Derbyshire Fidgety Pie

This pie has been in the planning for a while. To celebrate British Food Fortnight I knew I wanted to bake a traditional Derbyshire dish, ideally savory and with pasty. Inspiration came from the most random of places - the latest East Midlands National Trust newsletter. In the newsletter it mentioned the traditional Derbyshire Fidgety Pie. Not a pie I had heard of before, but gave me more of a challenge to try it. Another reason for wanting to use pastry was so I could use my Made in England rolling pin. I don't use it as much as my wooden or marble rolling pin as it is quite delicate, but I love it!

Hubby's family originate from South Derbyshire where this pie has its roots. There are various variations of this pie throughout the Midlands, where they are usually called Fidget Pie. Some with cider, some with ham, some with gammon along with some additional ingredients.



This pie is a traditional dish served to people working in the field through harvest. Essentially it is the Midland's version of the Cornish Pasty as it is a portable, filling meal. It is thought to have got its name from the fact it traditionally was fitched (5-sided) in shape. The key vegetables in a fidgety pie is apples and onions which are plentiful during the harvest and of course these vegetables go well with pork. This version should have raisins in it, but I left them out as I don't like them in savory dishes. Given this ingredient not being used it still made a surprisingly hearty & flavoursome dish.

Rather than baking a pie with both pastry on the top and bottom (trying to make it slightly kinder to the hips!) I baked it in aMason Cash pie dish (made in Derbyshire). In keeping with the South Derbyshire theme I also used smoked bacon from the best butchers around - Chantry Farm Shop in Kings Newton near Melbourne. If your ever near I beg you to pop in. Their meat is second to none and well worth the trip. Hubby & I really enjoyed the pie and I was surprised as to how tasty it was. Perfect for these Autumnal evenings.

Now, you can truly say that this pie has been Made in England.

Derbyshire Fidgety Pie
Makes 2 individual pies

225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
110g butter
cold water
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 small/medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1 apple, cored and finely sliced
4 rashers of bacon
400ml beef stock
thyme
seasoning
1 egg

1) First get started on the pastry. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2) Add the chilled water a small amount at a time and mix with a knife until you have a good dough. Roll into a ball, cover in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 min.

3) Preheat oven to 190oc. Fry off the bacon. At the bottom of each individual pie dish line with a layer of half of the sliced potatoes, then all the onions and apple. Sprinkle with black pepper and thyme then layer with the bacon and the rest of the potato. Pour over the beef stock (200ml per pie dish).

4) Roll out the pastry until around 5mm thick. Top the pie with pastry and trim to fit. Make 2 slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape then brush with egg.

5) Bake for 20min until pastry is golden and filling is cooked. Traditionally it is served on its own, but would go well with a side of vegetables.

Ham & Leek Pie

We've now taken down the Christmas tree. The cottage looks so empty without it, and the other decorations. After a day of the fire burning the cottage it has just about warmed up. As the cottage doesn't have central heating we can't set it so we have a warm house to get home to. It's a case of once we get home after a few days away, getting a fire going (which never lights as well in the cold) and sitting it out until it is warm, in amongst layers of fleecy blankets and copious warming cups of tea.

It was a bit of a surprise when we awoke yesterday morning, to get ready for the first day back in work, to find a blanket of snow coating the ground. We've been predicted more snow in the next few days. Cold wintry weather like this requires comfort food of the puff pastry kind...pies. I know you can make pies with different pastry, but for me the perfect pie is a pie full of filling, with a decent amount of sauce and a puff pastry lid.

A few days after Christmas the leftover ham was reincarnated into a Ham & Leek pie and as requested by the lovely Charlotte @ The Great Big Veg Challenge here it is again. In theory you could make this pie with a multitude of leftovers, just don't forget to briefly cook the veg before you add it to the pie. In the first pie I made a few days after Christmas I added Green Thunder to the cheese sauce which was absolutely delicious.

