Mack A. Damia wrote:
> Pork pies are a staple of the British Isles; you find them most
> everywhere.
>
> Melton Mowbray happens to be one of the more well-known. It's not a
> brand, but refers to the area in which it was fiorast made. Certain
> spices give the cold meat a unique flavor and mixed with the aspic
> produces a gastronomical delight in many.
>
> The pie is eated cold and can be usually found in a "Ploughman's
> lunch" - although there are many variations of such a meal. It's
> often times accompanied by, say, Cheshire cheese, and pickled onions.
>
> This recipe prepares 1 pork pie, which will serve 4-6-8, depending on
> the portions. It's quite a heavy pie.
>
> There are three parts to this pie, jelly, crust and filling. Of
> course, as we all know, one important ingredient to good cooking is
> "preparation"; so get all this stuff ready beforehand.
>
> Ingredients:
> 10 - 12 oz. of jellied stock
> 1 ½ lbs. lean pork
> Seasoning mixture
> 1 lb hot water crust pastry
>
> First, the jelly.
>
> If you want to be authentic, then go to the butcher and ask him for
> pigs' feet, and have him cut them up into chunks. Either that or you
> can go to work on them with a cleaver, like I do. Don't forget to
> split the hooves.
>
> Put them in a pan and cover them completely with water; make certain
> that you have enough (you may have to add a little while it's
> cooking). You just want to make sure that you have enough liquid
> (perhaps 10 - 12 ounces is enough) for the pie. Boil this for a couple
> of hours or so, skim the fat from the top after it cools and you can
> put this aside for later. If you cool it, it will gel, but just put it
> on the stove for a couple of minutes to liquify.
>
> The short cut is to get the powered gelatin and prepare as directed
> using chicken stock.. I have done it both ways at once then mixed
> them, to insure an adequate supply. Works great!!
>
> Next, prepare the spices to be mixed in with the meat.
>
> Spices:
> ½ oz. salt
> ½ tsp. pepper
> ¼ tsp. cayenne
> ¼ tsp. ground mace
> Pinch of ground ginger
> Pinch of dried sage and marjoram
>
> Mix these together, and you can experiment yourself by adding a little
> more of this or that depending on your taste preference, but these are
> the spices that give it the distinctive flavor.
>
> Meat:
> Get 1 ½ pounds of fairly lean ground pork ; you might ask the butcher
> to give you some that's not ground too much; rather "chopped"..
>
> Mix the spices thoroughly into the meat, cover and put aside for
> later.
>
> Pastry:
> This is a hot water crust, and this is what you will need.
>
> 1 lb. flour
> 5oz. lard
> ½tsp. salt
> 1¼ cups milk/water mixture (10 oz.)
>
> Mix flour and salt
> Bring lard and milk/water mix. to a boil.
> Pour into flour, mixing with wooden spoon
> Mix until smooth consitency
> When cool enough to handle, knead for ten minutes.
> You can add a little flour if too sticky.
>
> You will need a hinged pie pan. I bought a couple of different sizes
> and shapes, but about 9 inches in diameter and 3 or 4 inches thick
> seems to work..
>
> Grease the pan very well with lard
> Roll out the dough, saving about 1/3 for the top (roll that out, too)
> Line the pan with the dough
> Add half the meat; pour in a "little" cold stock.
> Add rest of meat.
> Cover with pastry lid; dampen and crimp edges.
> Make a hole in the middle; decorate with shapes made from scraps of
> pastry.
> Brush top with beaten egg
>
> Recipe calls for fastening a piece of wax paper over the top and
> baking.
>
> Bake in hot oven (425°F) for 12 minutes Reduce heat to 350°F for 2 to
> 2 ½ hours
>
> Maybe 20 minutes before it's finished, remove hinged pie tin, brush
> sides of pie with beaten egg, and return to oven for twenty minutes.
>
> Ideally, the pie sould be a nice golden brown, remove from oven, allow
> to cool, and add the jellied stock through the hole in the middle
> until it overflows. You may want to check back several times, as the
> liquid is quickly absorbed and more can be added.
>
> Add as much jellied stock as you can. The aspic is especially
> refreshing.
>
> Allow to cool and enjoy!

Saved. This looks pretty definitive, but then I am from the USA.

--
Jean B.