Game Pie Recipes

ROASTED GAME BIRD PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
• Place all the birds in a large roasting tray. Strip the thyme and half the rosemary leaves into a pestle and mortar, then bash up with the bay, juniper berries, a pinch of sea salt and ½ a tablespoon of black pepper.
• Muddle in 6 tablespoons of oil, then rub all over the birds. Roast for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion, carrots and celery. Wash, trim and finely slice the white part of the leeks (save the green for making stock or soup) and the bacon. Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm chunks.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil into a large pan on a medium heat, add the bacon to render out the fat, then strip in the remaining rosemary. Once golden, add the onion, carrots, celery and leeks, then cook for 45 minutes on a medium-low heat, or until softened, stirring occasionally and adding the potatoes halfway through.
• For the pastry, put the flour and a good pinch of salt into a bowl with the suet, cube and add the butter, then use your thumbs and forefingers to rub the fat into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Beat the eggs, then, reserving just enough to eggwash the pie, stir into the bowl with 180ml of ice-cold water. Use your hands to gently bring it together into a ball, but don't overwork it. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• When the time's up, remove the birds from the oven. When cool enough to handle, pick all the meat, discarding the skin and bones. Sieve the tray juices into the stock.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3.
• Stir the flour into the veg for 1 minute, then pour in the cider and cook for 10 minutes, or until slightly reduced.
• Shred the meat and stir into the veg pan, then add the stock. Season well, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, or until thickened.
• Carefully drain the liquid through a coarse sieve into a pan, skimming away any fat from the surface. Leave to cool.
• Grease the bottom of a pie dish (25cm x 30cm) with a little oil. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a clean flour-dusted surface to ½cm thick and use it to line the pie dish.
• Stir 300ml of the strained gravy through the meat and spoon into the dish. Eggwash the edges.
• Roll out the remaining pastry to ½cm thick and a little bigger than the pie dish, then carefully place on top of the pie, trimming off any overhang. Pinch the edges to seal and make two small incisions in the centre for the steam to escape. Use any spare pastry to decorate the pie, if you like.
• Eggwash the top, then bake at the bottom of the oven for 1 hour, or until the pastry is golden and the pie is piping hot.
• To serve, reheat the remaining gravy, skimming off any fat from the surface, and serve alongside the pie. Delicious with creamy mashed potato and seasonal mustardy dressed greens.

TRADITIONAL RAISED GAME PIE...

Steps:

