An Autumn Game Pie

First get yourself a nice bit of game, this is a perfect  use for any game that has been too damaged to be roasted or braised whole (in this case it was all in order but was from last year’s shoots so needed using up as my deep-freeze is full)

2 pigeons

2 hare rear legs

A nice piece of wildsau (female boar) shoulder (about 1 kg bone in, it should give you about 500g of pure meat)

2 carrots

¼ of a celeriac globe (peeled and diced)

1 large leek (or 2 small ones)

½ a large onion (the other half is used for the stock)

1 tsp. of game spices

2 glasses of red wine (you will need some for the marinade and some for the sauce)

10 brown mushrooms, cleaned and halved (larger ones quartered)

Salt and pepper to taste

100 ml of vegetable oil

12 Sausage stuffing balls made from 200g of sausage meat and chopped herbs (parsley, thyme and rosemary), browned in a little oil before adding to the pie dish.

To start off, pick over the game, removing any shot, broken bone or feather stubble. Remove the breasts from the pigeons, the meat from the legs of the hare (trim away as much of the silver skin as possible) and the  dice shoulder of the wild sau.

Dice the meat into bite size pieces, place into a bowl and sprinkle with the game spices and a glass of good red wine, cover, and place in the fridge until required (at least 4 hours).

Now make your stock.

STOCK

Bones and trimmings from the game

3 bay leaves

3 juniper berries

3 pimento berries

A few parsley stalks

6 cloves

1 fat garlic clove crushed and chopped

½ tsp of coriander seeds

½ tsp mace

1-10cm piece of cinnamon bark

1 half of a squeezed lemon (Linda had made a very nice Turkish Hummus to go with her stuffed Aubergines the evening before)

2 ltr of vegetable (game or chicken) stock

5 tbsp.  of vegetable oil (Rape seed will do, Aldi have it on special offer at the moment)

Place the bones and trimmings into a large stock pan (this part can be done in a pressure cooker if you wish) along with ½ of the diced root vegetables and all of the rest of the stock ingredients, brown on a high heat, then cover with 2 ltr of made up vegetable stock (I always use Marigold, but any will do). Bring to a rolling boil and skim. Lid on but a slightly open (you can put a wooden spoon under it) and allow to simmer for a good two hours (30 mins if using a pressure cooker).

The Vegetables and Aromatics

Brown the veg, bones and carcasses

Add the stock

Bring to a rolling boil

Skim the scum as it rises

PIE FILLING

Keep the stock hot.

In a large pan, heat  the oil, put in the rest of the diced vegetables, the onion, garlic and then the diced game, brown and add enough of the game stock to cover the meat, lower the heat and simmer until the meat is tender, add the marinade and the mushrooms.

While all this has been going on make your Rough Puff Pastry for the pie crust.

225g of plain flour

¼ tsp of salt (often called a pinch)

150g of ice cold fat, I used 50% butter, 50% margarine diced quite small

A couple of table spoons of ice cold water (you may not need it all)

Sieve the flour into a large basin, add the salt and then stir in the fats with a knife (before adding the water you should still see small flecks of margarine and butter. Add the water a little at a time to form a stiff dough.

Roll out on a floured board into an oblong about 30cm x 15 cm, fold into three onto itself (1/3 in towards the middle and then the other 1/3 over the top, turn it so that one of the open ends is towards you roll out again and then repeat the procedure, Roll out to an oblong fold, turn and roll for a total of 3 more times. Cover in cling film and allow to rest in a cool place (fridge) until required (at least 20 minutes).

Assembling the pie.

Fry the sausage meat balls.

Put a pie funnel into a pie dish.

Place your stuffing balls in the base of a the pie dish.

Remove the meat and vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon (in this case a one with holes in, but it served the same purpose) and add to the stuffing balls in the pie dish. 

Now make your sauce.

Add a glass of red wine and the brandy to the sauce and add some knobs of Beurre Marnier allow to cook out and thicken, pour this over the meat in the pie dish. 

Allow to cool, but in the meantime (we cannot have you doing nothing) roll out your pastry large enough to cover the pie, cut a strip (or two) off but make sure that the pastry is large enough to still cover the pie. Cover with cling film.

When the pie filling is cool, wet the rim of the pie dish with a little water and push the strips around and on top of the pie dish edge (this is to form a seal for the top. Now cover the pie with the pastry lid, pushing it down onto the edges, cut a small hole in the middle for the pie funnel to pop through. (I used to have a nice black bird one but it had an unfortunate mishap and broke its neck, this one is a much sturdier piece of cooking equipment that I picked it up for next to nowt at Newcastle Granger Market).

