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.

MY BEAUTIFUL CHICKENS EGGS

The best eggs a hen can give.

Love the girls and their glorious eggs they give us daily.

Our girls are getting a little older and we are down on egg production, this might also be that we are spoiling them a bit too much by letting them out of their main run early in the morning before they have laid any eggs and we are feeding them too much corn, but we don't mind they are very loving and will follow us around the garden and want to help with whatever we are doing.

BEER CAN CHICKEN THE JUICEST ROAST EVER !!!

Wahooo !!!  Finally tried Jamie's beer can chicken and what a magnificant difference, from now on I will only every roast my chickens with a beer can (really want to post up their butt) in their cavity.  This was the juiciest breast and thigh meat we have ever achieved.  Loved the drama of balancing the bird on the can and the exctiment will it blow up?!  But it all turned out to be very stable.

(serves family of 5 + lots of left overs)

LEFT OVER IDEAS:  Chicken puff pie, Warm chicken & bacon salad, Chicken ramen & noodles, Stir fry noodles or rice, Chicken sandwiches/wraps, Corrination chicken and rice, chicken curry or Red Thai curry, Chicken and garlic roast potato hash, Campbell's mushroom chicken supreme & rice,  Creamy cheesy chicken & veg pasta, Chicken Shepard's pie, Chicken burgers mayo & lettuce & bacon.

Ingredients

1 large free range organic if you can chicken

Seasoning or flavoured rub I used smoky chiptole rub

1 can of beer or coke open!

5 large rooster potatoes

4 tbsp goose fat

4 cloves garlic chopped

Salt

Fabulous fun and so worth trying, I am so impressed how much juicer the chicken breasts and legs were.  I roasted a 2 kg bird for 1 hour and left the bird to rest for 20 minutes in the hot oven.

I always have to have garlic roast potatoes with this dish, quick and simple I don't peel the roosters, just rough chop in large chucks and toss in the goose fat and cook for 45 minutes, 10 minutes before they are finished I sprinkle in the chopped garlic.  What is so sumptuous about these potatoes is that the bottoms are soft and squidgy full of fabulous flavor and the topsides are crispy and caramelised.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

One of the very best leftover meals

Love love love bubble and squeak it has to be traditional, proper left over roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts and cabbage, there are two ways I make this, I either crush or rough chop all the ingredients and have a chunky texture bubble or I frappe all the ingredients in a blender and make a smoother softer bubble.

Ingredients
LEFTOVERS
Roast potatoes
Steamed cabbage
Boiled brussel sprouts
Salt and pepper
Dash ooil
Knob of butter

So simple just crush, chop or frappe, place in a large mixing bowl and season well.  Form into small patties or one large pancake.  In a frying pan heat a dash of ooil and knob of butter, not too much as there is some fat in the roasted potatoes and you want your bubble to be light not heavy and greasy.  Pan fry for approx 5 minutes each side until both sides are caramelised and the bubble is heated all the way through.  Serve alone or as a accompaniment with poached eggs and black pudding, or with cold cuts of ham.

CREAMY ALFREDO CARBONARA

There are two ways to make this dish, both are super quick but one requires virtually no effort.  A very versatile recipe too, as you can add mushrooms and white wine to create a completely different meal.

(serves 4)

SUPER QUICK NO EFFORT RECIPE

Ingredients

4 portions of pasta

600ml double cream

200g of medium grated cheddar

50g grated parmesan

1/4 tsp grated nutmed

White pepper

Fresh black pepper

Salt

200g ham torn 

chopped parsely to finish

QUICK COOK GUIDE

Put a pan of salted water on to boil.  While the pasta is cooking approx 11 minutes, heat the cream to just a simmer, add the cheese and stir till melted, season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, stir in the ham and then the sauce is ready to go.  This is a rich sauce and very filling.  