Ham & Leek Pie
Serves 2-4

3 small leeks, sliced
handful of ham, sliced
25g plain flour
25g butter
400ml milk
75g cheese, grated
2 tsp mustard powder
1 bay leaf
Salt & Pepper
250g puff pastry
2 tbsp milk or 1 beaten egg

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Gently fry off the leeks in a small amount of butter until softened, stir in the ham then take off the heat while you prepare the sauce.

2) In a saucepan melt the butter then whisk in the flour. Keep whisking for a minute to cook the flour. Slowly add the milk and whisk until you have no lumps. Add the bay leaf

3) Gradually bring the sauce to the boil, stirring all the time to stop it burning. Simmer the sauce until it has thickened. Take off the heat, remove the bay leaf then stir in the cheese and mustard powder. Season then add to the leeks & ham.

4) Pour the cheesy leek mix into the bottom of a deep ovenproof dish. Roll out the puff pastry to the size of the dish. Place the pastry on top of the leeks and place 2 slits in the pastry (this stops the pastry going soggy). Brush the pastry with either the milk or eggs then bake for 25-30 min, until pastry is risen and golden.

Thai Pie

A few weeks back on Something for the Weekend, Simon Rimmer made delicious looking Smoked Cheese and Leek Pies. This inspired me to get over my savory pastry fear and have a go at making my own individual pies without doing a Delia and resorting to ready-made pastry.

The fact I'm on Easter Hols has injected me with a bit of confidence and time to try new things. By using the Simon Rimmer pastry recipe Simon Rimmer and making a Thai curry filling using the left over chicken from Sunday, I present my Thai Pies!

The original intention was for the filling to be Thai Green Curry, but Hubby picked up Yellow Curry paste by mistake. This paste worked well as it produced a thicker curry, perfect for the pie. I was really pleased as to how the pastry worked out. It wasn't heavy and contained the filling well. I'll certainly be making the pies again, with different fillings. I did take photos of the pie open, but it looked like I had dropped the pie and it had exploded!

Thai Pies
Makes 2 individual pies with a bit of leftover pastry.

PASTRY
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
65g suet
65g unsalted butter
pinch salt
splash cold water
1 egg, beaten

THAI YELLOW CURRY FILLING
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1.5 tbsp yellow curry paste
1 tbsp soft dark sugar
leftover chicken
8 kaffir lime leaves, plus 2 more for decoration
300ml coconut milk
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
a few mange tout and baby corn, sliced
1 tbsp chopped coriander
juice of 1/2 lime


1) For the pastry rub together the flour, suet, butter and salt. Add a splash of water to help bring the dough together. Form into a ball. Place ball back in the bowl, cover in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 min.

2) While the pastry is chilling start on the curry. Heat oil, paste and sugar on a high heat for about a minute. Reduce heat then add chicken and leaves until coated in the paste. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and simmer for 20 min.

3) Stir in lime juice, mange tout, sweetcorn and coriander. Remove kaffir lime leaves (optional). Allow to cool.

4) Preheat oven to 200oc. Line baking tray with parchment. Roll out pastry until about 5mm thick. Cut 2 circles 15cm in diameter (about side-plate size) and 2 circles 8 cm in diameter.

5) To make the pies, place about half of the filling mixture in the middle of one of the larger circles (you may have some curry left). Place one of the smaller circles on top of the mixture, then bring the sides up and pinch around the top to help it stand. Place on the baking tray.

5) Brush pies with beaten egg, place kaffir leaf on the top of each pie. Bake for 20 min until golden.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pot Pie

I'm on my little lonesome for most dinners this week so have taken the opportunity to eat veggie and try out some new recipes, so expect a lot of updates this week! I'm renowned for eating badly when I'm cooking for 1 so I've planned my whole menu for the week and already have most of the ingredients in. I don't have an excuse not to eat well.

This morning I took the chance to check out the market in town where I managed to pick up lots of lovely veg. Just a shame the people who served me on both stalls were miserable so-and-sos, I won't be visiting their stalls again and sticking to my usual veg provider.

