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.

Hogget & Mint Pasties

I first tasted hogget back in February at River Cottage when it was served as part of the Valentines Feast. It's such a delicious meat, stronger tasting than lamb, but not as gristly as mutton. To explain: lamb is a sheep from birth to 1 year, hogget is from 1-2 years and Mutton is from 2 years or older.

I've been trying to get hold of hogget ever since and a smallholding friend came to the rescue. So with half a hogget in the freezer we've begun to work our way slowly through it.

One of the best way we've found for cooking lamb/hogget is to slow roast it so the meat is full of taste and falls apart. By doing this you don't have to worry about the fattiness you sometimes get with lamb as it just renders off. Dinner Diary's Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb recipe is divine, so easy and also works perfectly with hogget.

With leftovers from Sunday's slow roasted shoulder of hogget I decided to have a go at making Hogget & Mint Pasties. Now this is why I love roast dinners as it makes the next few days of meals easy. I made 4 pasties with this recipe. I could have frozen 2 of the pasties in their uncooked state, but Hubby requested if we could have them for Lunch today. They worked far better than I expected and will certainly be making them again even if they are a tad rustic looking. I think they would also work really well as mini pasties. Hubby helped quite a bit with the prep for these (spot the perfectly diced veg that could not have been done by me!) as I managed to slice my finger quite spectacularly a few days ago while making my lunch. Who knew a bread knife could hurt so much and cause the amount of blood it did. I've been banned from going near the Microplane, I'm too much of a risk.



This recipe is partially inspired by a recipe I had cut out of the newspaper and I imagine would work with a multitude of different meats and Sunday leftovers. The surprising ingredient in the pasties is a small amount of ketchup. This helps to thicken and sweeten the gravy. There is also a bit of a debate as to what type of pastry a pastie should be made with. I prefer puff pastry so have made it with that.

Hogget & Mint Pasties
Makes 4 large pasties

250g potato, 1cm cubes
1 carrot, 1cm cubes
6 shallots, finely sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
leftover roasted hogget, shredded (I used about 200g)
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
250ml lamb stock
seasoning
500g block of ready made puff pasty
1 egg, beaten

1) In a saute pan gently fry the potato, carrot and shallots in the olive oil until softened.

2) Stir in the mint, hogget, ketchup and stock then simmer until the sauce has thickened and you are left with only a small amount of liquid. If the sauce is too thin it'll make the pasties soggy. Put the filling to one side while you sort out the pastry.

3) Preheat the oven to 200oc. Roll out the pastry until it is 3mm - 5mm thick square. You can either cut around something like a plate or do what I did: Cut the pastry into quarters and freehand a kind of circle (or a rounded squircle if you want to be technical) in each quarter, by doing this I waste less pastry.

4) Brush the edges of the pastry circle with beaten egg then place 1/4 of the filling in the middle of the pastry. Bring up the edges and pinch them to make a pastie shape. Place on a lined baking tray and brush with beaten egg. Put 2 small cuts on each side of the pastry to help stop it going soggy. Bake for 20 min until the pastry is crisp and golden. Best served hot.

Curry Monday - Chard Aloo

For the last few weeks the garden has truly bloomed...and bolted in some places. A combination of hot sunshine and lots of rain made the rhubarb chard we had planted as part of the River Cottage Seed Project bolt over the space of 2 days. A bit of searching around the internet found that we could still eat bolted chard (unlike bolted radishes, yuk!)

I used the lovely Mallika's recipe for Saag Aloo. I'm not sure if you can use the word "saag" if it is made with chard, hence why I've called it Chard Aloo. I made a very tasty curry that I will certainly be having again.

A Fuzzy Feeling Inside

Today we went to the cinema. We don't go to the cinema together very often as we rarely can agree as to which films to watch. With his favourite films being things like Resident Evil & Layer Cake and mine being Moulin Rouge & Hairspray, you can see where the problem lies. He was very instant on watching Indiana Jones and he has been badgering me for weeks. I will get him back. I'm insisting as I've had to sacrifice 2 hours to watch Indiana Jones he must come and watch Mamma Mia with me...mwhahaha.

