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    Thursday, March 15, 2012

    Pea Pie and Spud - A Rich Apple Pie to Finish

    On the subject of Pies again
    A wonderful comfort dinner…
    It is cold outside
    Last Thursday, I made a plethora of pies
    "The Piewoman Cometh"
    I was planning to make some for the freezer,
    but by the time the kids had theirs,
    (Complete with their initials),
    I also gave some to the lovely young lady,
    that "does" for me,
    Dale ate his portion.
    Then, there was only enough left over for dinner tonight,
    Plus a couple of spares.
    I'll pop them in the freezer
    Make a nice little lunch later in the week

    I had made little ramekins filled with mashed potato, shallots, cheddar cheese, sour cream and an egg to help them puff up.
    Excellent for the children they loved them

    What. A Wonderful Friday night dinner in front of the TV with a couple of glasses of a nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

    The only real recipe here in this post,
    is my Mother's Simple Mince.

    3 tablespoons olive oil
    1 kg good mince
    2 large onions chopped
    Salt pepper
    2 tablespoons flour
    Beef stock cube
    3 tablespoon tomato ketchup
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    Dash Worcester sauce
    700mls hot Water

    Thickening agent
    1tablespoon flour
    2 tablespoons of water

    Place 1 tablespoon olive oil into a hot pan
    Start frying the mince over high heat

    It pays to do it in batches
    You want a nice colour, no Grey Mice here
    Season each batch with S&P
    When brown, remove from the pan and set aside
    When all of the mince is cooked
    Add remainder of olive oil into the pan
    Sauté onions over med heat till soft
    and just starting to colour
    Add flour
    cook for about 3-4 minutes
    Dissolve stock cube in hot water and add to onions
    Stir till thickened a little
    Return mince to pan
    Mix well
    Season with tomato ketchup, Worcester sauce and soy sauce
    Simmer for about 30 minutes
    Stir occasionally, to stop mince from sticking to bottom

    The mince will probably need to be thickened a little more

    The Thickening
    Make a slurry of flour and water
    Just whisk well with a fork no lumps please


    Add to mince
    Just cook about 5 minutes
    Cool
    This really is best made the day before
    Dont forget to buy Frozen Pastry
    The sheets are good for this.
    To make the pies

    Grease your pie tins with butter
    Roll out pastry enough or bottom and top
    Line tin with one disc
    3/4 fill with mince
    Put a lid on
    Crimp the edges
    Brush with egg wash

    Bake at 190c for 20 -25 minutes or until golden brown
    Remove from tin and cool on rack

    Just reheat in a 190c oven when needed
    Should take about 10 minutes
    Comfort food at it's best
    The pie in the picture only yielded 622 calories
    Mashed potato about 3 tablespoons
    Only around 50 cals Not bad
    The kids think the meal is not a meal, unless I make dessert
    I researched and found this recipe by Nigel Slater
    It’s from Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers
    Now this pie is not Lo-Cal at all

    But it is delicious
    Crumbly, short with those sweet apples 
    So so good
    A word of advice. I found the egg yolks were not enough to bind the dough.
    I chilled down some water and added it little by little, till the consistency was right.


    Ingredients
    250g/9oz plain flour
    125g/4oz butter, cut into small dice,
    plus a little more for cooking the
    apples
    2 free-range egg yolks,
    3-4 tablespoons iced water (Only if needed)
    plus an extra beaten egg for brushing the pastry
    4 tbsp mature farmhouse cheese, grated,
    plus a little more for brushing
    the pastry
    6 medium-sized dessert apples
    a pinch ground cinnamon
    a little milk for brushing the pastry
    plain yoghurt, to serve (optional)

    Preparation method
    Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

    To prepare the pastry, put the flour into a mixing bowl,
    add the butter and rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips
    (use a food processor if you prefer. I did.)
    Beat the egg yolks with a fork and mix with the flour and butter, 
    till it looks like breadcrumbs
    This is where you may have to use your iced water.
    You need to pastry to be able to clump together

    then bring the dough together to form a ball.
    Scatter the grated cheese over a large chopping board
    then put the dough on top,
    Knead the dough very lightly, pushing the grated
    cheese in as you go.

    Put into the fridge to rest, covered in cling film.
    To prepare the filling,
    Cut the apples into quarters,
    Remove and discard the cores
    then cut the fruit into chunks.
    Put a generous slice of butter
    into a non-stick pan over a moderate heat,
    add the apples
    and leave to cook, with the occasional stir,
    until they are lightly coloured and starting to soften.
    Stir in the cinnamon. 
    Roll the pastry out into a rough circle about 35cm/14in in diameter,
    then transfer it to a baking sheet or roasting tin.
    Pile the apples in the centre of the pastry
    leaving a wide rim around the edge;

    Pull the edges of the pastry in over the apples, leaving those
    in the centre quite visible.

    Mix the remaining beaten egg with a little milk and brush the pastry
    with the mixture, then scatter a little extra grated cheese.

    Bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
    Serve warm,
    with yoghurt or Creme Fraiche, if you wish.
    Serves 6

    1 comment:

    Ruth Daniels said...

    I must come by your house next pie day! These have me drooling.