Thursday 24 March 2016

Pork and Cider Loaf Pie

I've always thought, when you're going to do a pie, go big. Most of the time is spent cooking the filling, or waiting for the pie to bake, so you may as well get plenty of portions out of them. I have a fondness for making them in loaf tins, as then they are simple to slice...this works really well with hot water crust pastry, and pies designed to be served cold.

This is a variation of a pie I made before Christmas for a group of cyclists to come back to...it uses classic flavours (pork, cider, mustard, parsnip), and the filling is slow-cooked for a few hours, with cornflour added towards the end of the cook to give a fairly thick filling, all the better to slice into portions. Depending on the specific size of your loaf tin, and how well you can line the tin, this may leave enough for a smaller second pie (aka chefs treat).

Pork and Cider Loaf Pie - Recipe

Filling Ingredients

  • 1kg diced pork shoulder
  • 2tbsp oil 
  • 2tbsp plain flour
  • 500ml medium-dry cider
  • 2 ham stock cubes
  • 350ml boiling water
  • 2 parsnips - diced
  • 3tbsp cornflour
1) Put a large pan on a high heat, and add the oil

2) Once the oil is smoking, add the pork to the pan, with the flour

3) Cook on a high heat until sealed

4) Add the stock cubes to the boiling water, and stir until dissolved

5) Add the stock and the cider to the pan, and reduce to a gentle simmer

6) Put the lid on the pan, and cook for 2 hours

7) Add in the chopped parsnips

8) Slake half the cornflour in a little water, and add to the pan, stirring in

9) Cook for another 45 - 60 minutes

10) Remove from the heat.

11) Slake the remaining cornflour in a little water, and stir in.

12) Allow to cool completely (ideally overnight, transferring it to a plastic tub)
 

Pastry Ingredients

  • 450g plain flour
  • 100g strong white flour
  • 75g butter
  • 100g lard
  • 200ml water
  • Pinch of salt
  • Beaten egg (to glaze)

1) Place the flours in a large mixing bowl with the salt

2) Rub the butter into the flour until you get fine breadcrumbs

3) Place the water and lard into a saucepan

4) Heat the pan gently, until all the lard has melted, then turn up the heat to boil the water

5) Once the water is boiling, pour it all into the flour

6) Immediately mix and stir thoroughly to combine the water, melted lard and flour

7) As soon as you can, get your hand in and start combining, mixing and kneading the dough...you can be vigorous, and you want it a smooth consistency

8) Put quarter of the dough to one side (for the pie lid)

9) on a slightly floured surface, roll the dough large enough to line the loaf tin (it will vary based on your tin, but it will be roughly 10 inches by 14 inches) with some hang-over

10) Line the tin, making sure that the pastry is even thickness, and there are no air bubbles

11) Fill the pie with the cold filling until it's level with the top of the tin.

12) Take the dough you put aside for the lid, and roll it out so that it will cover the top of the tin, with some overlap

13) Brush beaten egg around the edge of the pastry lining the tin

14) place the lid on top of the tin, and gently press down

15) using a sharp knife, trim the hanging pastry.

16) Crimp the edges together with a fork

17) Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg

18) using the cut-offs, form some decoration (leaves etc), and place them on topo f hte pie

19) Brush the decorations with beaten egg

20) Bake in an oven at 200'C for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown