Home-made pork pie and two vegetarian cheese specials

Home-made pork pie and two vegetarian specials

A colleague asked me for a couple of cheese based vegetarian recipes and a good recipe for an Old English Pork Pie. There are dozens of recipes for pork pies and we have tried nearly all of them. The one we show you here, is the best we can find this side of Melton Mobray.

The two vegetarian dishes contain cheese and are a couple of our regular bakes – even though we are not vegetarians – we just love Cheese. Experiment with different types of cheese until you find one that you prefer. Our favourite Cheese is an aged strong chedder cheese.

Vegetarian Cheese and Onion ‘Sausage’ Rolls

These are a lovely vegetarian cheese alternative to our very homely Sausage Rolls. They consist of just cheese, onions and pastry. The pastry has been made with the addition of vegetarian suet, giving the ‘rolls’ a new texture. Some of the filling might ooze out during the cooking, so the rolls might not have a ‘neat’ finish, but the flavour is fantastic.

Individual cheese and onion rolls are very handy to serve as part of afternoon tea or a picnic box.

MAKES 8-10 CHEESE AND ONION ROLLS

For the Pastry
175 g (6 oz) self-raising flour
Good pinch of salt
75 g (3 oz) shredded vegetarian suet
5-6 tablespoons cold water

For the Filling
175 g (6 oz) strong Cheddar cheese, grated
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Salt and cayenne pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Sift together the flour and salt. Mix in the suet. Add enough of the cold water to create a pliable dough. Divide the dough into two pieces. On a floured surface, roll into two strips 30 x 10 cm (12 x 4 in). Brush water around the border. Mix together the grated cheese and onion and season with salt and cayenne pepper.

The filling can now be laid onto the two pastry strips up to the moistened edge. Roll up as for two long Swiss rolls, and slice each into four or five slices, giving a total of eight to ten little rolls. Place on a greaseproof or parchment-papered tray, keeping the sealed edge on the base.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. The cheese and onion rolls are delicious served cold but are even better served warm. The cheese is then still soft and sticky.

Note: Lots of other cheeses can be used. The Cheddar can be mixed with half Stilton and the onion replaced with spring onions. Chopped raisins will also eat well with the cheese and onion. Another flavour I like to add is chopped tarragon or just mixed herbs. They all give an extra perfume to the finished rolls.

Gruyére Cheese, Leek and Mushroom Flan

This is my favourite cheese flan recipe, one that’s full of textures and lots of flavours. Cheddar cheese also works well for this recipe. A tasty accompaniment to offer is the Spicy Tomato and Mint Relish

SERVES 8-12
1 large onion, sliced
50 g (2 oz) mushrooms, sliced
40 g (1 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons groundnut or vegetable oil
1 medium leek, shredded and washed
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
150 ml (1/4 pint) double cream or milk
100 g (4 oz) Gruyere or Cheddar cheese, grated
Cayenne pepper (optional)
175 g (6 oz) Shortcrast or Puff Pastry
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Butter a 20 cm (8 in) flan tin or a flan ring and baking sheet. To start the filling, cook the sliced onion and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the butter and ½ tablespoon of the oil for 5-6 minutes until tender. Leave to cool. The shredded leek can now be blanched by plunging into boiling salted water for 1 minute. This will tenderize the vegetable without making it too soggy. After the minute, drain in a colander and allow to cool naturally without running under cold water.

In a basin, beat the eggs and the egg yolk together, then add the cream or milk and leave to one side. Melt the remaining butter and oil together until blended, then leave to cool. Mix the grated cheese with the eggs and cream and fold in the onion, mushrooms and leek along with the cool butter and oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper and a little cayenne, if using. The mixture can be made the day before it’s needed, as it refrigerates very well.

Roll out the pastry and line the flan tin or ring, leaving any excess pastry overhanging the edge; once cooked this can be carefully cut away to give an even finish. Refrigerate and rest for 20 minutes. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or dried rice. Bake blind in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, then allow to cool. Remove the beans and paper.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Pour the filling mixture into the pastry base and cook in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the flan just sets. The tart should colour during cooking. If it starts to over-colour, lightly cover with foil or greaseproof paper. The flan is best left to rest for 20-30 minutes before serving as this will help set the texture of the filling, creating a creamy taste.

Home-made Pork Pie

The British have been making pies since at least the Middle Ages. The raised ‘coffin’ casing was to protect the meat inside from the extreme heat of the fire, and often was not eaten. However, as the art of making pastry developed, many pie recipes did too, and the pork pie is very traditional. It was perfected at Melton Mowbray, and the original recipe used to contain, so I believe, some anchovy essence.

A lot of dishes, such as this one and Corned Beef , sound like hard work, and you might think there is no point in going to all this trouble when there are so many bought varieties available. The reality is that both recipes are relatively simple and there is one thing that eating a bought pie can’t give you, and that is the personal satisfaction of knowing you’ve made it.

