Bear Cuisine

Savory Pie

Ever since I watched the lighthearted British crime-comedy series Pie in the Sky and  The Great British Baking Show,I have wanted to bake a version of a savory meat pie. The New York Times obligingly  offered a recipe for Guinness Pie . Don't think of Sweeney Todd; instead, think of steak and kidney pie without the kidneys. Sam Sifton's recipe is straightforward and makes a delicious pie which our company enjoyed. 

Guinness Pie

 

GUINNESS PIE

For the Stew

1. 4 TBS butter
2. 2 large onions, chopped
3. 4 cloves garlic,minced
4. 2 carrots peeled and chopped
5. 2 ribs celery chopped
6. 10 mushrooms,trimmed and sliced
7. 3 pounds brisket or stew meat, cut into bite-size pieces
8. kosher salt
9. freshly ground black pepper
10. 2 TBS flour
11. 1 sprig rosemary
12. 4 cups(2 cans) Guinness or other stout

13. 1 cup trotter gear or 8 ounces freshly grated cheddar

For the Pastry

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3. 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold unsalted utter, diced
5. 1 egg yolk

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a large dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft. This should take about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots, celery,mushrooms and remaining 2 tablespoons  butter and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are dark in color and the moisture released by them has evaporated, about 15 minutes.

Season the beef pieces all over with salt and pepper. Add the beef, flour and rosemary to the pan and cook over high heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.

Add enough Guinness to just cover the beef. Cover the pan and put it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and stir. If using trotter gear, stir it in now. Return to the oven for 1 hour more. If it remains thin, set the pan over medium-low heat, remove the lid and reduce the liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If using cheddar,fold in about half.

While the stew is cooking, prepare the pastry:sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the dough until it is the texture of coarse meal. Add ice water, a splash at a time, until a firm dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and, using a rolling pin, roll to about 1/4 " thick. Pour the stew into an 8-inch-square,2-inch-high baking dish or a deep 9-inch pie pan. If using Cheddar, scatter the remaining cheese across the top. Place the dough on top of the pie and pinch it closed around the edges using the tines of a fork then slash the center lightly with a knife. Brush with the egg yolk,place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is puffy and golden.

TROTTER GEAR

This recipe is from Fergus Henderson of Nose to Tail Eating fame. This will make more than you will use in the pie recipe, but it will store nicely in the freezer.  Think of it as the backbone of a number of soups or stews. I used pig shanks--two shanks rather than three pigs' feet-- instead of the trotters and they worked just fine. If you have a pressure cooker, you can make the gear in it. Cook on high pressure for approximately an hour.

1. 3 trotters (pig's feet)
2. 2 red onions, halved
3. 2 ribs celery, chopped
4. 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
5. 2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
6. 1 head garlic
7. 2 bay leaves
8. 12 black peppercorns
9. 2 sprigs thyme
10. 1 cup Madeira or other sweet wine or one bottle red wine
11. About 1 quart chicken stock

Place everything but the liquids in a large pot. Pour in the wine and enough chicken stock to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, until the meat falls off the bone.

Remove the trotters from the pot. Strain the stock. Pluck the meat, flesh and skin from the bones and chop. Discard the bones, Stir the meat, flesh and skin back into the stock, then serve.

Another Kind of Southern Comfort

The last time we made trip through southwestern Virginia on Interstate 81, we discovered the charms and good tastes of Mrs. Rowe's. We decided that no trip though this part of the country could be complete without a visit. This time we didn't stop for dinner, but we did pick up some of her justly famous pie. Choice is always difficult when faced with such variety of goodness, but we settled on Coconut Cream Pie which we later discovered is the most popular desert here. It's not often we run with the crowd.

Coconut Cream Pie

Molly Cox Bryan has published the secrets of this and other glorious pies in her book Mrs. Rowe's little book of Southern Pies. If you are a baker of pies, this book should be in your library.

MRS. ROWE'S ORIGINAL COCONUT CREAM PIE

1. 1/2 recipe Pie Pastry or Vinegar Pie Crust
2. 3 egg yolks
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 1/4 cup cornstarch
5. 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
6. 3 cups whole milk
7. 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
8. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
9. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10. 1 recipe Mrs. Rowe's Meringue

 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Stir together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and just enough of the water to make a smooth paste. Heat the milk in a double boiler set over simmering water. When the milk begins to steam, gradually whisk in the egg mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut, the butter, and the vanilla.

Pour the filling into the crust and top with the meringue, sealing the edges well. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup coconut over the meringue.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the meringue is olden brown and it's firm to the touch. cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before slicing. Serve the pie at room temperature.