ALMOST TRADITIONAL CABONARA RECIPE
STILL A QUICK RECIPE
Ingredeints
4 portions pasta
3 tbsp ooil
1 onion fine fine chopped
1 garlic clove fine chopped
1 pack thin pancetta fine chopped
200ml double cream
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp chopped parsely
Salt and pepper to taste
150g fresh grated Parmesan

QUICK COOK GUIDE
Put a pan of salted water on to boil and place a serving bowl in the oven to keep warm.  While the pasta is cooking approx 11 minutes, gently pan fry in ooil the onion and garlic fry gently until soften, not coloured.

Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and place in a large bowl, then in the same pan fry the pancetta and then add to the onions and garlic.  Now while the pasta is still cooking in a bowl mix the cream, egg yolks and parsley together, season lightly with salt and pepper and add to the onion and pancetta mix.

Pre-heat your serving bowls.

As soon as the pasta is cooked immediately drain, and then add the pasta to the bowl of cream, yolks, pan fired onions and pancetta and toss, the heat of the pasta will cook out the egg yolks, check for seasoning and finish off with fresh Parmesan and parsley.  Serve immediately pre-heated bowls.

SMOKEY SWEET SPICY CHIPOTLE ROASTED GOOSE WITH GARLIC ROAST POTATOES

Fabulous chipotle and cinnamon sweet smokey rubbed roasted goose.

Sweet and smoky cinnamon and chipotle rubbed roast goose.  For a juicy goose, I followed River Cottages advice and roasted fast in a high heated oven 200 degrees for 12 mins per lb, then wrapped the bird in tin foil and rested for 20 minutes, following Jamies serving tips, I took the breasts off and then carved them to serve.

The sweet smoky chiptole rub worked really well with the goose it was sweet and spicy very moorish.  The goose was cooked on a trivet and I placed peeled rough chopped potatoes in the bottom of the pan and let all those gorgeous flavours and fat drip down basting the potatoes while they cooked, and for the last 10 minutes I tossed in 4 chopped garlic cloves over the potatoes, and these were probably the best goose fat roasted garlic potatoes I have ever done.

Ingredients

1 x goose

70g sweet and smoky rub

Salt and Pepper

8 x rooster red potatoes peeled rough chopped

4 x cloves garlic rough chopped

Prick the goose skin all over with a fork and season well with salt, then rub in your rub generously in all the nooks and crannies.  Place on your trivet and pop in a pre-heated oven 200 degrees for 12 minutes per lb.  

20 minutes before your goose is ready to come out and rest, place the potatoes in the glorious goose fat in the bottom of the roasting pan, toss and return to the oven.  After the 20 minutes remove the goose from the oven and wrap well in tin foil to rest, return the potatoes to the oven for a further 20 minutes to crisp up, because of the amount of goose fat the bottom of these mini roast potatoes will be soft and squidgy and the tops will be crispy and crunchy, a match made in heaven.  Ten minutes before the potatoes are ready toss in the chopped garlic.

To serve carve from the bird or remove the breasts whole and then slice for a neater presentation on your plate.  I like to have a aioli or cranberry and mayo dip for my roasted garlic potatoes.

JANUARY EARLY SPRING COMES TO MY GARDEN

Wow our daffodils are up and it is only the first week in January!

Clive's rhubarb crown is up and sprouting, can't wait for the first crumble.

Looking forward to our winter cabbages maturing in a couple of months.

I have had a hit and miss with winter veg, I have been successful with winter carrots and leeks one year and never cabbage, this year no carrots or leeks, well stubby under grown ones, but my winter cabbages are doing fab, I  do find this a little frustrating as I am a little bit of a perfectionist which really means I drive myself and my family bonkers !

LAMB STEW AND DUMPLINGS

Such a simple one pot dinner to make that is heart warming, cheap and really quick and easy to make, I have a romantic passion for these old fashioned comfort childhood memory dishes, they cover all the bases and deliver so much flavour and are very filling and comforting.

(serves 4-6)

Ingredients
4 lamb neck fillets
30ml ooil
1 knob butter
1 onion fine chopped
1 celery fine diced
1 garlic clove fine diced
2 carrot roughly chopped
6 potatoes peeled rough chopped
2 knorr jelly stock cubes
1 ltr+ water
1 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper

FOR THE DUMPLINGS
200g plain flour
100g suet
1 tsp mint
4-6 tbsp water
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tsp fresh parsley to finish optional

Make the dumpling dough first and leave to rest, just mix all the ingredients together.

