Pie of the Month

Monday 9th June

After a mandate that all pies henceforth shall be innovative, Ken is the brave man to step forward with his invention of Breakfast Pie, the result of one-day’s hard slaving in the kitchen on what was probably London’s hottest day of the year (so far).

Please observe the intricate layers of sausage, baked beans, bacon, egg (no mushrooms though!) within the pie, and you will agree that it is indeed extremely attractive to behold. All agreed that it was also very scrumptious and I believe there weren’t any leftovers.

But wait, there’s more! After finishing the savoury slice, we move on to dessert pie, a more traditional apple pie, which while not as exciting as breakfast pie, was just as yummilicious.

Well done, Ken!

Recipes for both pies are forthcoming, as Ken has said, “This would be so much easier if I had just copied someone else’s recipe.”

Update (17/6/08):

Recipes are here!

English breakfast pie

For shortcrust pastry:

250g butter
500g plain flour
large pinch of salt
5-6 tablespoons of water
1 beaten egg (optional, for glazing the top of the pie)

For filling:

400g sausagemeat (if you can’t find sausagemeat, then just buy an ordinary pack of sausages and squeeze the meat out of the casings and mash it together)
small tin of beans
100-150g whole tomatoes, sliced (or halved cherry tomatoes)
200g bacon lardons
2-3 eggs (amount depends on how big your eggs are)

Mak1. Make shortcrust pastry* and roll to thickness of a pound coin.

The pie retains its heat surprisingly well, so don’t feel you have to serve it straight away. If you’re looking to make a pie for eating by hand (say, for a picnic), I’d recommend leaving out the beans and serving them to the side instead. (The beans add a nice moisture to the pie.) I went for the loaf shape for its portability, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t just make a more traditionally shaped pie for serving at home using pretty much the same technique.

6. TApple and blackcurrant pie (well, more of a tart than a pie)

For For the pastry:

150g butter
250g plain flour (note: different proportions of butter to pastry compared to savoury version)
50g sugar
a few tablespoons of water (or, optionally, fresh lemon juice)

For the filling:

4 large bramley cooking apples
30-100g sugar, depending on the apples and your taste
100-150g blackcurrants

1. Make the pastry* and roll it out about 3-4mm thick.

11. Stick the pie back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, and that should do it.

If serving warm, then a dollop of vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche would work nicely. Otherwise, it’s still nice served cold.

* Shortcrust pastry

6. Roll the dough to a bit bigger than the size of the container you’re going to use (allow for at least an inch or so to overlap the container). If you’re doing the pie in loaf form, roll the dough quite thick - about as thick as a pound coin - as you want it to be strong enough to hold the filling by itself. If you’re serving the pie in a pie dish, then you could get away with about half that thickness.

Monday 28th January

Still reminiscing about the holidays, Joe brought in these home-baked mincemeat mini-pies.  Tasty, and with bonus points for the lattice pastry.

Joe’s given recipe is as follows: “Erm, mincemeat from Waitrose, instant pastry from there also. Some butter to grease the baking tin. Cook until they look about right.”  With precision like that, it’s no wonder he also brought along a ready-made pie (also from Waitrose), though those of us who tasted the first ones would assert that no safety pie was necessary.

Monday 19th November

First, kudos to Clauds for excellent management of the pie agenda, thus making sure that we’ve hit our monthly pie goal in an unprecedented two consecutive months.

The latest pie comes from this year’s American import, Mark, who successfully cleared the hurdles of overseas baking–or rather, who successfully convinced his wife to do so.  As has been the tradition since the pie blog was in its infancy, we had planned to align pumpkin pie with the week of American Thanksgiving.  We are somewhat disappointed to report a bait-and-switch: without warning, the pumpkin has been brazenly swapped out in favour of a completely different filling.  All is not lost, however, as this one was perhaps more widely appreciated in its pre-lunch time slot.  Or maybe it’s just that our British stoicism desensitises us to the random acts of disappointment of which Americans have proven capable these last 400 years.

And now, on to the pie.  We’ve never understood why cheesecake warrants the name ‘cake’ when it so much more closely resembles a custard pie.  Conveniently, Wikipedia agrees with us.  So with no further ado, below is the recipe, submitted with the cheeky comment, ”These are in American measurements… make them figure it out!”  Time for more of that stoicism, methinks.

Cheesecake

3/4 C sugar
16oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
pie crust - ideally Graham cracker, but all we could find is flaky sweet (not savoury!) pastry crust.
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

Heat oven to 350F.  Beat cream cheese, add beaten eggs, add sugar, add vanilla.   Pour in pie shell and bake for 30 minutes until the filling sets.  Cool and refrigerate for 6 hours.  Top with fresh whipped cream.

