which is a great pity when there are so many vile burger bars and
greasy fried chicken shops to choose from.
Anyway, even if pies go further out of fashion than they are
now, you can still make them at home. I nearly always make mine
with shortcrust pastry, but use ready-made puff pastry if you
prefer. Either way, these little pies can be made in advance and kept
in the fridge for a couple of days.
The other point I should make is that although the tin I use is
meant to be a Yorkshire pudding tin, it’s actually about the same
size as an extra large muffin tin (I’ve also seen much bigger
Yorkshire pudding tins than mine) but as long as the holes in the
tin are deep enough and the tin looks about right to you, don’t
worry too much about the size, it should be fine.
You should get between 6 and 10 pies from the quantities in the
recipe.
For the pastry
8 oz (225 g) plain flour
2 oz (50 g) butter or margarine
2 oz (50 g) lard
Cold water (approximately 4 tbsp)
For the filling
1lb (500 g) beef mince
1 large onion
2 tsp gravy browning
1⁄4 mug of cold water
1⁄4 cup of milk for glazing
Method
1. Make the pastry by sifting the flour into a large mixing bowl
then adding the fat to the bowl in small pieces and rubbing the
fat and flour together with your fingertips until the mixture
resembles medium-fine breadcrumbs.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour then add about half the
given quantity of water and mix together with your hand or a
tablespoon to make the dough, adding a little more water if
necessary.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a
minute or two until the dough is smooth and workable, then
wrap in cling film or foil and keep in the fridge while you make
the pie filling.
4. Cook the mince in a large pan while you finely chop the onion,
then add the onion to the pan and cook for a few more minutes
until the mince has browned and the onion is soft.
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 (200ºC) and use
a mug to make six circles on a sheet of greaseproof paper (or
one circle for however many pies you’re making). Place a
greaseproof circle at the base of each hole in the tin and grease
the whole of the inside.
6. As soon as the meat is cooked, strain as much of the fatty
liquid out of the pan as you can and mix 2 teaspoons of gravy
browning in 1⁄4 mug of cold water, making sure there are no
lumps.
7. Pour the gravy browning into the pan with the meat and stir
well for a minute or two until the sauce thickens, then remove
the pan from the heat.
8. Roll out the pastry to about 1⁄8 in (3 mm) thick; use a side plate
or saucer to cut out six pie bottoms, and a mug to make six pie
lids, re-rolling the pastry trimmings as necessary.
9. Carefully place one large circle of pastry in each hole in the tin;
prick with a fork several times then fill with the meat mixture,
leaving about 1⁄4 in (5 mm) of pastry at the top.
10. Brush the pastry edges of the pies with a little milk then put a
lid on top of each pie and fold the top edge of the pastry over
the lid, pressing down gently to seal the pies.
11. Prick the top of the pies with a fork, brush with more milk and
bake the pies in a hot oven for about 25 minutes, or until the
pastry is golden.
12. Serve with mashed potatoes and parsley liquor.
How to make liquor If you don’t have fresh chicken stock, use the water you’ve boiled
the potatoes in, or even a mixture of each. And although it’s better
to use fresh, chopped flat-leaf parsley, dried herbs are more than
good enough.
2 oz (50 g) butter or margarine
1 tbsp cornflour
1 pint (500 ml) fresh chicken stock or 1 pint (500 ml) potato
water, or a mixture of stock and water)
1 tbsp vinegar (preferably white wine vinegar, but brown malt will
do)
A handful of fresh parsley or 2 tbsp dried parsley
Salt & pepper
Method
1. Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan and stir in the
cornflour to make a paste.
2. Gradually pour in the stock or water, plus vinegar, and whisk
continuously to prevent lumps forming.
3. Add the finely chopped fresh parsley to the sauce and season
with a very little salt and pepper.
4. Serve with the pies and mashed potatoes.
Tip
Instead of using cornflour, thicken a watery sauce with a
small cup of (uncooked) couscous stirred in a few minutes
before serving.
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