After the torture of Indiana Jones (ok it wasn't that bad!) we went to the PYO farm. The farm signs indicated that the raspberries were now ready. Well lets just say it took us 45 min to fill a small punnet of raspberries, they do taste good though. I think in about 1.5 weeks the crops will be better. The odd raspberries we did find were like glistening ruby beacons. While there we did manage to pick a more impressive punnet of strawberries and blackcurrants.

Tonight's meal was Tuna Fishcakes. I really enjoyed them. For 26 years I've been avoiding tuna, not realising I actually like it. Thanks to Lizzie @ Hollow Legs I can now add tuna to my list of fish I like!

This evening while preparing dinner and the summer puddings for tomorrow I popped out to the front of the house to be greeted with a sight that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Coming down the road toward the house was a classic sports car decked out in wedding ribbons. I'm not 100% sure what car it was but it looked like an MG and it was from the same era as the Austin Healey Sprite we hired for our wedding last year. It stopped me in my tracks. I glanced at the bride, she was beaming. I smiled back as I knew exactly how she was feeling.

Curry Monday - Kheema Aloo

The inspiration for this weeks Curry Monday came from my brother. He had originally asked for me to do a Lamb Methi, but as I didn't have any fenugreek leaves decided to make Kheema Aloo, Kheema meaning spicy minced meat and Aloo, dry curry.

My goodness was this curry hot. I didn't put in as much chilli powder as the recipe suggested, but it was still very very spicy! I ended up stirring some cream into mine in an attempt to cool it down.

Things are a bit manic over the next week so don't expect another update until next Sunday or Monday. A week today Hubby and I celebrate our 1st Wedding Anniversary. I can't believe how fast a year has gone. Coincidentally our wedding photos are featured in the Real Life section of this months edition of Wedding Ideas. As to which couple we are...I'll leave you to guess.

Keema Aloo
Serves 2-3

1 1/2 tsp rapeseed oil
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
250g minced lamb
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chilli powder (less if you don't want it spicy)
1 tsp grated ginger
pinch of salt
3 small potatoes cut into small cubes
1/2 can (200g) chopped tomatoes
50ml hot water
2 tbsp fresh coriander

1) Heat the oil then fry cardamom, cinnamon and cloves for 3 mins.

2) Add the lamb along with garam masala, chilli, garlic, ginger and salt. Stir well then cook for 5 min.

3) Stir in potatoes water and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 10-15, until potatoes are cooked.

St George's Day - Bangers & Mash

Today in England we celebrate St George's day. To mark the day I decided to cook some truly British grub in the form of bangers (sausage) and mash with caramelised onion and cider gravy...just a shame the dish didn't really go with the beautiful warm Spring day we have experienced today with the temperatures touching 20oc.

The sausages were delicious apricot and sage sausages and I believe sausages are the few savory foods that can get away with a pinch of fruit in them. Hubby has a sasuage making kit winging it's way to him now, so soon we'll hopefully be having a go and making our own sausages.

Bring on the summer I say - BBQ's, Pimms, Eton Mess, raspberries, eating alfresco, drinking wine on the patio, drinking cider with friends while camping...need I say more.

Potato & Leek Gratin

Earlier this afternoon Hubby's parents and Grandma popped around for tea and cake. It's the first time in nearly 3 years Grandma has been to our house, for various reasons she has been housebound for the best part of 2.5 years, but now she is able to get up and about you can't stop her! The cottage we live in is very much an important part of local history and Grandma can remember visiting our row of cottages when she was a child. How the cottages have changed since them! To celebrate her road to recovery I used the remains of my mincemeat to make Pixie's Mincemeat Crumble Cake . It certainly went down well.

