Many of you will all recall my old Kiwi mate Chunderkilt, who sent in the hilarious review of Piggies Pies in March 2012...still one of our most popular reviews ever, based on pageviews. If you haven't read it or can't remember, I highly recommend you go back and take another look.
Well, he's been at it again - this time making his own pies at home. I must admit that I've done the same thing myself (I'll post my efforts next week so you can see how not to do it), but in the meantime it's over to Mike (PS: don't forget to click on the photos to see these beauties in their full-blown glory):
Kia
ora bro and happy Anzac day.
In
honour of our Anzac brotherhood I made a few pies last night...loosely inspired
by a tomato knuckle casserole you cooked me in London.
The
photo's we're taken after they had spent a night in the fridge so look a bit
dry but actually straight out of the oven they we're pretty good. Donna Hay
helped out with the wooden chopping board-soft focus-diffused natural light
photography.
You'll
have to forgive the dinky size - I only had a muffin tray to cook them in. It
did mean you could eat 3 or 4 at a time though. Also meant they held together
really well when you ate them in your hand.
Not
sure what your policy is on DIY pies vs store baked but here's the recipe if
you're ever so inclined;
- Rump steak (seared quickly)
- One onion (softened and caramelised with balsamic and brown sugar)
- Three table spoons of wholegrain mustard.
- Tablespoon or so of Lea and Perrins.
- Can of crushed tomatoes.
- 3 ripe chopped tomatoes
- Two cups beef stock.
- Salt and pepper
- Short savory pastry for base.
- Flakey puff for topping.
You
sear the meat in a big casserole pan then set aside. Caramelise onions for 10
minutes, then add meat back in, along with all the other ingredients. Simmer
covered for 90 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and
simmer for another hour or until the consistency is nice and pie-like.
I
added half the mustard in at the start and half right at the end as it seemed
to need a bit more of an edge.
Line
your pie tray with short crust pastry, fill with hot mixture, then seal with
the flakey pastry (few fork holes to let the air out) and of course brush with
a beaten egg.
Cook
for 15 minutes at 180. Serve hot with a Central Otago Pinot of your choosing.
Good
on ya cobber!
DTK.
They look fantastic, DTK - and I love the idea of wedging in a whole bunch of them in a sitting!
As for the store-bought vs home made question, I have no issue at all with home made pies...I love the idea that you can put whatever your favourite recipe is into a pie and enjoy it....I mean virtually anything you can think of works when encased in pastry.
The pies I made were filled with my favourite recipe (possibly of all time; certainly on the shortlist of my potential last meal), Chris' Stracotto al Barolo - aka slow cooked beef cheek in red wine.
This is a secret family recipe that's been handed down from generation to generation, but bugger it dear readers - I'm going to share it with you next week and face the consequences later. As Herbs used to say, 'it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission'. Words to live by.
Even if you don't feel like making pies out of it, the recipe itself is amazing and very simple to make...and with cooler weather approaching, it's the perfect time to get a few practice runs in before your next dinner party.
Thanks again to Chunderkilt for the guest review - much appreciated bro. In the coming weeks I also have another guest review from Sydney correspondent Crashball, who you may recall wrote the review on The Upper Crust bakery at Collaroy in May 2012 (another very popular review, that), and a brief one from Dicky, who is currently lost somewhere in remote western Queensland.
Until next time, take care.
Pieologist
