GAME PIE

Hot water crust French layered game pie.

Glorious hand raised hot water crackling flavoured crust game pie layered with local venison, pigeon, pheasant, partridge and a boozy brandy chicken liver pate, this is not only a show stopper pie in presentation but in flavour too, all the rich game layers are sumptuously gorgeous.

Pie filling

Ingredients 

6 pigeon breasts

6 pheasant breasts

400g venison loin

1 whole rabbit

2 shallots fine diced

1 knob of butter

6 sage leaves
 Small bunch of thyme
Small bunch of parsley

Good pinch of salt & black pepper

Good pinch of mace

Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pre heat oven 200 degrees

Dice all the game into inch square pieces and place in a large bowl add the softened shallots, chopped sage, thyme and parsley along with a generous pinch of sea salt, ground black pepper and mace, mix well, leave to marinate while you make the hot water pastry.

Homemade lard with Jelly

1 kg back fat & skin

To make your own roasted pork crackling flavoured and back fat lard, pop to your local farm shop or butchers and ask for a kilo of back fat and any left over skin to roast at 200 degrees for around one hour, pour off  the rendered down lard into a loaf tin and set in the fridge, this makes the most gorgeous flavoured honest lard and adds a huge depth of crackling flavour to your hot water crust and if your lucky there will be a layer of jelly once the lard has set in the fridge.

Hot water crust

Ingredients 

120g lard

100g butter

200ml water

550g plain flour

Big pinch of salt
2 eggs beaten

Melt the butter and lard in the water and bring up to a simmer, don't let it boil.  In a large bowl whisk, or sieve the flour and add the salt, make a dip in the centre and add the beaten eggs, using a knife cut the eggs into the flour roughly, add the hot water butter lard mix and gently bring together, knead for one minute to bring to a shinny glossy dough ball, wrap in paper and chill for thirty minutes if you are going to roll out the pastry to line the tin, if you are going to use the old fashioned method of hand raising the pastry in the tin use immediately, directions below.

The French Raised Pie Tin

I love old fashioned pie tins from history, this is incredibly plain compared to the pie moulds from the 16th century onwards which were incredibly decorated.  

Now for the reason your pie tin comes in three sections!  Once the pie is cooked you gently remove the clips that hold the tin together and remove the sides of the pie tin, I always find this part nerve wrecking as you don't want the sides of the pie to split or all the lovely juices will run out and compromise the quality of the pie.  Egg wash the sides and pop back into the oven for fifteen minutes to set the glaze and brown the sides.

Setting The Pastry in the Tin
Grease your french pie tin or tin you are using with lard or butter, divide one third of the pastry for the lid and decoration then either roll out your pastry to about the thickness of two pound coins and lay into the the tin and push the pastry into all the folds of the mould, or you can form a ball, keep back 1/4 for the lid, then with the just made hot water crust, place in the centre of the tin and then push the pastry flat on the bottom which will make the pastry rise up the sides, push this into and up the sides of the mould until the pie tin is lined with the pastry.

Chicken Liver Pate Layer

Ingredients 

200g chicken livers

1 shallot diced
1 clove of garlic grated

1 tbsp butter

1 sprig thyme

50ml brandy

50ml double cream
1 small pinch mace

Sea salt and black pepper

Next make the liver pate by gently sweat off the shallot and garlic in the butter and add the cleaned chicken livers and brown off on a high heat for two minutes, add the brandy and reduce down by half, lower the heat and season with the salt, pepper, mace add the thyme.  Cool slightly and place all the  ingredients in the blender and pulse, add the double cream until you have a smooth pate, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

To Assemble The Pie

Pack the game mix firmly in to half of your pie case, place a generous layer of your chicken liver pate and then finish filling the pie case with the rest of the mixed game.

  With a little egg wash brush the top rim and place on the lid, crimp the top by placing your left hand or right hand thumb and first finger at the edge of the pastry and using your other hand first finger push the pastry into the other fingers creating a crimp, repeat all the way round.  I like to decorate my pie with some leaves on top and the centre of the pie lid make a hole the size of a pea, this will be for the jelly once the pie has cooked and cooled. 

