Not
sure whether you're thinking about a shindig this summer – I know
lots of people like BBQ and as there are gazillions of recipes out
there, not to mention those of your own, tried and tested – I'm not
even thinking of going there. Of course it might not be a shindig,
it might be a picnic so you'd want portable, to survive the journey.
“Portable Picnics” will
follow.
Instead I'm going to give you some ideas for stuff to serve with the
BBQ and the picnic along with a recipe or two!
The following two recipes are both vegetarian. They'll both go with
your shindig or your picnic and can be served hot or cold –
equally delicious either way.
The Homity Pie is thought to have appeared during WWII probably
invented by the Land Girls using what little ingredients they had
around. I first came across it years ago in Denby, Derbyshire where
the pottery of the same name is still going - it has a great cafe
where they still serve it today. Check out
www.denbyvisitorcentre.co.uk. (To avoid disappointment, if you intend
to visit Denby Pottery call ahead if you want to sample their pie –
they don't serve it every day). Eventually I plucked up the courage
and phoned the cafe and asked how they made the pie – here's my
take on it. It's perfect to serve on either occasion.
For perspective, I'm attaching a photo of the dish that I use –
25cms approximately in diameter and approximately 5cms deep. It
doesn't have to be circular - you could use oblong or square – you
can get large, strong foil dishes that'll save on washing up too!
Homity
Pie
Pastry
case
200g/8oz
plain wholemeal flour
100g/4oz
unsalted butter
pinch
of baking powder
cold
water to bind
Filling
6
large jacket potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced
1lb
onions
3
tbsp rapeseed oil
5
tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
(3
for the filling, 2 for the topping)
300g/12oz
grated cheese – 200g/8oz mature cheddar, 100g4oz Gruyere mixed
(200g/8oz
cheese for filling, 100g/4oz for the topping)
3
cloves of garlic, crushed (or garlic paste)
Salt
and black pepper
For
the pastry case, use a food processor if you have one, pop the flour,
baking powder and butter and blitz until breadcrumbs. Add a drop of
ice cold water and pulse, gently, until the pastry comes together (do
not over overdo it). Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of clingfilm,
using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and refrigerate
for 30 mins.
Grease
your pie dish.
Roll
out your pastry, line your dish and refrigerate again until you are
ready to bake.
Place
the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Saute the onions and garlic in
the oil and cool, then add to the potatoes. Season well. Add the
cheese and parsley.
Tip
the filling into the pastry case and pack tightly – it will look as
if you've too much filling – the tighter you pack, the better it
will be. Mix the remaining cheese and parsley together and sprinkle
over the top.
Place
in a pre-heated hot oven (190fan/210c /gas mark 7) for 40 minutes.
Check after 30 minutes. It should be golden brown.
This
recipe will give you 12-16 portions – depending on how big you like
them – it is filling.
I've seen Homity Pie in the past in supermarkets (recent research
seems to indicate that it is no longer available) at a vastly
inflated price. These days vegetarian ready meals seem to be
“gussied up” in fancy packaging, costing a fortune with very
little flavour. The taste test I did was disappointing, mainly
because the pastry was too thick and short on filling.
You can of course scale down the Homity Pie recipe – my two
pennyworth is that it freezes well, so, in the unlikely event there
are leftovers, you can save for another day. This principle also
applies to the Three Cheese Tart. I can only speak as I find – it
will vanish!
Another tip – in the past, under pressure – cooking for the
shindig, I've made and lined my pastry base and frozen it, as is.
When required, pull out of the freezer, pack tightly with the filling
and bake. Easy peasy.
The Three Cheese tart is my recipe. I'm not a lover of the quiche
but love cheese and onion, personally I think that you should taste
both and not be lost in an eggy mixture. I realise there's a lot of
cheese in this recipe and I am not recommending it as an everyday
dish. It's an occasional indulgence. The pastry on both recipes
is the same - the aim in each case is to roll it as thinly as
possible resulting in a thin, crisp base and, wholemeal pastry is
healthy! These days the quality of wholemeal flour is so good – if
you can afford to spend a little more – it's definitely worth it.
Three
Cheese Tart
Pastry
case
200g/8oz
Wholemeal Flour
100g/4oz
unsalted butter
Pinch
of baking powder
Ice
cold water to bind
Filling
2
medium onions, chopped
knob
of butter, drop of rapeseed oil
300g/12oz
grated cheese, 100g/4oz each mature
cheddar,
Red Leicester and Gruyere
1
egg, beaten to bind
Black
pepper
Grease
and line a 9”/22cm dish or spring clip tin.
For
the pastry case, use a food processor if you have one, pop the flour,
baking powder and butter and blitz until breadcrumbs. Add a drop of
ice cold water and pulse, gently, until the pastry comes together (do
not over overdo it). Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of clingfilm,
using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and refrigerate
for 30 mins.
Soften
the chopped onions in the butter and rapeseed oil.
Add
the cheese, onions, black pepper and beaten egg, set aside and
refrigerate until you are ready to roll!
Roll
out your pastry and refrigerate again until you are ready to bake.
Pre-heat
your oven to 180 fan/200c/gas 6.
When
you are ready to bake put the chilled filling into the chilled pastry
and bake for 35/40 minutes until golden. Check after 30 minutes.
Leave
the tart to cool, ideally served warm. If you cut into the tart when
straight out of the oven the cheese filling will ooze – you need to
leave it to settle.
P.S. Just in case you think there's a mistake in this recipe in that
there's no salt mentioned – there's enough salt in the cheese!
Portable Picnics next!
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