Meat pie request

[shadowvalkyrie]

I'm looking for a British-style meat pie recipe (type of meat doesn't matter, but pork, beef, or chicken would be best for easy availability and keeping costs low), but nothing I've found round the net is what I'm looking for. Either they're too complicated (I'm more of a beginner in cooking matters), or contain ingredients I'm unfamiliar with/can't get my hands on around here (Germany).

I'd be grateful for any suggestions, the easier to do and more basic the ingredients, the better. Thank you!

Comments

[snacky]

I have a super basic one for what my family calls ham and corn casserole. It's all kind of estimated, since no one has ever written it down. And it's based on leftovers (ham and mashed potatoes)

2 cups ground ham
4 -5 Potatoes, mashed
1 can cream style corn
Milk
paprika

Butter a small casserole dish. Layer ham, corn, potatoes and repeat ending with potatoes. Make a hole in the center and pour in milk until it comes to the top. Sprinkle with paprika for looks (that's from my mother :D). Bake @ 400 F for a half hour or until it bubbles.

I've given this guesstimate recipe to lots of people and they've all had success with it. I hope it works for you!

[shadowvalkyrie]

Not what I was after, but it sounds delicious nonetheless -- definitely going to try this; thank you!

[acelightning]

First of all, do you know how to make pie crust? (That's really a separate topic in itself.) The filling in a meat pie is either a seasoned ground meat mixture, or something like stew with a higher solids-to-gravy ratio. Also, a meat pie can mean basically a dish full of the meat mixture with a layer of crust over the top (or even a layer of mashed potatoes, or baking powder biscuits), or a single-serving-size pie baked in a pan with a bottom crust and a top crust, or a "turnover", where the filling is placed in the center of a circle or square of dough which is then folded over and sealed around the edges. I daresay the British members of this community could enlighten you further ;-)

[shadowvalkyrie]

First of all, do you know how to make pie crust? (That's really a separate topic in itself.)

That was one of the primary issues I had. All recipes seemed to assume you can buy it pre-made (which you can't, over here, because it's always sweetened dough) or already know how to do it.

The kind of pie I was going for was the large, round kind, where you layer a baking pan with dough, have a meat mixture (either the ground meat or the stew-like variety you mention) and then dough again on top. Ideally, it's crunchy on the outside and juicy inside, and you cut it into vaguely triangular pie-slices for serving.

a "turnover", where the filling is placed in the center of a circle or square of dough which is then folded over and sealed around the edges.

I already have a recipe for these, thanks to my mom, (there's also pre-made dough for that) but they aren't anything like what I remember eating in the UK. Tasty too, but crumbly and not at all juicy.

But I realise I should have specified. I just didn't think all of these would fall under the 'pie' header. Thank you!

[acelightning]

For a meat pie, you need a sturdy, flaky pastry, not a "short" (crumbly) pastry. And the best pie crust pastry, whether for meat pies or dessert pies, is made with lard. There's just something unique about the interaction between flour and pig fat.

This is an all-purpose recipe for a two-crust pie; you can make an apple pie the same way with this pastry. If you have a food processor, it's literally "easy as pie"!

Equipment:
food processor
measuring cups and spoons
mixing bowl
rolling pin
waxed paper (or flat surface that can be floured)
small sharp knife
fork
8" or 9" pie pan (disposable foil pans are perfectly okay)
cookie sheet
wire cooling rack

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup lard
1/3 cup ice water

Cut the lard into chunks about 1" in size; chill until thoroughly cold. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Put the flour and salt into the bowl of the food processor and attach the lid. Pulse a few times to blend. Put the lard in through the feed tube and pulse the mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs or coarse-ground cornmeal - you do not want it to be evenly blended.

Pour the contents of the food processor into a mixing bowl, and sprinkle the ice water over it. Stir and blend with a fork until the dough comes together in one coherent lump; you may need to add a little more water, but too much makes the dough too soft to handle.

Lay a piece of waxed paper on a flat surface, and sprinkle it generously with flour. Scrape the dough out onto this, and coat your hands with flour. Shape the dough into a reasonably symmetric ball, then cut it into two parts, one just a trifle bigger than the other. Set aside the smaller one.

Dust the rolling pin with flour. Roll the larger piece of dough out into a circle slightly larger than your pie pan. Rotate the dough often, so that it gets rolled out in all directions; this will keep the crust from shrinking into a weird shape when baked. Fold the circle of dough gently in half, then in half again, and center the point in the pan. Unfold it gently, and push it down so that it fits the sides - don't stretch it! Set the pan aside.
Flour the work surface and the rolling pin again, and roll out the smaller piece of dough into a circle about the same thickness as the first piece.

Put your filling (which you have already prepared) into the crust-lined pan; don't get any on the edges, or they may not seal properly. Lay the second piece of dough on top of the filling. With your fingers, firmly press the two layers of dough together all around the rim of the pan. Use a small sharp knife to cut all the way around about an inch outside of the rim (save the trimmings - I'll explain later what to do with them). Now fold that margin under itself, again pressing it together firmly. You can now finish the edge in one of two ways: either form little pleats or scallops all around the edge with your fingers (this is easy to do, but almost impossible to describe in words), or use the tines of a fork to crimp the pastry tightly to the rim. Cut a slit an inch or so long in the center of the top crust, to let ut the steam.

Place the pie on the cookie sheet (for ease of handling, and to catch drips in the oven) and slide it into the preheated oven. Bake at 425° F. for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 350° F. and bake for 30 to 40 minutes longer, until crust is lightly browned and filling is bubbly. When done, slide the pie, still in its pan, from the cookie sheet onto the wire cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving. (Or cool to room temperature and serve it that way.) Refrigerate any leftover pie, still in the pan. Individual slices may be reheated in the microwave.