Decorate the top with roses and leaves and things (I would have cut out pigeons and hares but I am useless at doing that). Beat and egg and egg wash the top.

Heat the oven to 230°c,  put the pie in and bake for about 20 minutes until golden, reduce the heat to 180°C for a further 25 minutes, Pie done!

I had made Pommes Boulangère (this was in the oven before and while the pie was cooking)

1 kg of waxy potatoes

3 large shallots

1 clove of garlic (chopped)

A small amount of chopped fresh herbs

Fresh ground pepper

200 ml of stock

25 g of butter

Butter a baking dish, slice the potatoes quite thin (I used a mandolin) into a layer covering the base of the dish, cover these with shallots, a few slithers of garlic and a sprinkling of herbs. 

Wet with a little stock a grinding of pepper and dot with butter, continue with another layer repeating the procedure, and lastly finish off with a layer of potatoes, pour over the remaining stock, add the last of the butter flocks and a final twist or two of pepper. Place this in the oven covered at 180° and bake for 1 hr removing the cover for the last 10 minutes (I take it off and place under the grill).

We also had shredded Savoy cabbage with loads of butter and nutmeg.

Also garden peas, broad beans, butter beans mixed together with sautéed onions and diced speck (bacon pieces).

We had a nice glass of deep red Portuguese Ermalinda to accompany the meal (the same wine that I used for the marinade and the sauce.

A Pork Pie of Sorts

Raised Pork, ham and veal pie

This was my effort for the Wildfood board picnic held in honour of the old Pirate Jim Lad. The venue was Blickling Park a national Trust property in North Norfolk. The Picnic has become a regular event on the Wildfood board calendar. Jim was a member of the board right from the very beginning, he alas died and has passed into the realms of Davey Jones, and he is gone but not forgotten. This year’s picnic is in his honour, his icon was a one eyed pirate with a pirate on his shoulder, he was a joker and a main stay of the summer picnic, traveling from Suffolk with his dear wife Kathy, lugging all manner of paraphernalia and adornments.

So Here’s to you Jim Lad, cheers

I was in a dilemma, would I use some of my game from last year’s shoot to make a game pie, only problem was, due to our move, I didn’t know what game I had frozen in the deep freezer down in the cellar. I could of course do a gala pie or just a plain old pork pie in the end I settled for a Pork and veal pie with a touch of Pistachio.

The Jelly

Ingredients

2 pig’s trotters (chopped)
The rind from the smoked belly
2 carrots roughly chopped
1 piece of celeriac chopped
1 small leek sliced
1 small onion chopped in half, including the skin (adds colour)
1 garlic clove crushed
12 peppercorns
1 bouquet garni consisting of sage, rosemary, thyme and a bay leaf
1 teaspoon of salt

 Method

 

Put the trotters and rind into a large pan cover with cold water bring to the boil and skim,

 

add the other ingredients, when it comes back to the boil and skim again.

 

Reduce the heat to a rolling boil, loosely cover (I put a wooden spoon in this props the lid open just enough to allow the liquor to reduce). Allow to simmer for 2 to 3 hours (the longer the better).  Towards the end of the cooking time (the vegetables should be mushy and the trotters falling apart, taste, if it needs seasoning use a couple of teaspoons of Marigold vegetable stock (low salt).

Strain and put into a clean sauce pan, reduce to about half of its quantity, check that it is setting into a jelly by placing some onto a saucer and putting into the refrigerator for a few minutes. If not add some gelatine soaked in water. Set aside until required.

The Pie filling

Ingredients

750g of minced spiced pork mett (this is a pork mince that is often eaten raw in Germany for breakfast and must be made fresh every day, it contains minced shoulder and has a fair amount of fat in it, it is also ready seasoned. As those in the UK will not be able to get this just put some quite fatty shoulder through a 5mm plate on your mincer or roughly chop in your kitchen machine.

500g of minced veal (or even beef for a stronger flavour), I bought mine from the butcher, he is very helpful in these matters, you buy the piece of veal and he minces it.

250g of juniper smoked belly, cut into 1cm dice (the rind removed and put in with the trotters)

 

1 medium onion (very finely diced) put the skins and tops etc. into the stockpot.