The meats I use for this recipe are pork shoulder and back fat. Pork belly can also be used, maintaining the same total weight. The filling must be made before the pastry, as hot water crust has to be moulded while still warm. To finish the pie, a home-made pork jelly can be made using pigs’ trotters. Alternatively, home-made chicken stock can be used and set with leaf or powdered gelatine; 25 g (1 oz) per 600 ml (1 pint) stock will guarantee a good setting consistency.

25 g (1 oz) butter
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon English mustard powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 kg (2 lb 2 oz) trimmed shoulder pork (or pork belly)
175 g (6 oz) pork back fat (or pork belly)
Salt and pepper

For the Jellied Stock
3 pig’s trotters or 2 ham hocks
1 onion
1 carrot
2 celery sticks
A Few black peppercorns
Sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1.8 litres (3 pints) water
25 g (1 oz) gelatine (or 2 leaves), if needed for
1.2 litres (2 pints) stock

For the Pastry
150 ml (1/4 pint) milk
150 ml (1/4 pint) water
175 g (6 oz) lard
675 g (1 1/2 lb) plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

The mould used for this recipe is a loose-bottomed or spring-clip tin 20 cm (8 in) in diameter and 6.75-7.5 cm (2 ½ -3 in) deep. First, make the jellied stock. Place all of the ingredients except for the gelatine, in a saucepan and bring to the simmer. Cook for 3 hours, before passing the stock through a sieve. The stock can now be boiled and reduced to 600-900 ml (1-1 ½ pints). Once at this stage, test a spoonful or two of the stock, refrigerating until cold and, hopefully, well set. If the jelly is still a little loose, 1 or 2 leaves of gelatine can be added to the stock.

Now make the filling. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Once bubbling, add the chopped onions and cook for a few minutes, without colouring, until beginning to soften. Remove from the stove and add the sage, thyme, mace, mustard and mixed spice. Leave to cool. While this is cooling, the pork shoulder and back fat can be chopped into 5 mm (1/4 in) rough dice. The meat can also be broken down in a food processor or minced coarsely. However, dicing will always maintain the maximum moistness in the meat. Mix the cooked onions with the chopped pork, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed.

Now, make the pastry. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Grease the pie mould and place it on a baking sheet. Bring the milk, water and lard to the boil. Sift the flour with the salt into a bowl, leaving a well in the centre. Pour in the boiling lard liquor and stir into the flour to form a dough. Knead lightly by hand and finish to a smooth dough. Keep a quarter of the pastry warm to one side, then work or roll the rest of the pastry on a lightly floured surface until just large enough to fill the mould and approximately 5 mm (1/5 in) thick.

Sit the pastry in the mould and work by hand, gently pushing it out to make it fill to just above the top of the mould. Trim the edges. Fill the lined mould with the pork filling, packing it in just above the top. Fold the pastry around the top onto the mix and brush with the beaten egg. Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and sit on top of the pie, pressing the edges together and cutting away any excess. Using a 1 cm (1/2 in) plain metal piping nozzle, cut a cross in the centre, pressing the nozzle in to create a hole and leaving it in place. The pie can now be decorated, if wished, with any pastry trimmings. The border can also be pinched with a fork to give a simple patterned edge. Brush the pie with the beaten egg.

Bake the pie immediately in the hot oven for 30 minutes. The oven temperature can now be reduced to 190°C/3 75°F/Gas Mark 5 and the pie cooked for a further hour. Once the pie reaches a golden brown stage, gently cover with foil to prevent the pastry from burning. At this point, the pie can be checked, inserting a skewer through the nozzle. The skewer should be hot and clean when removed. If not, continue to cook for a further 15-20 minutes.

Once cooked, lift the pie from the oven and relax for 15 minutes before removing from the mould. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Return to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes until the pie has a golden glaze. Remove from the oven and allow the pie to rest for 30 minutes. The pie filling will have shrunk slightly during the cooking process, leaving a space to be filled with the jelly.

Using a jug and funnel, pour a little of the jelly stock into the pie. This will be absorbed slowly by the meat, giving it a moister finish. Repeat this process until the pie has cooled. Now refrigerate before adding more cold jelly, and the pie is full. Any remaining jelly can simply be frozen, ready for your next pork pie. Once you’ve tasted the results, you’ll realize it really was worth every minute you put into it.

Note: It’s best to make the pork pie at least 48 hours before sewing. This will give the filling time to mature, with all the spices impregnating the pork stuffing. For a richer, golden jelly, the pig’s trotters can first be coloured in a hot pan along with the vegetables. Now simply follow the rest of the recipe method.

Cheese with Bill & Sheila

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