VINEGAR PIE CRUST

The head note for this recipe says "The vinegar in this crust is a flavorless stabilizer, making the dough more forgiving and patchable. In addition to being easy to work with, it also tastes great--even butter-loving pastry fans enjoy the flavor."

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoons salt
3. 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
5. 1 egg lightly beaten
6. 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until it is the size of small peas. Add the vinegar, egg, and just enough ice water to moisten the dry ingredients.

Form the dough into 2 equal balls, then flatten into disks. Roll out the crusts right away or wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

To prebake an empty crust preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Press 1 rolled-out crust into a 9- or 10-inchpie plate. Line with parchment paper and weight the crust down with dry beans or pie weights to keep the crust from bubbling or shrinking. Bake for 10 minutes until firm and lightly browned. Take the crust out of the oven and carefully remove the pie weights. Place the crust back into the oven. To parbake the crust, remove it from the oven after 10 to 20 minutes, when you first see a golden hue to the crust. To fully bake the crust, continue baking until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

 

MRS. ROWE'S MERINGUE

1. 4 egg whites at room temperature
2. 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3. 3 tablespoons sugar

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a chilled bowl and beat with an electric mixer on slow to medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and continue beating on slow to medium speed until the whites form stiff peaks but aren't dry. the meringue is now ready to pile lightly over a pie.

 

This was worth every calorie.

The Pasty in Minnesota

The pasty is the British version, more precisely the Cornish version, of the uibiquitous meat pie. I love them. When I was in seminary I would wander down to Harvard Square on Saturday morning to the small shop which sold a passable version of them. It provided sustenance before beginning a long day in the library. The original pasty was portable food for the tin miners in Cornwall, who kept them in their pockets and ate them for lunch.

Jane Garmey in Great British Cooking: a Well-Kept Secret tells us that "A pasty is a turnover that is usually filled with meat but may have other fillings. When times were hard and meat was scarce, the pasties were filled with potatoes and called Tiddy Oggies (tiddy being the local name for a potato), not be confused with Priddy Oggies, which came from the town of Priddy in nearby Somerset and were filled with pork and Cheddar cheese. "

I was quite surprised to find a pasty on the menu of the Deluth Grill. Since it was the special that day, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about it.

Indeed, it was a very fine pasty. I quite enjoyed it even though I couldn't justify it by working in the heat of the tin or iron mines for the rest of the day. The question remained: What was a Cornish Pasty doing in a restaurant in Duluth Minnesota?

When the Iron Range opened in northern Minnesota, there was a need for skilled workers. The mines were closing in Cornwall and that left an entire generation of young men unemployed . Learning of the opportunities in Minnesota they emmigrated and, as immigrants do, they brought with them their native foods. There is much debate about who makes the best pasty and what constitutes the true original form of the pie. Folks here take great pride in making them well and I think that no matter whose version you are tasting, you won't go wrong.

This version is from Jane Garmey.

CORNISH PASTIES

These are generously sized and will serve 4 people.

one recipe shortcut pastry

For the Filling

1. 12 ounces chuck steak
2. 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
3. 1 turnip or 2 small carrots, finely chopped
4. 1 large potato, finely chopped
5. salt
6. freshly ground black pepper
7. 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare the pastry.

Remove any skin or gristle from the meat and chop it into very small cubes. Mix it the vegetables and season generously with salt and pepper.

Roll out the pastry until it is approximately 1/4-inch thick. Cut it into 6-inch rounds, using a plate or a saucer to measure each circle. Lay the rounds on a flat surface and place an equal portion of the steak mixture in the center of each round in the shape of a little sausage.

Brush the rim of each pasty with a little beaten egg and bring the sides up to meet in the middle over the top of the filling. Pinch the edges together and shape each pasty into an oval mound. Make two splits on either side of the crest so that steam can escape while the pasty is cooking.

Put the pasties on a greased baking sheet and brush the outsides with the remaining egg. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 , reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 40 minutes longer.

Remove the pasties from the oven and serve warm.

SHORTCUT PASTRY

1. 2 1/4 cups flour
2. 1/4 teaspoon salt
3. 3 ounces unsalted butter
4. 4 ounces lard
5. 1 tablespoon confectioners's sugar
6. 1 egg yolk
7. 3 tablespoons cold water

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter and lard into small pieces and mix them into the flour with the blade of a knife until they are well coated. Using your fingertips, rub in the fat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Mix the egg yolk with the water and pour into the flour. Mix quickly with a palette knife until it forms a dough. Knead the pastry lightly until it is smooth and has no cracks. Wrap it in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.