Melton Mowbray is in Leicestershire.
Jun. 7th, 2020 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.
Crust:
4/5 cup water
3/4 cup rendered lard
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten, for glaze
jellied stock
Filling:
2 lb boned pork shoulder, half ground and half diced
1/2 lb bacon, also half ground and half diced (I used house-made)
2-3 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 tsp anchovy extract
salt and pepper
Bring the water and lard to a boil in a small pan. Tip them into the middle of the flour and salt in a large bowl and swiftly work together with a wooden spoon (you can also do this in a fud processor). Leave the dough to cool slightly so you can handle it, but not so long that it is actually cool. Break off a quarter for the lid and put the rest into the base of a hinged pie mold. Push the dough up the sides with your hands as quickly as you can, sealing any cracks. If the dough collapses as you are working, never fear, it just means it is a little too hot, so squidge it back into a ball, wait, and start again.
Put all the meats into a large bowl, add all the seasonings, and mix well together by hand. Pack the filling tightly into the pie, then roll out the lid and put it on top with the help of some beaten egg. Cut a central hole, through which the steam can escape, and decorate with dough trimmings as you like. Brush egg all over the pie and start the cooking at 400 F for the first 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325 and cook for a further 2 hours. Cover the top with wax paper if it is darkening too much.
Remove the pie from the oven and take it out of its mold. Brush the sides with beaten egg once more and return to the oven for 10 minutes for a little color enhancement. Then pour the jellied stock through the hole with a small funnel (I used a sausage funnel, because of course I did); the meat will have shrunk considerably. (Lies!)
Abandon the pie for at least 24 hours before you eat it, but longer won't hurt. The beauty of hot water crust pastry is that it absorbs the meat juices and fat on the inside while managing to stay crisp on the outside. Serve with good homemade chutney, a slice of mature Cheddar, a salad - I leave it to you.
What worked: This was my first-ever attempt at a standing pie and hot-water crust. It went much better than I was afraid it might. I used a vintage raised pie mold from the curvy upstairs neighbor. It produced a nice-looking oval raised pie. The appearance was very good, with a laurel wreath on top from dough leftovers. The inside was attractive with a mixture of meat textures. The flavor was nondescript pork meatloaf, but not bad at all. Good crust with great flavor and chew, if a bit uneven and thick in places. (See below.) Overall, it was a nice dinner with a green salad, mustard, cornichons, a hard cheese, and pickled walnuts. It unmolded with no problems.
I had previously made jellied stock from Cornish game hen carcasses, cooked with various veg and a pig trotter. The first cooking didn't gel up, so I cooked it longer with a second trotter and that did the trick.
What didn't: The butcher we use didn't have any rendered lard. Instead they had "pig butter". It's like stock vs. bone broth - identical but higher cost. Sigh. The pie mold was difficult to use; it kept popping free from the base. Also, the dough is traditionally tamped into place - the British recipe had you pat with your hands, which is less effective. Once I found that out from the curvy upstairs neighbor and used her tamper, it went much better.
There was too much filling for the pie by maybe two cups. I cooked a 1/4 cup or so with an egg for a few breakfasts, which worked fine, and we made tacos with the remainder.
The crust cracked on one side during baking. The meat did not shrink down appreciably, and only had room for about 2 Tbsp jellied stock - all of which promptly ran out from said crack.
Will I make it again? Probably not this recipe. However, now that I have a bit more experience with hot water crust raised pies, and jellied stock, I will continue with them.
Crust:
4/5 cup water
3/4 cup rendered lard
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten, for glaze
jellied stock
Filling:
2 lb boned pork shoulder, half ground and half diced
1/2 lb bacon, also half ground and half diced (I used house-made)
2-3 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
no garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 tsp anchovy extract
salt and pepper
Bring the water and lard to a boil in a small pan. Tip them into the middle of the flour and salt in a large bowl and swiftly work together with a wooden spoon (you can also do this in a fud processor). Leave the dough to cool slightly so you can handle it, but not so long that it is actually cool. Break off a quarter for the lid and put the rest into the base of a hinged pie mold. Push the dough up the sides with your hands as quickly as you can, sealing any cracks. If the dough collapses as you are working, never fear, it just means it is a little too hot, so squidge it back into a ball, wait, and start again.
Put all the meats into a large bowl, add all the seasonings, and mix well together by hand. Pack the filling tightly into the pie, then roll out the lid and put it on top with the help of some beaten egg. Cut a central hole, through which the steam can escape, and decorate with dough trimmings as you like. Brush egg all over the pie and start the cooking at 400 F for the first 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325 and cook for a further 2 hours. Cover the top with wax paper if it is darkening too much.
Remove the pie from the oven and take it out of its mold. Brush the sides with beaten egg once more and return to the oven for 10 minutes for a little color enhancement. Then pour the jellied stock through the hole with a small funnel (I used a sausage funnel, because of course I did); the meat will have shrunk considerably. (Lies!)
Abandon the pie for at least 24 hours before you eat it, but longer won't hurt. The beauty of hot water crust pastry is that it absorbs the meat juices and fat on the inside while managing to stay crisp on the outside. Serve with good homemade chutney, a slice of mature Cheddar, a salad - I leave it to you.
What worked: This was my first-ever attempt at a standing pie and hot-water crust. It went much better than I was afraid it might. I used a vintage raised pie mold from the curvy upstairs neighbor. It produced a nice-looking oval raised pie. The appearance was very good, with a laurel wreath on top from dough leftovers. The inside was attractive with a mixture of meat textures. The flavor was nondescript pork meatloaf, but not bad at all. Good crust with great flavor and chew, if a bit uneven and thick in places. (See below.) Overall, it was a nice dinner with a green salad, mustard, cornichons, a hard cheese, and pickled walnuts. It unmolded with no problems.
I had previously made jellied stock from Cornish game hen carcasses, cooked with various veg and a pig trotter. The first cooking didn't gel up, so I cooked it longer with a second trotter and that did the trick.
What didn't: The butcher we use didn't have any rendered lard. Instead they had "pig butter". It's like stock vs. bone broth - identical but higher cost. Sigh. The pie mold was difficult to use; it kept popping free from the base. Also, the dough is traditionally tamped into place - the British recipe had you pat with your hands, which is less effective. Once I found that out from the curvy upstairs neighbor and used her tamper, it went much better.
There was too much filling for the pie by maybe two cups. I cooked a 1/4 cup or so with an egg for a few breakfasts, which worked fine, and we made tacos with the remainder.
The crust cracked on one side during baking. The meat did not shrink down appreciably, and only had room for about 2 Tbsp jellied stock - all of which promptly ran out from said crack.
Will I make it again? Probably not this recipe. However, now that I have a bit more experience with hot water crust raised pies, and jellied stock, I will continue with them.