Glaze the top of the pie with egg wash and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees then lower the oven temperature to 150 degrees and bake for a further 1 hour.  Next is when you remove the clips that hold the tin together and remove the two sides of the pie tin, I always find this part nerve wrecking as you don't want the sides of the pie to split or all the lovely juices will run out and compromise the moistness of the pie.  Egg wash the sides and pop back into the oven for fifteen minutes to set the glaze.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for one hour then place in the fridge still on the base of the pie tin.  Once the pie is completely cold you can pour the jelly in to the pie, return to the fridge to set the jelly over night.  Jelly recipe below.

The Jelly

1 partridge carcass

2 pigs trotters optional

sea salt

black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of thyme

500ml water

Don’t Want To Make Your Own Jelly!

Quick Jelly Trick

The other way is to take a tin of game or beef consume and bring to a simmer take off the heat and add a couple of sheets of gelatin stir until dissolved, leave to cool and then pour into the pie.

Straining the jelly stock through a jelly bag.

To make the jelly you can do this two ways, I like to simmer the partridge carcass with onion, carrot, celery, bay and thyme you can also add 2 pig trotters from your local farm shop or butcher along with 500ml of water with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper,  simmer on a low heat with the lid on for a couple of hours and until the liquid has reduced by half, leave to cool then pour or syringe into the pie until the jelly has filled all the gaps around the pie and is full to the hole.

Cold Cuts for Boxing Day

FLAXSEED AND CHIA SEED CRACKERS WITH AVOCADO EGG AND SPINACH

Great tasty crackers, super good for you, loaded with plant based omegas and high in fibre this is a super food lunch especially when loaded avocado, spinach, egg and cream cheese, optional slices of salmon.

Geeky Good for You bit…

Fabulously easy to make crackers that are super healthy for you too, loaded with So Good For You ingredients, Turmeric gives anti inflammatory protection, is an antioxidant, speeds up wound healing and relieves arthritis, diabetes support by lowering blood sugar reversing insulin resistance, helps with depression and cholesterol.  Flaxseeds are loaded with omega 3 ALA fats, huge wallop of fiber and low in carbs, high protein along with vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium which gives you healthy skin and hair, lowers cholesterol, supports digestive health and are highly antioxidant and finally Chia seeds super high in fiber, supports digestive and heart health, supports diabetes because their rich in alpha-linolenic acid which helps lower excessive fat in the blood and supports strong bones and teeth.

AVOCADO

Vitamin B6, K, C, E, 67% mono un-saturated fats as oleic acid, 19% palmittic acid and linoleic acid, 14% saturated fat, potassium, folic acid, high fibre, folate and omega 3 fatty acids.  Perfect food, compounds help the liver to cleanse toxins, lowers blood cholesterol, eaten with spinach and carrots will increase absorption of impressive carotenoids, these are fat soluble and aid absorption of carotenoid nutrients, anti inflammatory, helps arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular health, protects blood vessels and promotes blood sugar regulation.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes

Ingredients 

(makes approx 24 crackers)

100g ground flaxseed

100g chia seed

60g psyllium husk

100g sesame seeds

75g sunflower seeds

75g pumpkin seeds

50g mixed nuts Brazil, walnut, almond

1 cup grated Parmesan 

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tbsp Himalayan sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp nigella seeds

550ml cold water

At this point you can add any extra flavour you like, I often add some chilli flakes or cumin and if I want to use these crackers for dipping with a lovely fresh bowl of salsa I will add fresh coriander and lime juice to compliment the salsa dip.

