Pork Pie
Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't written for a while. Yesterday I made pork pie, from scratch! It uses hot water-crust pastry, which is made by heating butter, lard and water in a pan until it melts, then mixing in flour and a bit of salt. This makes a doughey kind of paste, which you then chilled in the fridge.
While the pastry was being chilled, I got my dad to cut up some pork shoulder, which I put into a bowl with some sausage meat, some bacon lardons, some thyme leaves and some sage leaves. This actually took a while to do, as you had to cut up the pork, and chop the herbs, and mix it all up, so by the time it was done the pastry was ready to come out the fridge.
I rolled it out, but I nearly forgot to save some for the lid of the pie, oops!! Luckily I remembered just in time and put that bit back in the fridge. I rolled the rest out and lined the tin. The recipe didn't say you had to grease the tin, but I decided to do it anyway because things I cook always stick to the tin! I don't think I greased it enough because it still stuck anyway though. Then I got my meat mix out from the fridge and spooned it into my pastry-lined tin. It fitted perfectly, and was just the right amount! I then rolled out the piece of pastry I saved for the lid, put it on top, and crimped it with a fork. I was meant to stick the lid on with some egg, but I forgot and so I just pressed it down extra securely - it still worked!
I then cut a hole in the lid of the pie and put it in the oven. I had to put it in for half and hour, then turn down the temperature and leave it in for another hour and 1/4. After that, I took it out and brushed it with egg and then put it in for another fifteen minutes so the top would become all shiny.
In pork pies, there is usually a jelly that fills up all the spaces between the meat - and that is excactly what I had to do next. The recipe said to use jellied stock, but we couldn't find any. Instead I made my own, just by melting some gelatine and mixing it into some veggie stock. I actually did this before the pie was cooked, then I warmed it up in the microwave to make it pourable. I poured it in through the hole in the top of the pie and then left it in the fridge to set.
I didn't know if the jelly was going to set properly, but it did! 😃😄 We cut the pork pie up and took it for a picnic the next day - it was delicious! It was very different from a shop-bought pork pie, but it was a lot better and it is definitely worth the effort. You could really taste the herbs and the flavours from the stock also came out very strongly which added extra flavours. Delicious!!
I rolled it out, but I nearly forgot to save some for the lid of the pie, oops!! Luckily I remembered just in time and put that bit back in the fridge. I rolled the rest out and lined the tin. The recipe didn't say you had to grease the tin, but I decided to do it anyway because things I cook always stick to the tin! I don't think I greased it enough because it still stuck anyway though. Then I got my meat mix out from the fridge and spooned it into my pastry-lined tin. It fitted perfectly, and was just the right amount! I then rolled out the piece of pastry I saved for the lid, put it on top, and crimped it with a fork. I was meant to stick the lid on with some egg, but I forgot and so I just pressed it down extra securely - it still worked!
I then cut a hole in the lid of the pie and put it in the oven. I had to put it in for half and hour, then turn down the temperature and leave it in for another hour and 1/4. After that, I took it out and brushed it with egg and then put it in for another fifteen minutes so the top would become all shiny.
In pork pies, there is usually a jelly that fills up all the spaces between the meat - and that is excactly what I had to do next. The recipe said to use jellied stock, but we couldn't find any. Instead I made my own, just by melting some gelatine and mixing it into some veggie stock. I actually did this before the pie was cooked, then I warmed it up in the microwave to make it pourable. I poured it in through the hole in the top of the pie and then left it in the fridge to set.
I didn't know if the jelly was going to set properly, but it did! 😃😄 We cut the pork pie up and took it for a picnic the next day - it was delicious! It was very different from a shop-bought pork pie, but it was a lot better and it is definitely worth the effort. You could really taste the herbs and the flavours from the stock also came out very strongly which added extra flavours. Delicious!!
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