Sunday, March 04, 2012

Hand riased water crust pastry Pork Pies

Time to have ago at a classic hand raised pork pie.

This makes enough for 2 large pies using 12" spring form cake tins. Or 1 large 1 medium and lots of small ones. I buy a 2.5kg shoulder joint. Use half for roasting and the other half for the pies. Remove the rind and some of the fat.

Filling
1.25kg finely chopped pork shoulder.
200g chopped unsmoked bacon (Rind removed)
1 teaspoon of anchovy paste
2 tsp fresh chopped sage
1 tsp Allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
couple of pinches of salt.
2 tsp ground black pepper.

For an alternate try adding black pudding. It works well.

Water Crust Pastry (Enough for 2 batches of pies)
1000g flour (half strong and half plain)
100g unsalted butter or extra lard
250g lard or dripping
450ml boiling water (use 350ml in the mix keep 100ml boiling in reserve if needed)
3 tsp salt
1 beaten egg to glaze

For the jelly (If you want to cheat ask your butcher if he has powdered savoury jelly) Other wise
2 pig's trotter
5 litres water
30g gelatine
1 boquet garni.
Method
For the pastry, sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in just 50g of lard. Gently heat the remaining lard and water together until boiling, then add to the flour, mixing until mixture is cool enough to knead. Knead well. keep aside a third for the lid and decoration. Ideally make each piece of pastry into a ball and leave in the fridge overnight.

For the filling, mix together the minced pork, minced bacon, salt, pepper and water. Sometimes the meat mixture can feel a little wet – if so add the rusk or breadcrumbs (I have never needed to). Ideally cover and leave to stand in a fridge for 24 hours this will allow the bacon to cure the minced pork. When the pie is eventually baked the meat will then appear to be pink in colour.

For the jelly, place the trotter in a saucepan with the water, bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 3-4 hours. Allow the water to evaporate down to approximately 1l, but do not let the pan boil dry - top up with more water if necessary. After 4 hours strain off the liquid and measure out 1l. Dissolve the gelatin in the stock, then it's ready to fill into the pie. Let the cooked pies cool for 30 minutes then  Fill 3 times over 1 hour. A turkey baster comes in handy

Cooking.
I use a slightly watered down egg wash and wash before they go in and 2 minutes before the end of cooking.

Large pie. 20 minutes at 220c then 2 hours at 180c

Smaller pies. 50 minutes at 180c

Let the cooked pies cool for 30 minutes then fill with jelly 3 times over 1 hour. A turkey baster comes in handy. It can be messy so stand on a tray.






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