pork pie advice needed

We've got some pig trotter stock simmering away as I type, for the jelly. mmmn.

Looks yummy, btw.

the top photo reminds me of various skateboarding injuries I incurred as a youngster.

lest you think I'm making fun, I really do want to know what it's all about. I didn't envision it as being so...large.

does a doctor need to be standing by as you eat one of these?

Basically it's an old fashioned recipe (with many many variations). A hot water pastry, pork shoulder, lardons/pancetta, and minced pork belly or good sausage meat, some herbs - mace, bay leaves, seasoning (prob others but I can't remember) and once the pie is baked, jellied pork stock is poured into the hole and it gets into all the nooks and crannies (click on the link at the bottom of the photos to see the inside of the pie)

You eat it cold, it's a tea/picnic thing. Apparently you can leave it in the fridge for up to two weeks, but ours didn't last past three days...

Some people take their pork pie very seriously: http://www.blogjam.com/pork/

The pastry is quite firm, but flakes in places, the pork is delicious, as is the jelly.

There are loads of recipes on the net, we got ours from Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall's 'Meat' book.

very good with a big dollop of Picallili

When my father-in-law had heart surgery in early August, he had a bad time of it afterwards and was in a depressing nursing home place for 6 solid weeks. We travelled each weekend in attempts to cheer him up. Early on, he was having memory problems, and decided he was back in the airforce. He had been stationed in the UK in the early '50's (where he met my mother-in-law), and I remembered him harkening back to the glories of the porkpie. So, I told him I would learn how to make them, which cheered him considerably.

I've got the River Cottage Meat Book, recommended by Mr. Porkpie, with its straightforward-reading recipe. I've got the springform pan. I bought trotters and have saved up pork bones for several months. Yesterday I started making the stock. We are going for a visit this coming weekend, and I hope to have a presentable one ready. But I needed the encouragement of this lovely picture thread, because I've never experienced a porkpie myself.

are you on AIM?

I wondered about sealing the lid to the side crust - the photos and directions in the Meat book aren't explicit, except to say brush a bit of egg white on to help with the sealing.

From your comments upthread, it sounds like the dough can take quite a bit of handling, which will be a good thing.

Also, I've got a lot of fresh pork belly but haven't cured any for pancetta. Is it critical? Can I use regular smoked streaky bacon, or will that change the flavor too much?

it needs more than just egg white on the seal, a good proper crimp is in order, not a strong point of mine. My Mum's much more of an expert at this than me though, she makes loads every Xmas/any family gathering.

Sorry I haven't e-mailed, I've been rubbish. But everything you need to know is here I think.

Apart from, when filling up with the stock, pause occasionally and kind of tap the pie on the counter to let the stock settle so you can fill it up properly, I had huge air pockets in mine.

We got a turkey baster last night. I am back to the original plan of just baking one of these beauties. If it self-destructs, the back up plan is to bake one for Christmas.

I'll post some photos tonight.

http://www.theilliterate.com/archives/illiterati/porkpie1.JPG

http://www.theilliterate.com/archives/illiterati/porkpie2.JPG

I have no idea what this is, but I want one!

Even if there were still lots of juices left in the pie they'll have mixed up with the liquid jelly, and so will hopefully go jelly when it cools down.

I definitely should have squeezed some more jelly in there, and I didn't need to worry about the juice at all - everything was nice and solid within. I think had I let it cool further before putting the jelly in there would have been more room, but it was late.

But now, I can't wait to make one for us. We only had a tiny bite of this one, as we'd gone out for a big birthday lunch, but it tasted great! Tha

But, I let it cool completely overnight without putting in the stock for the jelly, because I was tired and it was already 10. So this morning, I thought I'd better heat it up a bit, then put the jelly in. This went well, and I tipped it and tapped it and was able to get 1.5 cups of stock in there.

Then, we decided to eat it for lunch. It felt cool enough.

http://www.theilliterate.com/archives/illiterati/slice.JPG

Notice there is NO LOVELY JELLY in that slice! That's because all the stock ran out:

http://www.theilliterate.com/archives/illiterati/disaster.JPG

It's a lesson in patience, I know. But we were hungry! The meat was excellent, regardless, and the crust is really yummy, so it wasn't a complete disaster. And, this means I must make another one.

It was gratifying to hear my mother-in-law say the crust tasted exactly as it should on that first one. Apparently my father-in-law ate some every day until it was gone :)