This is a really quick and easy dinner to prepare and then let all the flavours melt together and make a gorgeous stew.  In a deep pan heat the ooil and butter gently soften the onion, celery, garlic and  carrot for approx 7 minutes, add the lamb neck fillet and sear the meat, once seared sprinkle in 1 tbsp of flour and stir in, now add the water and stock.  Cook on a low heat for 2 hrs until the lamb is tender and wants to fall apart, now add the rough chopped potatoes and the dumplings, place a lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.

SIMPLE IS OFTEN BEST
Dumpling hint, place the dumplings in when the stew is simmering and place a lid on so that the bottom half of the dumplings soak up the gorgeous lamb stock and the top half is steamed and light in texture, a match made in heaven if you are a stodge loving person, hard to find these days!

To serve we like to ladle lots of the stew in a bowl, have a few slices of heavily buttered bread and sit on the sofa watching tv while we loose ourselves in this wonderful winter comforting dish.

OUR GLORIOUS PIGS WEEK 26 AND OH MY! ARE WE REALLY GOING TO EAT THEM ? OH I REALLY NOT LIKING THE COUNTDOWN UNTIL THEY GO !!!

Ginger

Our pigs are so social and love talking to us

Lemon

Up grade, new extension for the pigs as the rain has not let up

I want what you got !  So true...

Love Lemon's ethos, why stand and rootle when one can sit and achieve the same result !

So happy with our gorgeous pigs, great personality, and sense of humour, a pleasure to look after and great characters to watch and play with.  We have a couple of chairs under the tree by their run and we sit and watch them rootling, playing and every so often they come over and have a chat with us.

Time is ticking on and we are now on a 10 week count down!  Today we ordered the ear tags, We are very lucky to have meet a really supportive pig experienced couple who set up our ark and have been really supportive all the way through with helpful experience tips.  They are going to tag the pigs on the day they leave as they are collecting them from our home and transporting them to the end destination.

Over the next month we are going to have to start looking at booking our local farm shop to do the butchery and what cuts of meat, mince and sausages we are going to want!  We have emotional mixed feelings about this, but something Hugh Fernerly Whittingstall said helps, if we eat meat we are responsible for the welfare of the animals and the legal minimum standard of welfare is not acceptable by our standard and that is the main standard of care for most standard lines of supermarket meats.  As we do love eating meat and want to be a bit more guilt free, we feel that by raising our own pigs we have given our meat the very best love and attention and a great fun positive life.  Will use every bit of them, including the oink!

We won't pretend this is something as first time pig raisers, animal lovers and pet owners, that we are comfortable with, we are putting a face to our food, and we will see how this goes, We know that the next stage will be the hardest part as it is our first time but what does not help this experience and journey is that the pigs are so clever with great personalities and such fun to spend time with...

PAN FRIED STEAK WITH PORCHINI MUSHROOMS IN A RED WINE STOCK SAUCE

20oz RIB EYE STEAKS

ALL THE JUICES OF THE STEAKS MAKING THE RICH SAUCE

WHILE THE STEAKS REST ALL THEIR COOKING JUICES ARE REDUCED WITH SOME WINE

THIS IS A REALLY QUICK ONE PAN COOK, AND FOR THE LITTLE EFFORT WE REALLY DON'T DESERVE SUCH DEPTHS OF RICHNESS AND FLAVOUR

(serves 2-4)

Ingredients

2 x 18-20oz rib eye centre cut steaks

A glug of oil

A knob of butter

50g dried porchini mushrooms

1/2 a jelly chicken stock

300ml water

300ml red wine

50-100g butter cubed (to taste)

Seasoning

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Heat the oil and butter in your pan, season the steaks with salt and fresh black pepper, sear the steaks in the pan turning occasionally, the charring on each side adds to the flavour.  I sometimes place the lid on my cooking pan to keep in some of the moisture and this makes extra stock so when the steaks are almost cooked to your choice and you add the dried mushrooms, these will soak up the oils and steak juices and you gain all of the mushroom flavour  in your stock/sauce and you don't lose any flavour by pre-soaking them.

