When is a pie not a “pie”?

Quite simply a pie is not a “pie” when it doesn't have a pastry lid.

I normally make Homity Pie for special occasions – my recipe serves 12-16 depending on the size of slice! I decided to make the same amount of pastry but scale down the filling – I freeze the remainder for another day – here goes :

Homity Pie – makes 2

Pastry

200g plain wholemeal flour

100g unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

ice cold water to bind

Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add a glug of water and use and round bladed knife to bring the pastry together.

You can use a processor if you prefer – I'd then tip the pastry directly onto clingfilm and bring it together to form a ball, then wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Ahead of the game

Bake 3 large jacket potatoes, then cool, peel and dice finely

and place in a large mixing bowl

250g onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic – finely chopped or roasted

paste

1.5 tbsp rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

2.5 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley – 1.5 tbsp for the

filling and 1 for the topping – use less if you are

using dried

150g of grated cheese – I use a mixture of mature

Cheddar, Gruyere and Red Leicester – 100g for the

filling and 50g for the topping

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, add to the potatoes and season with salt and black pepper. Add the cheese and parsley, mix thoroughly.

Roll out your pastry and line a greased pie dish measuring 18x14x4 cms (7x5½x1½”) .

Tip your potato mixture into the pastry case and pack it down tightly and flat – it will look as if you'll never get all the filling into the case – persevere – you will succeed.

Top with the remaining cheese and parsley.

Bake in a pre-heated oven – 190fan/170c/Gas 7 for 40 minutes – check after 20 minutes.

Next up … the “pie” photos

A post script for spuds ...

You've heard of twice cooked chips? Here are twice cooked roast potatoes.

The easiest way to show you, is as a guide :

I peeled 3 medium sized Maris Piper

potatoes, weighing 250-270g each and cut into

a total of 16 roasties (4 to 6 depending on size of

potato) and roasted for 20 minutes in a

pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6, then turned

and repeated. It doesn't matter that there's a variation

in colour

I'd already used half of the roasties to serve with

a supper earlier in the week and set aside, wrapped

in foil and fridged the remaining half to “twice cook”

to serve with anything you fancy – fish & chips anyone?

The set aside half of the part roasted potatoes – 8

cut vertically gave me 22 “mini”

roasties ready to “twice cook”

Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes in a pre-heated

oven as above

Twice cooked roasties, ready to serve!

It's definitely worth planning for “deliberate leftovers” - why make work for yourself!

Back to the mash!

Here are two more recipes both using mash and veggies – cheap and cheerful!

Pea and Spring Onion Champ

1.5kg Potatoes, scrubbed

100g butter

500ml/18 fl oz milk (or if a richer consistency

75% milk to 25% double cream)

450g frozen peas

75g spring onions, chopped

4 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and black pepper

Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, peel and mash. You could use a ricer for absolute “lump free”. Add half the butter – 50g, after mashing or ricing. Place the milk/cream in a pan with the peas and onions and boil, gently, for 4/5 minutes. Add the parsley, take off the heat.

Add the potatoes, keep some of the milk back – you may not need it all. Season to taste and beat until creamy and smooth – add more milk if required.

P.s. If you wish you could add grated mature cheddar cheese.

Colcannon

Savoy cabbage, finely shredded – half a cabbage

approximately 350g in weight

30g butter

Bunch of spring onions finely chopped

1.5kg Maris piper potatoes,

Salt and black pepper

There are no exact weights here – you may have leftover mashed potatoes and cabbage – it really doesn't matter.

If you've not got leftovers, cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, peel and mash. You could use a ricer for guaranteed lump free.

Put the cabbage in a pan with the butter and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until tender, stirring frequently.

Add the spring onions and cook for another minute or two. Mix with the mashed potato and season well.

Quick and easy but, above all, delicious!

Coming up … more cheap and cheerful

To mash or not to mash!

Toppings on pies are a serious business - shall it be mash - if not then what?