 

½ tsp. ground mace (if you don’t have mace use nutmeg)

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ tsp. powdered garlic (I used powdered as opposed to fresh as I find that it mixes throughout the filling better)

1 tsp. of readymade Colman’s mustard (you could use mustard powder, but as mine wasn’t yet unpacked I just used what was at hand)

 

 

1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage (you could use dried if you have no fresh)

125g of nibbed pistachios

A good grinding of black pepper

2 slices of good boiled ham (the remaining 2 slices made a nice sandwich with mustard for lunch)

Method

Soften the onion in a little fat or oil (I had made myself a bacon sandwich for breakfast, so the fat from that done very nicely) allow to cool, put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well by hand.

 

 

 

 

 I find this is much more satisfying that putting into a mixer and your hands are easier washed prior and after the process.

 

When it is well mixed, fry a little patty of the filling to check the seasoning, you will notice I didn’t use any salt, this is because, the Mett is well seasoned and the smoked belly is quite salty, it needed no further salt.

I now placed the filling into a Ziploc bag and placed into the fridge, this is for two reasons, it was warm and mince goes off very quickly, but also it allows the seasoning to permeate throughout the filling.

Hotwater crust pastry

Ingredients

475g of flour (half strong, half normal)
100g of lard
75g of unsalted butter
(You can use all lard, but a bit of butter makes for a richer pastry, some even add an egg, I don’t, as I find it makes it a bit cakey)
1tsp. salt
125ml. boiling water
1 beaten egg

Method

Mix   the two flours together chop up the butter into small pieces and rub into the flours until it resembles soft bread crumbs.

Heat the lard in a small pan add the salt and then the boiling water, whisk so that all is dissolved, make a well in the centre of flour and butter mixture and pour in the lard and water, cut in with a round bladed knife when it starts to come together get your hands in and knead it well (it should be cool enough by now to handle without getting blister). It should turn into a glistening homogenous ball that comes away from the side of the mixing bowl with ease. Some say rest for a while, I don’t I use it straight away, dividing the ball into 2/3 and 1/3. Roll out the larger piece on a lightly floured board until it looks as if it will fill the tin with a bit of an overhang. Place this into the tin and work it well into the bottom making sure it gets into the corners, work it quickly and form it all the way up and over the top of the tins wall.  Cover the bottom with a couple of slices (or more) of the boiled ham.  

Now take your filling out of the fridge (and the Ziploc) and put this into the pastry coffin forcing down and making sure there are no air pockets.

The top should be domed to support the top, I don’t roll out the top but form the pastry into a ball and using the heel of my hand push it down and out, I find this method gives you more control of the size and thickness (and it’s quicker). Wet the edges of the over lapping pastry in the tin and place the top on it, using finger and thumb turn a rope plait edge, sealing it.

Make a largish hole in the middle (about 1 cm dia.), decorate with swirls or if you have pastry over (I didn’t) make some leaves or little piggy’s or some other such nonsense and glue in place with a little egg, egg wash the surface.

 

Place in a preheated 220°C oven (200°C fan assisted) for 30 minutes, reducing to 180°C (160°C FA) and continue baking for a further 1 ½ hrs. (you can, if you wish, 20 minutes before the end remove the tin and egg wash, this does nothing to the taste but does look nice.

 

Remove and allow to cool slightly (if you have time), now mix 200ml of veal jus (I had some in a jar) into the jelly, heat and then pour into the hole in the top through a funnel.

Place somewhere cool (Fridge is quite cool at this time of the year and as I have a one in my motor-home, this made the perfect place to transport it.

The finished Pie was a delight, full with succulent meats of various tastes and textures, the rich jelly and crisp pastry well worth that extra bit of effort.

 

Mediterranean Rabbit Pie – Mittelmeer Kaninchenpastete

You will require a rabbit preferably wild, but a hutch rabbit is not to be sniffed at!
1 tsp of fresh ground game spices
Pepper for seasoning
2 heaped tsp of mustard (medium heat such as Dijon or as I used Bautzener)

1 large onion
1 clove of garlic crushed and chopped
100g of bacon or speck chopped into lardoons
1 piece of peeled celeriac or a stalk of celery diced
2 carrots peeled and cut into discs
3 parsley roots peeled and diced
3 cm piece of a thick leek, white only cut into rings
1 handful of brown mushrooms
100g each of frozen chanterelles and cepes
2 bay leaves
A few sprigs of thyme and marjoram
1 teaspoon of rosemary needles
1 level table spoon of dried wild garlic
1 level table spoon of dried oregano
1 piccolo of sekt (I wanted to use cider but had none)
Olive oil for frying (I used olive oil because of it’s Mediterranean influence but you can use whatever cooking oil you have at hand)
1 Schnapps glass of white wine vinegar
1 Table spoon of sherry vinegar
2 anchovy fillets
1 Tsp of capers
1 small handful of Kalamata olives (bought from my local Turkish butchers)
500ml of vegetable stock (marigold low salt -I would have used home made chicken stock, but I had taken it out of the freezer, left it in the warm kitchen for a couple of days to defrost and it had turned sour)

First put your rabbit in water overnight to get rid of any blood, this had been a ferreted rabbit so had no shot to be picked out.