Oh - about that leftover dough. Squish it all together into one lump, dust the whole thing with flour, and seal it in a plastic zipper bag; it'll keep for several days in the fridge. Allow it to warm up a bit before rolling it out again. What you can do with it depends on how much dough there is. About the easiest thing to do is to roll it out, brush the surface with milk, sprinkle it generously with either cinnamon sugar or some form of grated cheese, and cut it into narrow strips. Twist each strip if you wish. Grease a cookie sheet, place the strips on it, and bake at 400° F. until browned. Homemade munchies!

EDIT: Oh dear. I gave everything in US measurements, and now I don't have time to go back and convert everything. Um, this might help...

[shadowvalkyrie]

I'll have to improvise some of the equipment (as I don't own a food processor or a microwave and have no idea where to get a proper pie pan, disposable or not) but this is very helpful anyway; I'll definitely try it! Thank you very much!

[acelightning]

I don't know where to recommend getting a pie pan. In the US, every supermarket sells disposable foil pie pans (along with disposable foil pans in other shapes). Non-disposable ones are either metal, like a cake pan, or oven-safe glass. They come in different sizes; you want one between 20 and 23 cm. (8 to 9 inches) in diameter.

To make pastry without a food processor, blend the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Have the lard very cold. Cut it into smallish chunks and stir it into the flour mixture. Then use two table forks to squish the chunks of lard into the flour. Again, you don't want it to be smoothly blended; you need to have tiny bits of lard distributed through the flour - that's what makes the pastry flaky, rather than "short". The dry mixture should look like coarse cornmeal or bread crumbs. (It's kind of hard to describe the process in writing.) Once the lard is combined with the flour, add the ice water and proceed as in the original recipe.

You don't need a microwave for this; you can re-heat pie in the regular oven. But there's really no substitute for a pie pan.

[casspeach]

Cornish pasties are dead easy and delicious.

This is the closest recipe I could find to how I make them:

cornish pasty recipe

The recipe looks a bit frightening, but basically it's beef (like steak rather than stewing beef), onion, potato and swede all cut into thin strips, stick on some rolled out pastry with a bit of butter and some s&p. Cover with more pastry and cook.

I cheat and use ready made pastry, and usually just make one ginormous one with a rolled out bit of pastry on the bottom and another on the top and seal the edges cutting some holes for steam in the top.

Totally agree that 'pie' means a lot of different things here in the UK. I hope this was the sort of thing you were after!

[shadowvalkyrie]

Ooh, that sounds delicious! *bookmarks* (My mom does something similar with ground meat. The turnip is bewildering in there, though. Well, I'll try and see.)

usually just make one ginormous one with a rolled out bit of pastry on the bottom and another on the top and seal the edges cutting some holes for steam in the top.

That sounds like what I meant! Do you put this in a pan of some sort, or bake it on the sheet/tray like the small ones? And how much time does it need to get done?

Thank you very much!

[casspeach]

Trust me the turnip makes it!

On a sheet

Um, the hot bit the same, and then quite a bit longer at the cooler temperature. Sorry, a bit unhelpful, I know. Maybe even an hour, but I would experiment a bit, if I were you.

You're very welcome, and I hope you enjoy them

[shadowvalkyrie]

Oh, but this is helpful, thank you!

[frangipani]

I haven't tried this pastry recipe meant for a meat filling yet, but it looks fairly doable (if a bit fiddly) and Dan Lepard hasn't steered me wrong yet. :)

[shadowvalkyrie]

Sounds a bit difficult, but otherwise just what I'm looking for. Awesome, thank you!

[miss_haitch]

I'm afraid I don't know how to make homemade pastry, but I do have a simple pie recipe which can be adapted depending how much time and energy you've got -- you can add different herbs, and instead of using soup you can make a mixture out of cream, milk, mushrooms and cream cheese.

Ingredients:
A block of shortcrust pastry
450g chicken breasts or thighs
Can of condensed mushroom soup
75g cream cheese with garlic and herbs
150ml milk
125g peas
125g sweetcorn
Salt and pepper

1. Fry up the chicken until it's browned and cooked through, then leave to cool and cut into bitesize pieces.
2. Put soup, cream cheese and milk into a saucepan and heat gently while stirring until it's smooth and whatever thickness you like.
3. Mix soup/cheese/milk mixture with chicken, peas and sweetcorn. Leave to one side.
4. Roll out the pastry so it's thin, smooth and even. Line your dish with the pastry.
5. Pour in the chicken mixture. Then carefully lay another layer of pastry on top, and trim off the edges.
6. Make holes in the pastry lid and brush it over with milk.
7. Bake at 200 degrees C, 400 degrees F or gas mark 6 for 30-40 minutes until golden.

This recipe works really nicely with potatoes and other vegetables, and gravy. I hope this is helpful!

[shadowvalkyrie]

Ooh, that sounds exactly like what I'm looking for!

Sadly you can't buy the right kind of pre-made pastry here, but someone else had a link how to make that. So thank you for the wonderful filling recipe! ":-D

[jamjar]

Dan Lepard has a recipe for pork pie here. I've used his recipes a lot and they turn out pretty well.

If you meant a hot meat pie, there's one over here for Steak and Kidney Pie.

This one is a mushroom pie, but it does have the recipe for warm water pastry, which is very traditional for pies.

[shadowvalkyrie]

Great links; they all sound delicious! Thank you very much!