richer pate, taste and season more if needed. Place in a air tight container in the fridge while you assemble the pie.

MAKING THE PIE

Take two thirds of the pastry which will still be warm, I don't roll this pastry you raise it, take your tin and pull off a tennis ball size of pastry and just push it into the tin, you are going to line the tin making sure that the walls are not to thin otherwise the pastry won't be able to support the pie and it may tear letting all the gorgeous game juices pour away, resulting in a dry pie.

FINISH OFF THE PIE

Roll out the remaining pastry to the size and shape of the lid. Season all the game with salt and black pepper, layer the pheasant in the bottom of the pie then top with the pate, next the diced venison and rabbit and finish off the layering with the pigeon breasts, pack the meat quite firmly as there will be some shrinkage during cooking which is where you will pour in your jelly once cooked. Egg wash the rim and place on your lid, cut a small criss cross hole in the center of the pie lid, this is two fold, one to allow steam to escape helping to keep the pastry from going soggy and secondly to allow you access to fill the cavity with the jelly later on.

I love to give this pie a fluted crimp, this is easy to do, once the lid is sitting on top of the pie with no over hang, take your left index finger and thumb place at the edge of the crust, place your right index finger on the top of the lid and as you push in and up with your left fingers, push in with your right, in effect you are pinching the pastry between to create a dimple, but raising either side to creat the fluted effect. Don't egg wash yet.

COOKING TIMES

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and cook the pie for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 150 degrees and cook for a further 1 hr 20 minutes, if the top starts to get dark cover with some tin foil. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes, gently remove the clips and then the sides from the tin, now you will have your first glimps of your free standing raised pie, gently egg wash the whole pie and pop back in the oven for 10-15 minutes to set the glaze and firm up the sides.

Remove the pie from the oven and leave to cool and firm up before removing the base of the tin.

THE JELLY

Once the pie has cooled, you can make the jelly stock and pour in the pie cavity. Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water, place in a pan with the game or beef stock and bring to a simmer, stir until the gelatin is dissolved, remove from the heat and pour into a jug, leave to cool considerably. using a small funnel or syringe fill the pie cavity until some of the jelly oozes out the top off the pie, now your pie is ready to chill to set the jelly stock, this will need at least 4 hours.

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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.