Remove as much of the second skin as possible (it will shrink and can go tough). Joint the rabbit and place in a bowl with vinegar water (this will whiten the flesh)

In the mean time chop all of your veg. etc.
Put a dessert spoon of oil into a frying pan and slowly fry the bacon pieces, then add the onions and garlic, don’t burn! Add the rest of the veg. and soften a little, add the dried herbs and sauté to get everything coated with the herbs and oil.

Remove the rabbit pieces from the water, dry with kitchen paper and season with the game spices and pepper, brown in a little olive oil

and add the mustard,.

Pour in the  stock and then add the sekt, bubble up to remove the alcohol.

Add the sautéed vegetables, give it all a good mixing add the bay leaves and the bouquet garni (the fresh herbs bound together for ease of removal), chop the rosemary needles and add.

Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer, after about 15 minutes add the, chopped anchovies add the olives, capers and mushrooms, continue to cook until the rabbit meat is just about falling off the bones.

Carefully take the rabbit pieces from the stew (as this is what it is now) and remove the meat from the bones, pour the rest through a funnel sieve, you now have the Mediterranean stock to make the sauce. Mix the rabbit and vegetables together and mix in the sauce that you are about to make.

For the sauce

Enough stock from your rabbit vegetable cooking liquor
200ml of cream
Knob of butter
1tbl spoon of flour

First make a roux with butter and flour, adding the stock little by little until it is quite a thick sauce, remove from the heat and stir in enough cream so that the sauce coats the back of a spoon season to taste, though you shouldn’t need any extra seasoning. It should have a deep herby, mustard and slightly tangy acidic flavour.

Make your short crust pastry ( (Be-ro method) though I used all butter, the recipe calls for half lard and half marg, as I didn’t have any lard to hand and  I never have margarine in my kitchen.

1 beaten egg for the egg wash. 225g of plain flour
100g of butter
Pinch of salt
Enough cold water to just bring it all together into a firm dough.

I allowed the pastry to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours (the time it took to get a taxi to the pub, down 4 pints and get back home).
Divided the pastry into two balls. 1 ball to be slightly larger than the other. Grease your loose bottom tin (for our German readers Tchibo has them in at the moment, they are great for flans and this type of flat pie!).
Roll out the larger ball. Line the bottom of the tin, put in the filling and cover with the top disc,

sealing the edges. Wash with the beaten egg.
Put into a medium hot oven until golden brown.

I also had braised chicory in a cheese sauce
2 heads of chicory halved and braised in a little vegetable stock with some sliced mushrooms.
Make a roux, add the liquid from the braised chicory and some of the left over stock add a handful of grated cheese (I used Edam but any cheese will do). Pour the resulting sauce over the braised chicory and mushrooms, put this into the oven alongside your pie for the last 10 minutes.

Polenta medallions
100g medium polenta
250ml of vegetable stock
A good knob of butter
Pepper to taste

Bring the vegetable stock to the boil; pour the polenta into it in a steady stream while stirring, reduce the heat and keep stirring for about 10-15 minutes, add the butter and stir it in and cook it until it is smooth. Pour out onto a smooth surface and spread about 1cm thick allow to cool. Cut out discs with a 5cm circular cutter (I got 2 and then formed the remains into a 3rd). Fry in an oiled skillet until golden brown.

Serve immediately with your rabbit pie, braised chicory in a cheese sauce and minted peas.

Just to keep the meal Mediterranean, I also made a nice side salad with fennel, courgettes, tomato, red peppers, olives, capers, orange segments and feta cheese.

Note those are my diabetic pills  to the left of the fork!!!  
To drink, well, a cold Picpoul de Pinet from the French Mediterranean area.

And all that was left of my Sunday lunch! A few olive stones.

NB If doing it again for guests I think I would use pitted olives as I realise that some would bite into the stones and break their teeth.