Two of the fundamentals that I still use are baking jacket potatoes (usually six - large) in foil whilst my oven is already on. The other is grating a large box/bag of mature cheddar cheese and fridge it. You create a very useful stash!

It may seem trivial but I have found these two “bits” invaluable – for example, with the potatoes, the principle is if your oven is on, with a roast chicken, roast spuds and parsnips, stuffing et al, you can always find space for jacket potatoes. Bake for an hour and a half then test – you want your paring knife to move firmly through the potatoes. Remove them and set aside to cool – bear in mind they will continue cooking because they are insulated by the foil. When cool they can be bagged and fridged.

Which brings me to the title of this piece. You don't have to have a mashed potato topping for your Snug Shepherd or your Cosy Cottage – you can slice a couple of jackets from your stash, peeled or not for a “top” and then use some of your grated cheese to complete!

If you choose a mashed potato topping and you want it lump free then put the pototoes through a ricer – don't add milk or butter. Set aside to cool.

You can add grated mature cheddar cheese, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and black pepper to the riced potato before you complete your pie. If you want added flavour to zhuzh the mash you could add a finely diced onion softened in a little unsalted butter and a tiny drop of rapeseed oil.

Mashed potato seems to be on “the definite list” - definitely yes you love it or definitely no you hate it! If you're in the no camp then try the sliced baked potatoes.

This is my favourite method of winter cooking especially when you want a meal as quickly as possible when you arrive home – turn on your oven to pre-heat when you've taken off your coat and by the time you've juggled a few more balls or spun a few more plates your shepherd or cottage – posh or not - is in the oven - ready for the hungry hordes.

Whether mashed or baked the beauty of this dish is it can be made and assembled ahead and then baked in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 30 mins.

Simple stuff but it hits the winter comfort spot.

Whilst I'm on the subject of saving time here's another tip – always providing you like garlic!

Snug or Cosy?

Depending on what you fancy, the following is for either a “Snug Shepherd” or a “Cosy Cottage” – minced lamb for the shepherd and minced beef for the cottage – pie that is!

A Shepherd or a Cottage

700g minced lamb or beef (or Quorn)

1 tbsp rapeseed oil (Canola USA)

2 tbsps Madeira

2 tbsps Ruby Port

2 tsps Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsps tomato paste

2 lamb, beef or veggie stock pots

50-100 ml water

Using a large frying pan and preferably one that is suitable for transfer to the oven. Heat the oil and then add the mince and brown, turning until thoroughly browned. Add the Madeira and the Port and bring to the boil for 2/3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and the stock pots and mix well until absorbed and melted.

Your filling should not be too dry but not too wet either. You should be able to see tiny puddles of liquid. If you need to add water then add it gradually – you can add more you can't remove it!

It's difficult to predict how much fat there'll be in minced meat. Lamb, generally speaking, will have more than beef.

You can transfer the filling into a foil tray or, as I did, leave it in the frying pan.

As a guide, my frying pan that is suitable for hob and oven is 28cms in diameter – 3 very large appetites or 4 normal.

I feel the need to describe the “puddles” :

See them glistening – not too wet but definitely not too dry.

Next - to mash or not to mash, that is the question!

Don't like Christmas Pudding?

Here's an absolute cracker – pardon the pun - Dorset Apple Cake! Dark, rich, slightly gooey but the glory is that you can see pieces of apple in the cake – you really have to eat this cake with a fork unless of course you enjoy licking your fingers!

This is another example of there not being a real authentic recipe because everyone has their own. Add this, that and the other – who is to say which version is the right one?

I looked at lots of photos of the Dorset Apple Cake, some looked very pale, some looked dry, some looked overcooked on the top and pale on the bottom. I really wanted a cross between a cake and a pudding, if that makes sense?