Optional Spices

(roughly 1 tsp)

Nigella seeds

Fennel seeds bashed

Coriander seeds bashed

Cumin seeds bashed

Mustard seeds

Harissa spice mix

Fenugreek seeds bashed

Ground paprika/smoked

Dried chillies

Ground coriander 

Ground ginger

Ground cinnamon 

Mixed spice

Curry powder

Moroccan spice

Pre heat your oven to 150 degrees C, combine all ingredients in a bowl, lay some baking paper on your work top enough to cover your baking sheet, cut a second sheet the same size, this is going to save clearing up!  Take one quarter of the mix in a loose ball and place in the centre of the baking sheet, place the second sheet on top and press down to flatten the dough out a little.

Take your rolling pin and roll the dough through the paper, hence no work top to clean down!  Roll as thin as you dare, cracker thin.  Peel off the top baking paper and using a knife or pizza cutter score the dough in to your crackers, this can be triangles for corn chips style or long and thin for more fancy presentation or just your standard squares.

Slide your baking sheet on to your baking tray and pop in the oven, these crackers will take 40 minutes to bake to perfection, if you feel they are not crisp enough leave for a further five minutes or so.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, they will keep for  two weeks in a air tight tin, they may loose a little of their crispy cracker, just pop in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp them back up.  Enjoy.

LYONNAISE BAKED POTATOES

Spoon Food

These gorgeous stock infused potatoes are a dream to eat, creamy, silky and so satisfying, I only make these in small portions as I wouldn’t stop eating them if there was more!

Prep time 10 minutes / Baking time up to 1 hrs

Ingredients

(serves 2)

2 large King Edward potatoes

1 Spanish onion thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 sprigs of thyme chopped

Olive oil

50g grated Parmesan

500ml chicken or vegetable stock

Salt

White pepper

Pre heat your oven to 220 C / 420 F.

Peel and as thin as you can slice the potatoes or use a mandolin (if you dare!). Soak in water to wash off some starch, heat a little oil in a pan and gently soften the onions without colouring them for around 5 minutes.  In your baking tin add a little oil then layer the potatoes first, next some onions, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper then Parmesan, repeat until the baking tin is full, finish with a layer of potatoes, add stock to just cover the potatoes and top with grated Parmesan.

Turn the oven down to 200 C / 390 F and place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until fork tender and golden, then enjoy.

AVOCADO EGG BACON CHILLI CHEESE STUFFED WRAP

A great tasty breakfast, full of great good for you ingredients along with the naughtiness of the cheese makes these a very low carb hearty breakfast or brunch.

One pan cook in 10 minute's

Ingredients 

(serves 1-2)

100g tex mex 4 cheese mix

(Monterey jack, Red Leicester and mild Cheddar)

1 egg

2 rashers sweetcure bacon cooked

1 red chilli sliced

1/4 red pepper diced

1 spring onion sliced

1 handful fresh spinach

1 tbsp fresh coriander

1/2 avocado sliced

Heat a non stick pan medium hot, add the cheese in a even layer covering the bottom leave to start to melt for a minute then make a small dent on one half side the size of a tablespoon, crack your egg in to the well, pop a lid on the pan to help steam cook the top of the egg for 5 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients to the other side of the melted cheese then fold over the egg side half on top of the rest of the ingredients, that’s it, serve with a tomato salad.

TWISTED GARLIC BREAD

OMGosh!

This is just the next level garlic bread.

WoW this garlic bread is so good, rich creamy roasted nutty buttery soft garlic spread generously on crispy thin sour dough buttered toast these are great on their own even better dunked in lasagna, chilli or fresh creamy tomato soup, chicken broth or french onion soup. 

Garlic Bread Croutons 

Ingredients

(makes 4 slices)

1 whole bulb garlic

75ml olive oil

Himalayan sea salt 

4 slices sour dough

4 generous tbsp salted butter

1 sour dough loaf sliced

Pre heat the oven to 170 C, toss the whole bulb in a third of the olive oil and season with the salt, roast in the oven for 45 minutes until soft and squidgy.  Slice your sour dough bread thin, drizzle with a hint of olive oil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes turning over half way through, generously butter and squeeze the cloves of garlic purée out on to the toast and spread on.  These are so good.