They say that making a pork pie is a three-day process. This one’s taken two days. I made the pastry in the morning and formed the pie in the evening, then cooked the pie the following day.
This is the first time that I’ve used this method. I saw it on Instagram, posted by London butcher HG Walter.
It’s a work in progress, but as a first attempt, I’m very pleased with it. I’d go so far as to say that it’s the easiest method I’ve used to make a pie.
Choux pastry rings alarm bells with many people who presume it to be the domain of the professional pastry chef. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth: as pastry goes, it’s one of the simplest. It doesn’t require a light touch, cold hands or any of the other ‘special’ things that many other types of pastry do.
These are a great addition to the buffet table. To be honest, I’m not sure which I prefer: the ‘real’ sausage rolls or these cheese and onion ones. Both are superb, and so worth making your own. There’s a world of difference between these and the shop-bought varieties of either.
Continue reading Cheese and Onion ‘Sausage’ RollsI like this pie best as a cold-cutting pie. It’s a great addition to a buffet table. The recipe comes from my grandma, who lived in the North West of England – Lancashire and Westmorland – for many years.
You’ll see from the photo that the bottom’s a little bit soggy – hey, sometimes that happens; it could’ve done with a few more minutes in the oven, but so what, it tastes great.
The recipe’s really simple; I’ve tried it in the past with additions like egg in the filling, but this one’s the best, just cheese and onion like grandma used to make.
Continue reading Cheese and Onion Pie
Having made the sausagemeat for rolls it’s a fairly simple task to make it into sausage rolls.
I prefer to use a rough puff pastry rather than a shortcrust or shop-bought puff pastry but these could also be used. I make the pastry using this quick rough puff pastry recipe.
I’ve dropped a clanger by not taking a photo of the sheet of pastry after it’s rolled out, but I roll it to approx 275mm (11″) by 400mm (16 “). Square the edge that’s nearest you. I will make 2 long rolls from this; I’ll then divide each one into 4 individual sausage rolls.
For approximately 100gm rolls use 170gm of sausage meat and roll pieces to form a long sausage to lay along the nearest edge. Then, lifting the pastry, roll it to just encase the meat. At this stage dampen the next inch or so of pastry with water (I think that water is better than egg wash for this) and roll the meat/pastry roll onto this. The roll can be cut away from the sheet at this stage.
Continue reading Sausage RollsFrom 2007:
I always intend to prepare for Christmas in plenty of time, but it never seems to happen! One thing I do like to make is my own sausage rolls. There is no comparison between a homemade sausage roll, made with good (home-made) sausage meat and the awful frozen sludge-filled offerings at the supermarket. Uncooked commercially produced sausage rolls only need to have a 6% meat content!
For sausage rolls I make a quick rough puff pastry:
Continue reading The Roughest Rough Puff
There you go, I’m being posh and calling it quiche! It’s really a good old bacon and cheese flan. It’s a pity that so many poor imitations of this superb rich savoury egg custard are sold by supermarkets and presented to the world on numerous buffets with cheap frozen sausage rolls and those damn miniature scotch eggs.
Continue reading Bacon and Cheese QuicheMost British sausage contains some form of binder. Prior to WWII this was usually in the form of breadcrumbs but following the introduction of modern bread baking methods, most producers changed to using rusk. Good breadcrumbs from well-cooked homemade bread can still, of course, be used, or rusk can be bought online from suppliers such as Scobies or Weschenfelder.
Alternatively, you can make your own using this recipe which was posted by Parson Snows on the sausagemaking.org forum:
Rusk
500 g plain/all-purpose flour or bread/strong flour
pinch of salt
20g baking powder
250g water (approx)
Method
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C)
Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder together.
Mix it to a smooth, pliable dough using only enough of the water to do so.
Roll it out lightly to approximately ½” (12 mm) thick, then place it on a lightly greased tray. Keep it so that it only takes up half of the tray. Use two trays if necessary.
Place the tray into the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 10 minutes at 450°F (230°C).
Remove it from the oven and, using the tines of a fork or a large knife, split it in half horizontally along it.
Place it back on the tray with the opened faces upwards. – that’s why it could only take up half the tray before!
Return it to the oven.
Reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake it for a further 10 minutes, or more, until it seems dry.
Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool a little on a wire rack.
Whilst it is still warm, grind it in a food processor and then dry it further on trays until really dry.
Store it in an airtight container and use it as required.