Here's my offering, tweaked as usual :

Dorset Apple Cake

225g cooking apples, peeled and chopped

slice an extra apple to decorate the top

juice of half a lemon – 1 tbsp

225g plain flour

1½ tsps baking powder

115g unsalted butter, diced

165g dark muscovado sugar – gives a dark

Chrismassy style cake or use light for a lighter

version – golden demerara too – use 50g of this

for the topping

1 egg beaten

2-3 tbsp of milk

½ tsp ground cinnamon

25g ground almonds

Preheat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease and line a 7” round cake tin.

Toss the apple with the lemon juice and set aside. Sift the flour and baking powder together then rub in the butter until you get breadcrumbs then add the ground almonds.

Stir in 115g of the sugar, the apple and the egg, mix well, adding a drop of the milk at a time to make a soft doughy mix.

Transfer to your tin.

Finally, mix the reserved 50g of soft brown sugar, sliced apple and cinnamon and arrange on top of the cake mix.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Photos up next …

Editor's July Pick #1: The Cornish pasty

Editor's note: After last week's selections mentioning pastry, I had it on the brain so off I went in search of a full how to, and as usual the archives deliver - in spades! So this week is a pastry special, and what better way to get to grips with it than with Cornish pasties! First up, pasty pastry done right:

The Cornish pasty – the recipes

Here's the basic pastry recipe :

Pasty pastry

This recipe will give you four eight inch (21cms) pasties

450g/1lb strong white bread flour

large pinch of salt

100g/4oz of margarine

100g/4oz lard

175ml/3^rd pint water

cling film

Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add 25g/1oz of lard and rub into the flour. Grate or slice the rest of the fats into the bowl and stir, using a round bladed knife. Pour all the water into the bowl and mix together with the knife. Keep the dough in the bowl and using your hand bring the dough together and knead using the heel of your hand. Tip the dough onto a sheet of cling film and use the film to bring the dough together in a fat circle. Wrap the dough twice in cling film, bag and fridge. Chill it for at least 30 minutes.

Before we go any further I can hear you exclaiming – LARD! - what is she thinking. You don't have to use lard, for me and other vegetarians out there, use either Trex or Cookeen – panic over! The lard is part of the original recipe. I used unsalted butter instead of the margarine.

For those who are used to making pastry, no matter how basic, this will seem an odd method. I promise you it works. Not only does it work I'd say it's the best result I've ever had.

For example, it doesn't matter if you fridge it to chill for 30 minutes and, surprise surprise, you get distracted and remember two hours later. It does not affect the end result.

A tip – as you can see the recipe gives you four pasties from the batch of pastry. When you're ready to roll (sorry!) cut the pastry into four equal portions. At this stage you can please yourself – make two pasties and then wrap the remaining two separately in cling film, bag and freeze for another day.

Take the frozen pastry out of the freezer the night before you want it and fridge it.

It behaves impeccably – just as if freshly made.

Next up, a pastry photo guide so far.

The apple ideas

The first is one of my favourites and one which has appeared on the blog previously and is worth repeating. It's perfect for the freezer.

There are loads of recipes out there for Dorset Apple Cake. The sample I bought was dark, rich, slightly and gooey but the glory was that you could see pieces of apple in the cake – you really have to eat this cake with a fork unless of course you enjoy licking your fingers!

This is another example of there's no real authentic recipe because everyone has their own. Add this, that and the other – who is to say which version is the right one?

I really wanted a cross between a cake and a pudding, if that makes sense – so that you could serve it with cream, custard, ice cream or clotted cream or all four

Here's my offering, tweaked as usual :

Dorset Apple Cake

225g cooking apples, peeled and chopped

slice an extra apple to decorate the top

juice of half a lemon – 1 tbsp

225g plain flour

1½ tsps baking powder

115g unsalted butter, diced

165g dark muscovado sugar – gives a dark

Chrismassy style cake or use light for a lighter

version – golden demerara too – use 50g of this

for the topping

1 egg beaten

2-3 tbsp of milk

½ tsp ground cinnamon

25g ground almonds

Preheat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease and line a 7” round cake tin.

Toss the apple with the lemon juice and set aside. Sift the flour and baking powder together then rub in the butter until you get breadcrumbs then add the ground almonds.

