I've entered the Savoury Bake-off at work

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1529448"]
Quick question - what would happen if I use liver instead of kidney? No local shops had kidneys so I have liver...
[/quote]

Funnily enough I was only thinking about a liver pie earlier today and decided that I'd probably be the only one amongst the eaters of my pies to find it appealing.

Don't do it.

Stick with just the steak.

Post the liver to me, I've got some lonely onions that would like some company.

The only reason that I am not pie making today is that I couldn't find any kidney and I didn't want a steak only pie.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1529450"]
Yes. You're right. I'll stick with the steak.

I'll post you the liver if you can bung some kidneys in the post for me...


[/quote]

I've got the same problem as you - can't find any kidney.

 

[coffeejo]

I have rabbit and pig kidneys in my freezer. You're both welcome to come to mine and cook any time you like

 

[david1701]

weatherspoons special?

fry up and a pint, gotta be a winner

 

[vernon]

weatherspoons special?

fry up and a pint, gotta be a winner

It's a bake off not a fry off so it's a loser.

Even on the fry off front a Wetherspoons' fry up is a loser when compared against the real thing made with quality ingredients.

It fine in an emergency. Just.

 

[david1701]

It's a bake off not a fry off so it's a loser.

Even on the fry off front a Wetherspoons' fry up is a loser when compared against the real thing made with quality ingredients.

It fine in an emergency. Just.

very barely, it was a joke as its the least healthy/cookish thing I can think of

 

[vernon]

Health doesn't come in to it.

High quaility sausages, bacon and black pudding cooked properly along with hand cut chips, fried eggs, decent bacon, fried tomatoes and open cup mushrooms with a pint pot of tea and half a loaf of buttered bread each is just divine and is what I'll be serving up in a fortnight's time for some friends.

I just might have a try out this week though.....

Solo....

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1529457"]
I'm going to try my hand at a pork pie next.

Steak and Kidney pudding was not all that, and I can't get passionate about it tbh. (But I gave it a good go, cheers, V.)

But pork pies! Served with pickled onions, mustard and smelly blue cheese. Droooooool!
[/quote]

Pork pies are not for the faint hearted. The pastry is an absolute sod to get right and, accustomed as I am to culinary success, I have yet to get the pastry right much to my disappointment.

Have a look at hot water pastry recipes. They look fine in theory but all of my attempts with one exception have resulted in biscuit like crusts. The one exception being the pastry made by the butcher in Boroughbridge who was kind enough to donate some when I called in.

I am determined to master hot water pastry but the next attempt will have to wait until half term. I've got fry ups and steak/steak and kidney pies, curried goat to attend to until then.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1529460"]
Pork Pie time - here we go...

http://www.deliaonli...-pork-pies.html


[/quote]

I tried that recipe.


It didn't work.......
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Only joking.

 

[funnymummy]

I reda the title as Savoury Bike-off....took me several mins of wondering to figure it out

I want Vernon as my BFF.

Can we share him on alternate days..?

 

[Fiona N]

I'm not great at shortcrust pie pastry but hot water paste has never been a problem to me. Just give yourself a bit of time. use properly hot water (almost too much to bear) make sure everything else is ready to go, and its fine.

It has to be lard though!

Totally agree on both counts.

I seem to have inherited the family pastry hands (my great aunt used to say you have to have the right sort of hands for pastry not entirely sure what this means but some people do seem to have little difficulty in buggering up pastry) and delight in making raised game pies - when I lived in Leeds, I was a regular at the market to buy real game. Oddly, here in Kendal game is harder to come by without ordering in advance.

Another very quick and easy savoury which always goes down a treat is proscuitto spirals - puff pastry (good quality bought stuff will work if you don't fancy making your own) rolled out in a rectangle about 8-9 inches on one side, proscuitto laid over pastry perpendicular to the 8 inch side (so that you slice across the meat not along), a grating of black pepper is nice, leave about 0.5 inch clear at one end to 'stick' with just a bit of water, roll the pastry loosely and stick the end down, slice the roll about 6-7mm thick and lay out on a baking sheet, bake according to oven (basically hot ~200C but a bit less if a fan oven - you'll probably know your own oven) until golden, whip off baking sheet while hot and serve warmish.

 

[growingvegetables]

my great aunt used to say you have to have the right sort of hands for pastry

Cold blood, so cold hands for pastry making.

Warm blood and warm hands for bread making.

I used to have cold hands and make good pastry - much prefer having warm hands now, and making good bread

 

[vernon]

C'mon then CoG

How did the pork pies turn out?

 

[Fiona N]

Cold blood, so cold hands for pastry making.

Warm blood and warm hands for bread making.

I used to have cold hands and make good pastry - much prefer having warm hands now, and making good bread

But I also make good bread I think for pastry it's more about how you handle the flour + fat stage.

 

[vernon]

Don't forget the photos.

This is how my Delia pork pies turned out.



The filling was OK. The crust was not OK.