Pastry2 options here; a light puff pastry lid, or a heavier shortcrust for the base and lid. You can make the latter yourself (just google it
) or buy it, but I would advise against making your own puff pastry.
If you do use shortcrust, and make a base, you'll want to prebake the empty base first so that it's nice and crisp (cover with weights or dry rice to stop it puffing too much as it cooks).
FillingFirst, flour up some meat.
In a shitton of butter, cook the meat until it starts to pick up a little colour, then take off the heat and put the meat aside in a bowl with a lid (it should still be undercooked at this stage).
In to the same pan add some more butter or oil, and fry off some chopped onion, garlic, maybe a little celery. Go nuts, really. Once they're soft and coloured, add some liquid. If you're cooking pork, a cider is good at this point. For chicken, try a white wine. Stocks work for either, as well.
Add carrots, potatoes, and whatever else you want at this stage (mushrooms and pumpkin maybe? At least with the chicken. Green peas and corn also works, though if theyre the frozen variety, add them later, with the meat, instead) and spices. For chicken; thyme and black pepper work really well. For pork; try a small amount of star anise or chinese five spice.
Simmer it own until it thickens into a nice sauce; adding a little flour might help at this stage. Mix the meat back in, and transfer to the pie tin.
FinishingCover the pie with your pastry of choice, and crimp the edges down around the tin with a fork. Brush with a beaten egg if you want a nice glaze, and poke some holes in the top to let steam out.
Put it into an oven at high heat (say, 220 C?) and cook until the pastry is a even nice golden brown.
That recipe is what I've done myself. There's no real fixed numbers, because I don't really go by any one recipe, but scavenge bits here and there. I've done variations on a chicken pie three times, pork once. The above is from my last attempt at a chicken pie, and it turned out well enough, though earlier attempts weren't all there. Took a pretty long time to make though, all things considered, and was by no means healthy (there is a HUGE amount of butter in shortcrust).
Note; when I did the pork, I had cooked the meat with the onions and rest rather than seperate them, so the pork was chewy as hell by the time the pie came out. Flavour was good though, and if you pre cook it seperately, it should turn out okay.
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Topic: Food Thread: Kitchen Chemistry (Read 577274 times)