• 1. WARNING!!! This is not a quick pie!!I used a 22 to 24cm spring-form tin (greased with butter) The day before you need to make the filling as it needs to marinate AND the jelly whether you do it using a traditional stock or if doing a simple stock version. TRADITIONAL HOME-MADE PORK STOCK Ingredients: Traditional: Home-made Pork Stock 1.5 Kg pork bones (with a little meat left on, ribs are good) 2 large carrots, roughly chopped 1 onion, peeled, roughly chopped 1 Bay leaf A few sprigs of thyme A few sage leaves 2 tsp whole black peppercorns (crushed lightly) 1 tsp sea salt Method: For the pork stock place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and pour in enough water to just cover them (about 4 litres). Bring this slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for three hours over a low heat, without a lid to aid evaporation, and skim off any impurities which rise to the surface. After 3 hours strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve into another saucepan, jug or bowl and discard the larger solids. Then sieve this liquid for a second time through an even finer sieve, or better still, through a sieve covered over with a muslin cloth to completely catch all the small particles. This traditional pork stock can now be used in soups, or simmered and reduced further to use as a base for a gravy or a sauce etc. TRADITIONAL HOME-MADE PORK JELLY FOR PORK PIES Talking to your butcher: to make things easier ask your butcher to chop up the pork bones and trotters small enough to fit into a large saucepan, it makes it a lot easier when you communicate and strike up a good rapport with your local butcher. Ingredients: Traditional: Home-made Pork Stock 900g pork bones (with a little meat left on) 2 pig's trotters (to fit in a saucepan) 2 large carrots, roughly chopped 1 onion, peeled, roughly chopped 1 Bay leaf A few sprigs of thyme A few sage leaves 2 tsp whole black peppercorns (crushed lightly) 1 tsp sea salt
• 2. MAKE THE FILLING: First trim all the game meat from the bones and cut it into ¼-½ inch (5 mm-1 cm) cubes. Place the cubed meat in a bowl, pour in the port and brandy (I didn't have port so I used just the brandy), sprinkle with the thyme, salt and pepper, then stir well, cover and leave in a cool place to marinate overnight.
• 3. THE DAY YOU WANT THE PIE (IF SERVING IT HOT) - MAKE THE HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY: pour 300ml of water into saucepan, bring it up to the boil, then add the lard, salt and pepper and bring down to a simmer over a medium heat. When the lard has completely melted, turn off the heat and then add the flour and beat it in thoroughly with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Add a little flour if the dough is still too sticky. Allow to cool a little. Turn the warm dough out onto a clean, floured surface, make a small well in the centre and break the egg in. Knead the egg into the dough by pulling in the sides of the pastry over the eggy surface, pushing down, turning and repeating. Add a few casts of flour if needed. Once kneaded into a stiff dough, remove a quarter of the dough, pat it into a disc and set aside to cool (this is for the pie crust) then cover it in cling film and refrigerate. Form the remaining 3/4 of dough into a large, thick disc wider than the tin. Place it into the bottom of a greased 22 to 24cm spring form tin, and then slowly and carefully work the pastry out and up the sides of the tin with your finger tips, (raising the pie) making sure there are no holes or gaps. Once the pastry has completely covered the spring-form tin (to form the pastry base) and there is a little overhang, cover this in cling film and then chill it in the fridge for an hour (60 minutes) so it can set.
• 4. Now butter your cake tin and pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C). FOR THE PACKING MEAT: Place the pork shoulder cubes, pork belly mince, fine diced bacon rashers, mace, sloe-gin (or red-wine), thyme and sage into a large bowl, season with a good pinch each of sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper, and mix together until all is well combined. This is the 'packing meat' which goes into the pie base and up the sides of the pie (making a well or 'nest'). Place the 'packing meat' into the pastry shell base, flatten it out, and ease it up the edges of the pie - leaving a large well in the centre for the game meats.
• 5. Place the mixed game meats (partridge / pheasant / guinea fowl / venison / rabbit / wild boar etc.) into the well of the packing meat in the pie shell - lay them mixed up, filling the centre of pie fully along with the juices. It does not matter if the pie is 'dome' shape and full, raised pies are often deep filled. Roll out the remaining reserved pastry (the pastry lid) into a 25cm disc, and drape it over the top of the filling. Squeeze the edges together and trim down with scissors to give an edge of about ½ inch (1 cm) standing up proud. Next turn the edge firmly over inwards, pressing it down with the prongs of a fork. Make a steam hole in the top, then re-roll the pastry trimmings and cut out diamond-shaped leaves to decorate the lid. Don't egg wash yet
• 6. Now lay a sheet of foil over the top and bake for 2½ hours, then remove from the oven. Leave the pie for 30-45 minutes to firm up, then turn up the oven temperature to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C). Carefully remove the pie from the tin. Brush the pastry all over with egg. If the sides show any sign of bulging, encircle the pie with a band of silicone paper (parchment) and tie with string ***make sure you have this ready because you just don't know till it comes out***. Return the pie to the oven and as the pastry continues baking it will firm up (if you used the paper, you will gradually be able to peel it away, but add a little more egg to the unglazed parts) and all the pastry will brown - it will take approximately 30 minutes. As the top will brown before the sides, it will need to be protected with foil while the sides finish browning.
• 7. IF SERVING COLD: After it comes out of the oven leave to cool, then cover and chill. Meanwhile have the jellied stock warmed slightly (by sitting it in a bowl of hot water) then cool it to the syrupy stage and pour it into the pie very gradually via the steam hole (as much as it will take). Chill again to give the jelly a chance to set and then - believe it or not - it's ready to serve....finally!

GAME PIE

Steps:

• Heat a tablespoon of the oil and brown the game and venison in batches until well browned. Keep on one side.
• Heat the rest of the oil and cook the onions for five minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic, bacon and mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes. Season well and stir in the bay leaf, orange zest and juice, redcurrant jelly, stock and wine.
• Bring to the boil, add the meat and simmer gently for 40-50 minutes until the meat is tender. Cool.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Put the meat mixture in a pie dish. Roll out the pastry to make a lid and attach to the dish. Decorate with the pastry trimmings and cut a steam hole in the centre. Glaze with beaten egg.
• Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and risen and the filling is piping hot.

COLONIAL GAME PIE

Steps:

• In a kettle, cook bacon until crisp; drain, reserving bacon and 1/4 cup drippings in pan. Brown beef in drippings. Add beef broth and jelly; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Cover rabbits with water in a pot; simmer for 1 hour or until meat falls from bones. , Remove meat; set aside (discard bones). To beef mixture, add chicken broth,, bay leaf, salt, pepper and cayenne; simmer 20 minutes. Add onions, carrots, potatoes and mushrooms; simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Remove bay leaf. , In another pot, cover duck with water; simmer until the meat nearly falls from bones. Remove meat; set aside. Mix flour and water; stir into beef mixture. Cook until thickened. Add rabbit and duck meat. Cut puff pastry into 3-in. squares and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes; place on individual servings of meat mixture.

GAMEKEEPER'S PIE

Steps:

• Heat half the butter and the oil in a large pan, add the onion and carrots, and cook for about 10 mins until soft. Add the game and sausagemeat to the pan. Turn up the heat, squash the meat with the back of your spoon to break it up, and cook for 10 mins until nicely browned.
• Stir the flour and tomato purée into the meat, cook for 1 min, then add the wine, stock, sauce, bay and 3 tsp thyme. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hr. Remove the lid and cook for 15 mins more until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
• Put the potatoes and veg in a large pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and cook for 20 mins until really tender. Drain, leave to steam for 5 mins, then mash with seasoning, milk and the remaining butter.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the meat into an ovenproof dish and spoon on the mash. Sprinkle with the remaining thyme and bake for 45 mins until the top is golden and the sauce bubbling.