Cranky Pie
Sep. 11th, 2022 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Homity Pie.
"Made with wholemeal pastry and filled with potatoes, onions, leeks, and cheese, this tart was originally devised by land girls working on farms during the Second World War. At one point, the cheese ration was a mere ounce (28g) per person per week. My recipe is austerity-free, with Cheddar, Parmesan, and a little cream."
"The dish's mainstream popularity came from Cranks Vegetarian Restaurant, which opened in London in 1961, when vegetarianism gained support from the hippie subculture."
Pastry:
100 g plain flour
50 g wholemeal flour
1/4 tsp salt
75 g unsalted butter, diced
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp cold water
Filling:
350 g (12 oz) waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte or Ratte
10 g butter
1 Tbsp veg oil
2 onions, sliced (I used 1 1/2 red onions)
2 leeks, sliced
1 clove garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
175 mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp cream
3 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
salt and pepper
Put the flours and salt into a bowl, add the butter, and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then make a well in the centre. Mix the egg yolk with the water. Stir into the mixture, adding a little more water if it seems too dry. When it begins to stick together, gently knead it into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge while you make the filling.
Peel the potatoes (I didn't bother - I don't mind rustic) and cut into chunks. Cook in boiling salted water until tender, then drain and leave to cool. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan, add the onions, leeks, and a pinch of salt and cook gently until soft. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat.
Place the potatoes and alliums in a large bowl. Stir in the Cheddar, parsley, thyme, and cream and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat the oven to 200 C (400 F) with a baking tray inside to heat.
Roll out the pastry to about a 3mm thickness. Use it to line a 20 cm loose-bottomed tin, about 4 cm deep, and trim the pastry edges. Spoon the filling into the pastry case. Mix the breadcrumbs with the grated Parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and the topping is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin and serving.
What worked: We like all these ingredients and it sounded interesting. I knew it would be a bit stodgy, so we had it alongside a salad. I used red onions and didn't saute them, and that was fine since they cooked in the oven but kept a bit more crunch.
What didn't: Despite conventional wisdom (and physics), nearly every time I put pie crust in the fridge to relax the gluten I have significant problems with tearing when I roll it out. Relaxing the gluten is supposed to help with that! It happened again here. I should have just made my standard butter-and-lard single pie crust and rolled it out immediately.
There was too much filling to fit in the pie tin by about a quarter (a regular 9" pan would have been fine). The leftover filling will be a good two-person scramble with egg though.
It was kind of bland and stodgy as predicted. The wife suggested 1) a very strong Cheddar; 2) slathering horseradish or mustard on the bottom of the pie crust before filling. Both would help. She had leftovers with mustard on top and reported a significant improvement.
Will I make it again? Maybe to try her suggestions, but otherwise probably not.
"Made with wholemeal pastry and filled with potatoes, onions, leeks, and cheese, this tart was originally devised by land girls working on farms during the Second World War. At one point, the cheese ration was a mere ounce (28g) per person per week. My recipe is austerity-free, with Cheddar, Parmesan, and a little cream."
"The dish's mainstream popularity came from Cranks Vegetarian Restaurant, which opened in London in 1961, when vegetarianism gained support from the hippie subculture."
Pastry:
100 g plain flour
50 g wholemeal flour
1/4 tsp salt
75 g unsalted butter, diced
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp cold water
Filling:
350 g (12 oz) waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte or Ratte
10 g butter
1 Tbsp veg oil
2 onions, sliced (I used 1 1/2 red onions)
2 leeks, sliced
1 clove garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
175 mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp cream
3 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
salt and pepper
Put the flours and salt into a bowl, add the butter, and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then make a well in the centre. Mix the egg yolk with the water. Stir into the mixture, adding a little more water if it seems too dry. When it begins to stick together, gently knead it into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge while you make the filling.
Peel the potatoes (I didn't bother - I don't mind rustic) and cut into chunks. Cook in boiling salted water until tender, then drain and leave to cool. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan, add the onions, leeks, and a pinch of salt and cook gently until soft. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat.
Place the potatoes and alliums in a large bowl. Stir in the Cheddar, parsley, thyme, and cream and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat the oven to 200 C (400 F) with a baking tray inside to heat.
Roll out the pastry to about a 3mm thickness. Use it to line a 20 cm loose-bottomed tin, about 4 cm deep, and trim the pastry edges. Spoon the filling into the pastry case. Mix the breadcrumbs with the grated Parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and the topping is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin and serving.
What worked: We like all these ingredients and it sounded interesting. I knew it would be a bit stodgy, so we had it alongside a salad. I used red onions and didn't saute them, and that was fine since they cooked in the oven but kept a bit more crunch.
What didn't: Despite conventional wisdom (and physics), nearly every time I put pie crust in the fridge to relax the gluten I have significant problems with tearing when I roll it out. Relaxing the gluten is supposed to help with that! It happened again here. I should have just made my standard butter-and-lard single pie crust and rolled it out immediately.
There was too much filling to fit in the pie tin by about a quarter (a regular 9" pan would have been fine). The leftover filling will be a good two-person scramble with egg though.
It was kind of bland and stodgy as predicted. The wife suggested 1) a very strong Cheddar; 2) slathering horseradish or mustard on the bottom of the pie crust before filling. Both would help. She had leftovers with mustard on top and reported a significant improvement.
Will I make it again? Maybe to try her suggestions, but otherwise probably not.