This weeks ingredient challenge is leeks and I decided to make a potato & leek gratin. I admit I'm not a huge fan of leeks when they are on their own, but add cheese and potato and I'm a huge fan...actually add cheese and potato to anything and I'll love it! I made the gratin to accompany a mustard crusted topside of longhorn beef I roasted. We both really enjoyed it and to make it even better Hubby has the left over beef for lunch and I have the leftover gratin.

Potato & Leek Gratin
Serves 2-3 as a side

70ml vegetable stock
70ml double cream
70ml milk
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
400g potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 slice of ham, chopped
2 small leeks, thinly sliced
30g cheddar, grated

1) Pour stock, cream and milk into saucepan. Add garlic and bay leaf then bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2) Preheat oven - 180oc. Mix sliced potatoes, leeks and ham in ovenproof dish. Pour over stock then sprinkle with cheese.

3) Loosely cover dish and bake for 30 min. Uncover and bake for a further 40 min. Cool for 15 min before serving.

Heston Inspired Chips

I've been on a course all day about Special Needs Education & Therapy so I left the food shopping in the capable hands of hubby. Tonight he cooked me a very very nice black pepper crusted fillet steak with chips inspired by the chips Heston Blumenthal cooked on his TV programme - In Search of Perfection. Hubby would love to go to Heston's The Fat Duck, but I'm not sure I could stomach Snail Porridge and would adore to dine at Claridges.

Hubbie's Heston inspired chips
serves 2

4 medium sized maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into chips
sunflower oil
salt

1) Boil in slightly salted water for 8-10 mins, or until the potatoes are about to break up.

2) Drain potatoes, place on baking tray and drizzle with oil. Cook at 240oc for 15min, or until golden brown.

This evening I started to sort out my cookbook collection and have decided I should cook at least one new recipe from my cookbooks each week. The past fortnight has been British Food Fortnight. It has been quite well publicised near me..well apart from Morrisons trying to pass off a well known Russian dish as British food!

Spinach & Potato Omlette

After the disaster of my lasagna (even though I've made it loads of times before), I decided to make something tonight that couldn't possibly go wrong. Until just under a year ago I had convinced myself that I didn't like omlette/quiche/egg based meals apart from scrambled eggs. I don't know why. As I'm not really an meat eater I decided I really should begin to like eggs. Tonight's most recent veggie dish was spinach and potato omlette. Both hubby and I liked it, but next time I'll add a bit more seasoning. The leftovers will be in my bento tomorrow!

Spinach & Potato Omlette

250g spinach, wilted
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 medium potatoes, finely sliced
8 eggs
olive oil

1) Slowly fry onion and potato in non-stick frying pan until potato is softened. Stir in spinach.

2) Whisk eggs and season. Pour over potatoes, stir until it begins to firm. Once the omlette is almost set put until a high grill to set top. Turn omlette over and put back onto the hob for a couple of minutes.

We're working for my brother at a big sailing event this weekend as photographer/dogsbody/chief biscuit maker and I'm planning to make custard creams and chocolate caramel nuggets . In the coming few weeks hubby wants to attempt Créme Brûlée Bubbles

Roast Pork with Balsamic Potatoes

Tonight I made roast pork with balsamic potatoes and onions that has featured on a particular *cough* chefs TV programme. It took a lot of pausing the freeview box to get the gist of the recipe!

I have to admit I liked it more than I expected.

For the pork I removed the skin and covered the joint of meat in rosemary, fennel seeds, black pepper and salt. Bunged it in the oven at 200oc for 1 hour, then let meat rest for 10 or so minutes.

While the pork was beginning to cook, I blanched the potatoes for 5 min, then put in a hot roasting tin with some olive oil. Placed a couple of onions and bulb of garlic in between the potatoes. Covered with about 200ml of balsamic vinegar, seasoned then baked for about 50 min.

tip: don't use your best roasting tin for the potatoes, the sticky balsamic mess will ruin it!

If anyone knows why the formatting of text on my blog keeps on changing, please can they let me know!