You have to look at this website if you are a foodie, an historical cook, or an Anglophile. Or just interested in interesting recipes!
It is The Foods of England and has an amazing selection of recipes. Here is an excerpt from their home page:
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The Foods of England
Louis Eustache Ude 'Le Cuisinier français'
*Yes 'receipts' ('recipe' is French). On the way to restoring the glory of English food - finding the story behind every single traditional dish ... 3,355 dishes listed - more than 2,500 with the original receipt - 60 Major cookbooks online totalling more than 4 million words - Food Events for every month of the year, search the lot by Counties and ... THE GREAT BROWN WINDSOR SOUP CONTROVERSY Honestly, you'll be amazed what this has stirred up.
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When I saw this, I was excited to see what they had to offer!
My daughter was in town and she wanted to try a decorative top crust for a pie, so I perused the site and found this temptation.
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| Screenshot from foodsofengland.co.uk |
10 oz plain flour
5 oz dripping
pinch of ginger or cloves
8 oz back bacon
1 large cooking apple
3 medium onions, sliced
1 teaspoon sage
egg yolk for glaze
salt and pepper
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| I used only two onions. |
Peel, core and slice the apples, and cut the rind from the bacon. Arrange the bacon, apple and onion in layers in that order. Sprinkle each layer with sage and seasoning. Add 150 ml (1/4 pint) water or stock. Add the cover and seal well. Cut slits in the top and decorate. Glaze with beaten egg.
Bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 180C, 350F, Gas 4 for 40 minutes, then reduce to 150C, 300F, Gas 2 for a further 40 minutes.
If the pie begins to brown, cover with foil or greaseproof paper to prevent burning.
My Notes
We used a double batch of my daughter's favorite pie crust recipe instead (Look here, about half way down the post). My deep dish pan needed 2/3 of that amount to be covered well without the crust being too thin.
I weighed out the bacon and actually used more like 12 ounces since eight looked, well, like too little. Then I cut each slice in half. I also used only two onions once they were thinly sliced.
You can see in the picture that I used fresh sage, so I doubled the amount called for.
Here is the first layer. I used a pinch of cloves on each layer and was generous with the pepper.
Three layers filled the pan. I did not even use all of the two onions. Also I used chicken broth last.
My daughter had her fun with the top crust!
The egg yolk wash made the top bright yellow.
Fresh out of the oven! The scent while baking was marvelous. We were all hanging around enjoying it.
The Verdict
I served it with a tossed green salad, keeping the menu simple so we could focus on the flavors of the pie.
We cut thick slices. I appreciated the layers and seeing all the goodies inside.
There were four of us at this meal. Everyone liked what they ate!
I think I would increase the spices more and my mouth wanted more of the apple and less of the onion. I think having similar amounts of each would be better.
We all agreed that the bacon would be better cut up into smaller pieces. It would make it easier to serve each piece and easier to eat each bite. But the taste was excellent!
My daughter believes that she would caramelize the onions before putting them into the pie, just to get a deeper flavor from them.
I'm not sure the 1/4 pint of liquid is necessary. The vegetables provide moisture and the bacon enough fat to keep it from drying out. If I were to add anything, I would put it in when the pie came out of the oven, like I did for the Elizabethan pie I made here.
Considering that nearly the entire pie was eaten at that one meal, I would call it a success!
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