In a fit of being customer-led, Pippa did some user research and opted to abandon the previous business requirements for savoury and/or top-pastry pies.  As a result, these two tarts clearly scored well on satisfaction surveys.

Recipe: Lemon pie (tart) - from Delia

Pastry Base:
6 oz (175 g) plain flour
1½ oz (40 g) icing sugar
3 oz (75 g) softened butter
pinch salt
1 large egg, separated

Filling:
6-8 lemons
6 large eggs
6 oz (175 g) caster sugar
7 fl oz (200 ml) whipping cream

To Serve:
a little icing sugar

The best way to make the pastry is in a food processor. To do this add all the pastry ingredients (except the egg white) to the bowl with 1 tablespoon water and process until it forms a firm dough. Then turn it out and knead lightly before placing in a polythene bag and leaving in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. To cook the pastry base, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C) and place a solid baking sheet inside to preheat as well. Now roll out the pastry as thinly as possible and carefully line the quiche tin, pressing the pastry around the base and sides so that it comes about ¼ inch (5 mm) above the edge of the tin. Then prick the base with a fork and brush it all over with the reserved egg white, which you should lightly beat first.

Bake on the baking sheet on the middle shelf for 20 minutes, then, as you remove it, turn the temperature down to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).

To make the filling, grate the zest from 6 of the lemons, and squeeze enough juice to give 10 fl oz (275 ml). Now break the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk to combine, but don’t overdo it or the eggs will thicken. Next add the lemon juice and zest followed by the cream, and whisk lightly. Now pour it all into a 2 pint (1.2 litre) jug.

The easiest way to fill the tart is to place the pastry case on the baking sheet in the oven, and then pour the filling straight into the pastry (this avoids having to carry the tart to the oven and spilling it). Bake for about 30 minutes or until the tart is set and feels springy in the centre. Let it cool for about half an hour if you want to serve it warm. It’s also extremely good served chilled. Either way, dust it with icing sugar just before serving and serve with well-chilled crème fraîche.

Recipe: Tarte au Chocolat

Sugar Crust Pastry:
as before

Tarte au chocolat Filling :
7 oz (200 g) plain dark chocolate
1 big egg
7 fl oz (20 cl) double cream
2 1/2 fl oz (8 cl) milk

Prepare the pastry as before.
For the filling, pour the milk and the cream in a casserole; bring them to the boil. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate broken in small cubes 30 seconds in the microwave. Add the melted chocolate to the cream and milk and whisk to incorporate it instantly. Let the mixture cool down.
 
When it has cooled down, add the egg and beat vigorously with a fork to incorporate it completely. Fill the pastry with the chocolate mixture and bake for 15 minutes.  The filling should stay a bit shiny.
 
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Monday 25th June

This one barely squeaks in.  It requires no baking, isn’t savoury, and has no pastry top.  The only saving grace is that we were in a bit of a pie drought, suffering no doubt from the Monday morning slot that has plagued the Product team for some months now.   It was also, it must be said, very tasty.

[Editor's note: Ian was so offended by this pie, or perhaps the presence of bananas, that he has given over the blog reins to a ghost writer.]

Recipe

No-Bake Crust:
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon — optional
1 cup Kellogg’s cornflake crumbs

Melt margarine, sugar and cinnamon in small saucepan. Place over low heat, stir constantly until bubbles form around edges of pan; remove from heat. Add cornflake crumbs; mix well. Press mixture evenly into a 9″ pie pan to form crust and chill (or just use a regular graham cracker shell).

No-Cook Filling:
1 package (8-oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1/3 cup pure lemon juice (measure accurately)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 medium size ripe bananas
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk. Blend thoroughly. Add 1/3 cup lemon juice and vanilla; stir until thickened. Slice 3 bananas; line crust with banana slices. Turn filling into crust. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours, or til firm. (Do not freeze!).

Cut fourth banana into thin slices; dip in remaining lemon juice. Garnish top of pie with sliced bananas.

Serves 8

Keeping up with the recent trend of frequent pies, on the 20th November our resident American Emily whipped up a couple of pumpkin tarts.  With some difficulty, apparently.