Stir in 115g of the sugar, the apple and the egg, mix well, adding a drop of the milk at a time to make a soft doughy mix.

Transfer to your tin.

Finally, mix the reserved 50g of soft brown sugar, sliced apple and cinnamon and arrange on top of the cake mix.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

A perfect Autumn pudding!

Two sauces and a pudding – now for the pudding!

Everyone has their favourite “go to” Yorkshire pudding recipe but if you haven't and need one – here it is – it does exactly what it says “in the tin”!

The Yorkshire pudding

This recipe belongs to Brian Turner a well known Chef and Yorkshireman to boot, so well qualified. The recipe's success is because it works not by weight but by volume. Use any size cup but measure each ingredient with the same cup. I'm not sure what the vinegar does but it's his Granny's recipe and it works so if it ain't broke don't fix it!

1 large cup plain flour

pinch of salt

1 large cup of eggs

1 large cup mixed milk and water

1 tbsp malt vinegar

beef dripping for pudding tin – use vegetable

or rapeseed oil if preferred

You'll need a Yorkshire Pudding tin

4x24x24x2cms or 12 hole muffin tin/Yorkshire

Pudding baking pan

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.

Add the eggs and beat well with half the liquid until all the lumps have disappeared.

Add the rest of the liquid and the vinegar and allow to stand.

In the Yorkshire pudding tin put a dessert spoon of dripping in each of the 4 sections and place in the oven until it is very hot.

Ladle the batter into the individual sections of the tin and place back in the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes without opening the oven if possible. Serve immediately.

It really is foolproof.

Next up the final Christmas bits and then it's New Year!

Curry sauce for a pie anyone?

If this curry sauce recipe has a downside it's the time it takes to produce – I can only say that it's definitely worth it and now you have the time!

It not pretentious - it's a typical chip shop curry sauce, more usually found in a Chinese chippy. If you have stock (or liquid gold as I prefer to call it) in your freezer from a slow cooked chicken with star anise, then it is perfect for this curry sauce and would make an excellent partner for a pie filling.

Chip Shop Curry Sauce

50g unsalted butter

2 large onions, finely sliced and chopped

1 tsp of ginger paste

4 roasted garlic cloves

3 tbsp mild curry powder

3 tbsp malt vinegar

½ tsp star anise powder

500ml of the slow cooked star anise chicken stock

2 tbsp slaked cornflour

2 tbsp lemon juice

160ml coconut cream

Using a large saucepan melt the butter and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Fry gently until soft – about 15 minutes, make sure there's no colour. Add the curry powder, star anise powder and vinegar, fry for another minute. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stir occasionally, you don't want it to stick.

Add two tbsp of water to the cornflour, mix and pour into the sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes, stir until you've got a silky, thickened sauce. Blitz with a hand blender until smooth, add the lemon juice.

You will get approximately 630g of thick curry sauce - I'd divide in half - 315g into two boxes and deposit in the treasure chest!

The sauce freezes well and I'd suggest you might want to do so in portions you know will suit you best. Remember, you can always take out more than one box, infinitely better than wasting part of a larger one.

Defrost the sauce in the fridge, then tip into a medium saucepan and warm it through. If you want to loosen the thickness but enrich the sauce add 160ml of coconut cream and stir until thoroughly absorbed.

It's difficult to get the right balance of “heat” and “spice” in a curry sauce and inevitably you can't please everyone. Chip shop curry is not as strong as traditional curries. To give you an idea of “heat” and “spice” I'd say it's not as hot and spicy as a rendang and not as mild as a korma, so middle for diddle, suitable for everyone.

By the way, you don't have to use the anise chicken stock, ordinary chicken stock is fine or vegetable stock if you want a veggie version.

I do love a useful sauce, especially one that can be used in different ways. The purists out there may sneer and would never set foot inside a chippy – it's their loss – I don't care – there's a place for any recipe made with love and care, particularly when it's part of a pie!

Before we continue with the pie fillings here's a sweet treat.