Remove the steaks, I like to take the lid off the cooking pan and place the steaks on this as it is warm and cover in tin foil to keep the heat in, also all the resting juices will just pool in the lid and you can add them to the gravy when ready.

Now to make a really quick, simply gorgeous and rich sauce in minutes, just turn up the pan and reduce the stock by half, then add the red wine and reduce by one third, then add the butter and season to taste.  The butter is a natural thickener which also adds a lovely rich depth to the sauce along with the mushrooms.

Serve as is or as I also like to just steam or boil some potatoes and just crush them with a fork and splatter with some melted butter, salt and pepper, I find this is more than enough as the sauce is rich.

JERK BUFFALO CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN AND BLUE CHEESE BURGER

A NEW FAVOURITE, I HAVE COMBINED MY FAVOURITE THREE BURGERS, THE CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN BURGER WITH THE JAMAICAN JERK SWEET SPICED BURGER AND THEN GOING WAY OVER THE TOP I HAVE SMOTHERED THE FILLET IN WEST INDIAN HOT BUFFALO SAUCE AND FINISHED WITH THICK CREAMY COOL BLUE CHEESE...

THE LOW DOWN ON CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN LINGO

FRIED CHICKEN chicken on the bone tossed in seasoned flour and fried

CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN chicken breasts tossed in seasoned flour and fried

CHICKEN FRIED STEAK steak tossed in seasoned flour and fried as chicken fried chicken

(makes 2)

Ingredients

2 x 7oz chicken breasts

1 jar Jamaican spice paste

3 tbsp honey

1 bottle west Indian hot sauce

200g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 pinch cayenne

100g blue cheese crumbed

200ml double cream

4 cheese slices 

2 burger buns

1 iceberg lettuce fine sliced

2 tbsp mayo

2 ltr oil for frying

First start to heat the oil to 170 degrees, either in a deep saucepan or if you want to use a frying pan you will have to turn the chicken over half way, also pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Take the chicken and lay on a piece of clingfilm, top with more clingfilm and using a rolling pin bash to an equal thickness all over.

Mix the flour with the salt, pepper and cayenne and place in a large bowl.  Next make the blue cheese sauce,  bring the cream up to a simmer, you can do this in the microwave to save washing up and time, add the blue cheese and stir until melted, place to one side with the mayo, lettuce and west Indian sauce.  Cut the buns in half and toast under the grill.

Take the chicken breasts and generously coat in the Jamaican jerk spice paste and honey, now dredge in the seasoned flour until fully covered, dust off any excess flour and now they are ready to seal in the fryer.  Place the two chicken breasts into the hot oil and leave to seal, just watch that the honey and jerk spice does not burn.  Once they breasts have been frying for approx 3-5 minutes remove and place on a baking tray, top each breast with 2 cheese slices and pop in the oven to finish off for a couple of minutes.

Now you can get ready to assemble one of the very best juicy flavoursome combination burgers ever...

I like to spread a little mayo on the bottom bun and then some iceberg lettuce, then I place the chicken fried chicken Jamaican jerk buffalo breast on the bun, top with west Indian buffalo sauce then mayo then iceberg lettuce and finish of with a generous dollop of blue cheese sauce.  Bun lid on and get messy!

JERK AND HONEY CHRISTMAS HAM, THE BEST HAM I HAVE EVER DONE !

WHOLE PORK LEG BONED, BRINED, SOAKED AND SIMMERED IN COURT BOUILLON

ONCE SIMMERED, REMOVE THE SKIN AND SCORE THE FAT, STUD WITH CLOVES AND THEN RUB IN THE GLORIOUS JAMAICAN JERK SPICE AND HONEY READY TO BAKE 

THE COOKED HAM ON MY FAB SLICER

DOUBLE FUN FIRST I GET TO SLICE AND THEN I GET TO TEST (EAT), THE THICKNESS AND FLAVOUR  OF THE HAM, THIS IS A COOK'S PERK!