Tonight I made a delicious (if I must say myself!) purple sprouting broccoli pot pie. I was worried the PSB may bleed into the sauce, but it kept it's colour beautifully. I had the pie with some peas plus roasted baby potatoes and radishes, as inspired by The Great Big Vegetable Challenge. The pie is based on the cauliflower and bacon pie I made back in October. I've submitted the pie to The Mini Pie Revolution for their pot pie blog event.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pot Pie
Serves 1

handful of purple sprouting broccoli
2 spring onions, chopped
100ml creme fraiche
50g mature cheddar (I use Quickes cheddar)
seasoning
120g puff pastry
egg, lightly beaten

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Fry spring onions until they have softened. In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together (apart from pastry) then spoon into the pie dish.

2) Roll out puff pastry to size of dishes then place on top. Pinch around the edges to help seal. Then use a knife to put 2 slits into the piece of pastry to stop it getting soggy underneath. Brush with a small amount of egg. Cook for 25-30 min.

Steak, Stout and Cheddar Pie

After last weeks disastrous Sunday Dinner I was determined to make this one better. In this months GFM it features a delicious looking Steak, Guinness & Cheese pie. I knew this was both something we would really enjoy. One problem we couldn't eat a huge pie between the two of us, so I took the recipe and adapted it to make 2 individual pies. By lining to small pie dishes with baking parchment the pies lifted out easily after baking. The one thing that would have made this recipe easier was if I had a ovenproof dish I could also put on the hob. I had to make the filling in a saucepan then transfer it to a pyrex dish. One day I'll own a Le Cruset casserole dish!

The pies were delicious, but incredibly filling. We had it with mustard champ and purple sprouting broccoli. I just love the sound the pastry makes as you cut through it. The only alteration I would make to was to maybe try stilton instead of cheddar next time.

Steak, Stout & Cheddar Pie
Serves 2-4 (depending on how gready you are!)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
1 garlic clove, chopped
10g butter
1 large carrot, chopped
handful of mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp rosemary
400g stewing steak, cubed
220ml stout
1 tbsp plain flour
75g mature Cheddar cheese or Stilton, grated
500g ready made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

1) Preaheat oven to 190oc. In a large pan heat the olive oil and gently soften the onions. Turn the heat up and add butter, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, beef, rosemary a pinch of salt and a generous amount of ground pepper. Fry for about 4 min, until beef is beginning to colour.

2) Pour in stout and flour, plus just enough water to cover. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and bake for about 1.5 hours until meat is tender and sauce is thick.

3) Remove from oven and stir in half of the cheese. Allow to cool slightly. Line pie dishes with baking parchment. Cut pastry block into thirds and cut one of these thirds in half widthways. With the larger two pieces of pastry roll out, then line each pie dish. Fill each pie with with the stew and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Roll out the two final pieces of pastry and lightly score a hash pattern on them. Lay pastry over pie and fold excess edges inwards. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 35-45 min until golden.

Cauliflower Cheese & Bacon Pie

I've been wanting to make a pie for a while, but never really got around to it. I fancied a pie that wasn't your usual beef/chicken pie and came across a cauliflower cheese pie on the GFM website. To make it non-veggie for hubby I altered the recipe slightly and added some bacon. I was really tasty, creamy but light at the same time and we'll be certainly be having it again. I did use my alphabet cutters to put our names on top of the pies, but it hasn't shown up well on the photo. I served it with carrot and roast potatoes.

Cauliflower cheese and bacon pie
Serves 2

1/2 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 rashers of smoked back bacon, cut into small strips
3 spring onions, chopped
200ml creme fraiche
100g mature cheddar (I used Quickes cheddar)

seasoning

ready-made puff pastry

egg, lightly beaten

1) Preheat oven to 200oc. Fry bacon and spring onions until bacon is cooked. In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together (apart from pastry) then spoon into pie dishes.

2) Roll out puff pastry to size of dishes then place on top. Pinch around the edges and use a knife to put 2 slits into each piece of pastry to stop it getting soggy underneath. Brush with a small amount of egg. Cook for 25-30 min.