Filling Ingredients

1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 eggs
2 15oz cans 425g tins pumpkin
2 14oz cans 410g tins evaporated milk
2 unbaked pie shells

Filling Preparation

1. Agree to serve pumpkin pie at the office the Monday before American Thanksgiving.
2. Remember that tinned pumpkin is hard to come by in England. Phone sister and send her to specialty shop in Milton Keynes to obtain pumpkin at six times the American price. Retrieve pumpkin (and evaporated milk) from sister.
3. Back in tiny apartment flat on Sunday night, confirm cupboards contain all necessary dry ingredients.
4. Head ten minutes east to local franchise of ubiquitous convenience grocery chain to pick up eggs. Search majority of store with no luck till you remember eggs aren’t refrigerated in England. Find eggs on end of bread aisle.
5. While in shop, look for ready-made crust. To no surprise, fail to find it. Resign yourself to making it from scratch. Assume this means flour–which you have at home–and butter–which you need to get. Pick up some butter.
6. Wait in ridiculously long line queue for unmotivated blue-shirted employee to become available to ring up your £2 purchase. Realize Realise that before you left home, you emptied the pocket containing a dozen £1 coins since they were weighing you down. Use debit card instead.

Crust Pastry Ingredients

2 c all-purposeplain flour
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c butter
4-5 tbsp cold water

Pastry Preparation

1. Back at home, start taking out pastry equipment. Realise your pie plates tins are in storage in the States. Decide cake tins, which you do have, aren’t good enough. Head out to Oxford Street department stores.
2. Wander John Lewis for the better part of an hour searching for pie tins. Note that despite your obvious bewilderment, not a single employee asks to help. Nor do they look like they could help if you asked. Grow despondent, abandon hope and start looking for substitutes. Wonder what the hell a sandwich tin is and vow never to use one. Give in at last and buy two rather expensive but still lovely French porcelain fluted tart tins that at least are generally the right size and shape. Go home.
3. Start taking out pastry ingredients. Note that the flour you’ve got isn’t all-purpose flour. Do a Google search to find out what the equivalent is. Learn that while you can usually get away with substituting one flour for another, under absolutely no circumstances should you use the kind of flour you currently possess to make pastry. Curse aloud.
4. Head out again, to same ubiquitous grocery chain again, but for a change of scenery, go to the one ten minutes to the west instead. Find plain flour (next to the eggs) and pick up a dozen other items since you’re there. Note the uncanny skill with which all cashiers put the six heaviest items in one flimsy bag, and the six lightest in another. Stop just outside the door to rebalance bags.
5. At home again, return to taking out pastry equipment. Realise your rolling pin is in storage in the States. Search flat for suitably shaped and weighted substitute. Eye armagnac and scotch bottles but find they’re already open. Scan wine rack and select a nice Chilean Cabernet.
6. Back in the kitchen, realise your mixing bowls are in storage in the States. Choose an Ikea saucepot instead.
7. Remove the price stickers from your new pie tins and give them a quick wash in the kitchen sink. As you rinse the second one, drop it such that it shatters into eight pieces. Begin invoking gods you don’t yet believe in.
8. Decide to use cake tins after all. Confirm that both cake tins won’t fit into the tiny oven at the same time, thus doubling baking time.

Assembling the Pie

1. Combine flour and salt for the pastry in a large bowl saucepot. Cut in butter till the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Using a fork, stir in enough water just to moisten the flour.
2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a slightly flattened ball. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of dough to a 12-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters and transfer it to the pie tin cake tin. Unfold it and crimp or flute the edges.
4. Mix the dry ingredients for the filling in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl freshly washed saucepot; then stir in the pumpkin and dry mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk.
5. Pour the filling mixture into the pastry shells. Bake at 425 F 220 C for 15 min. Reduce temp to 350 F 175 C and bake for 40-50 min or until a knife inserted near the center centre of the pie comes out clean. Cool Commute before serving.

Recently, thats for sure…  (Note to self: remember date in future)
NO PASTRY IN SIGHT!!! and they’re not even savoury! Honestly, standards are slipping as far as abiding the rules goes. These were however very tasty, soft and fluffy, hints of orange as I recall…

Recipe
We might give up on this one - no one ever supplies a recipe any more. Evidence of more slipping standards.

Date unknown
Adrian throws down a gauntlet with 2 pies, chock full of sweet potato goodness. We’re not sure who made the pies, but if you want to see/know more, check out the cooking process at Adrians Blog.

Recipe
No recipe but there are so many photos on the blog even a dumbass alien could make one of these…

Monday the something of sometime
New girl Angie bringing some Antipodean sunshine via a summer fruits and chocolate flan vehicle.


Recipe:

No recipe submitted.