Ingredients

1 large raw brined gammon

1 jar Jamaican jerk paste spice 

1/2 jar honey or

300g dark soft brown sugar

30 ish whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 bark of cinnamon
10 whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp mustard

SOAKING THE HAM
First you will need to soak the ham in cold water for 8 hrs or so, overnight is easiest.  Change the water a couple of times if you can.  I read a cooking tip last year that suggested you did not need to soak your brined ham as the butchers don't use as much salt as they would have years ago, I don't agree.  Last years ham I did not soak and it was very salty.

SIMMERING THE HAM
Place the soaked ham in a large saucepan and cover with cold water, add the bay leaves, bark, peppercorns and mustard, bring to a gently simmer for 15 minutes per lb.  Once cooked leave to cool in the cooking liquid, then pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.  Remove the ham and pat dry.

GLAZING & BAKING THE HAM
Slice the skin off the ham, keeping a nice layer of fat on the ham.  Score the fat not all the way through and generously rub on the Jerk spice paste, so you have a nice even layer, now stud a clove in each cross section of the scored fat and then either drizzle over honey generously or pat on a generous layer of dark soft brown sugar, pop in the oven for 30-45 minutes until the glaze is caramelised and you home smells of a gorgeous Christmas ham.

We can't wait for this to cool and carve off a few chunks straight from the oven, the magnificent burst of sweet and aromatic spices with a juicy full flavoured ham is a joy and highlights how many lovely ham meals we are going to be having over the Christmas and New year celebrations. I then set the ham in the fridge and slice off as and when, this ham should last at least 2 months.

OUR CHRISTMAS DINNER ! WELL I FORGOT TO PHOTO MOST OF THE DINNER AS WE WERE TO BUSY EATING IT !!!

THE NO1 GUEST AT OUR CHRISTMAS TABLE

A MUST HAVE CHIPOLATAS WRAPPED IN PANCETTA

ONE OF THE BEST BITS MAKING THE GRAVY...

LOVE LOVE LOVE MAKING THE GRAVY THIS IS MY CHRISTMAS EVE FINAL PREP AFTER WE HAVE HELPED SANTA DELIVER THE STOCKINGS, I GET A TIPPLE, OR THREE AND ONE FOR SANTA AND JUST RELAX AND REDUCE STOCK LOL!

MAKING MAGIC REINDEER DUST SO THAT SANTA'S REINDEER'S CAN FIND OUR HOME AND DELIVER OSCAR'S WELL DESERVED STOCKING

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND EXCITING ANTICIPATION AWAITS THE 1 HOUR REST!

GLORIOUS CRUNCHY AND FLUFFY GOOSE FAT ROASTED POTATOES

 GOTTA LOVE OUR BRUSSEL SPROUTS WE DO!

MY CHRISTMAS TABLE READY FOR ONE OF THE BEST FAMILY MEALS OF THE YEAR

I just love Christmas Day Cooking, in all it is the anxious extra details that are added to a relatively simply roast dinner, but the expectation for a perfect family meal adds so much pressure, not like a traditional Sunday roast where the meal falls together without any stressful effort.  We all cluck around the kitchen and my dad and I fuss over all the cooking while my mum is keeping full control from afar and just reminding me and dad to baste, par boil and drain, keeping our timing in check!  I love the resting time of 1 hour for the turkey as then we get to roast the potatoes without having to juggle the oven space and all the resting juices baste the turkey and create the best every gravy of the Year!

Then we all dish up the meal together, Dad carves the turkey, many hands filling serving bowls, loading plates with turkey, sausage and stuffing going to everyone and then we all sit and pull our crackers, wear our hats, fill our plates and bellies and congratulate ourselves for all bringing together a perfect Christmas dinner, because after all it is the family that makes the dinner perfect not the food on this special day.