Top Blog Recipes

23 Dec 2019

CHRISTMAS GIFT PIES THAT FRIENDS AND FAMILY WILL LOVE

What’s more lovely than arriving at friends and families homes over the festive season with a sumptuous gift of home made pork pies or slow cooked steak and ale mini pies.  These are now expected of my family and friends and it is such a pleasure to make them knowing what joy they will bring long after we have gone home showing our gratitude with the love of good food.

All wrapped up in recyclable paper with natural twine and a bay leaves and rosemary sprigs bouquet from the garden.  All these extra little touches cost nothing and go a long way to show your love.




This pie is made using a old French raised pie tin, such a show stopper, nothing different to any pork pie, just the fluted tin which adds such elegance and presentation which is perfect as a gift.


These are my Piece de resistance at any party fabulous one bite slow braised chuck steak and ale pies encased in a light crumbly suet crust pastry awith a steak gravy chewy crust where the gravy bursts out while baking adding another level of flavour, there is never any of these little pies left over!


The Pork Pie
This is a all at once cook, I start with the jelly first as it needs a couple of hours to render down while I make and cook the pork pie.  I think of pork pies as a two day tease, this is because the pork pie needs to rest over night before pouring in the jelly and setting again overnight in the fridge ready for the excitement of sharing, giving and eating with everyone on day two or three.

Ingredients 
(serves 6-8)

Hot Water Crust Pastry
600g strong plain flour
2 beaten eggs
7g Himalayan sea salt 
5g white pepper
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
110g lard
110g butter
240ml water

The Pork Pie
800g pork shoulder diced
200g belly pork minced
200g bacon minced
10 sage leaves finely chopped
4 sprigs thyme chopped
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 
1 tsp black pepper

The Jelly
1 pork hock or 2 trotters
1 ltr water
1 onion skin on halved
1 carrot rough chopped
1/2 stick celery 
1 garlic clove bashed
8 peppercorns 
1 bay leaf
1 tsp mustard powder
1 pinch celery salt
2 leaves gelatine (optional) 

First get the jelly underway in a pressure cooker for 1 1/2 hrs or casserole dish for 3-4 hrs place all the ingredients in your pan, bring to a simmer and place on the lid.  Once cooked remove the trotters or pork hock, the latter makes a wonderful dinner with some buttery vinegar mashed potatoes and pease pudding or stuffed in a suet bacon and onion pudding roll, a memory straight from junior school dinners!

Now to check if your pork jelly will set without the need for gelatine, which it should once cooled, place a saucer in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, take a tablespoon on the jelly stock and place on the cold saucer on your work top, leave for two minutes and assess the thickness of the set cooled jelly.  If too running then add the gelatine leaves by soaking in water to soften for 5 minutes and then stirring in off the heat.  Leave your jelly to one side while you bake the pork pie.

Next make the pork pie filling mix all the ingredients together and reserve to one side to infuse their flavours while you make the hot water crust pastry.

To make the hot water crust is really simple place the lard, butter and water in a saucepan and melt without allowing a simmer, in a large mixing bowl place the flour, salt and ribbon through the beaten eggs, make a well in the centre and pour in the hot lard and butter mix, using a spoon gently bring together until just combined, using your hand knead the mix for a minute until a smooth ish ball is formed.  Take 2/3 of the dough and place in your tin pressing the sides up and forming the base, place in your pork pie meat, lay your pastry lid on the top and crimp the edges, I like to take my left hand ready to pinch the pastry from the underneath of the tin lip and pastry, while my right hand will push the top pie crust pastry in to the two pinch fingers, this gives a great crust finish.  Make a hole in the centre of the pie and decorate with leaves.

Place the pork pie in a pre heated oven 200 C for half an hour, then lower the heat to 160 C for one hour, remove the pork pie from the oven and remove the french tin, glaze the sides with egg wash and place back in the oven to cook for a further 10-15 minutes.  Remove and allow to cool, fill your pie with your homemade jelly using a funnel or a bladder syringe, then allow the jelly to set in the pie in the fridge overnight, then your good to go, enjoy this glorious pork pie it is a outstanding pie.

Best Ever Steak Pies

Ingredients 
(makes 36)

FOR THE BEST EVER SUET CRUST PASTRY
(This also makes 2 pie top crusts)
330g supreme self raising flour
100g cold butter grated
130g atora suet
Water as needed (150ml+)
1 tsp salt and white pepper 
2 eggs beaten for egg wash

Nan's Braised Steak
2 kg chuck or rump steak 2" square chunks
 1 onion finely chopped
1 stick celery fine chopped
1 carrots finely chopped
2 clove garlic chopped
1 glug of ooil
knob of butter
1 ltr rich beef stock
(homemade recipe below)
3 cans of Guinness 
2 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 bay leaf 
1 tsp Himalayan sea salt 
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp butter

Pre heat your oven to 160 C, in a large casserole dish add the olive oil and butter, on a medium heat add the onions and soften for ten minutes, then add the garlic, carrot and celery and soften for a further five minutes, crank up the heat and add the diced rump steak and let the steak catch a little browning off ever so slightly and catching the bottom of the pan creating more flavour, add the Guinness, stock, mustard, cayenne, curry powder and bay leaf, top up with water if needed to cover the meat by a inch, pop on a lid and place in the oven to slowly cook for 3-4 hrs, when your rump steak will fall apart when gently squeezed it's done.  Remove from the oven add the salt, pepper and butter.  Leave to cool before filling your pies.

The pastry will need to rest in the fridge for at half an hour before rolling.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and very gently mix so that the ingredients are incorporated evenly, you do not want to over work the mix as this will make it tough in texture and this pastry is the best ever because it is light and crispy with a flakey texture finished off with a hint of almost dumpling flathat soaks up the gorgeous braise stake gravy.  Add the water probably 150ml ish and gently bring the pastry mix together to form a ball, wrap in baking paper and rest in the fridge for half an hour.

Cut 1/3 off your pastry ball, this is for the pie lids, roll out the larger piece of pastry on a lightly floured work top to as thin as you dare, using a standard scone cutter cut 36 circles, roll out the remaining pastry using a half size smaller cutter again cut 36 lids.  Taking your trays line each mini pie hole, brush all the pastry edges with egg wash, fill with a couple of teaspoons of your cold braised steak and press on the pastry lid.  Egg wash the tops of the pies and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, once cooked leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool or enjoy hot and fresh.

These pies are great at parties, friends and family gatherings served cold made the day before from the fridge or fresh and warm on the day these are a crowd pleaser.

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