This little piggy... (or, pork, red wine and mushroom pie)

These are not the three little pigs. Inglis (front, centre) is
just dreaming about pie. The three little pigs refused to
appear on camera, and the pies disappeared too quickly to
be photographed.

In response to the dismal, wet, cold Winter weather, the three little pigs have been in the kitchen, making a rather tasty pork, red wine and mushroom pie. Here is their recipe:

700 g pork, cut into cubes
seasoned flour

15 ml oil

half a clove of garlic, finely chopped*
1 brown onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced

300 ml beef stock
3/4 c red wine
pinch thyme**
2 bay leaves

20 g flour
200 g button mushrooms, quartered***

1/4 t red wine vinegar

Coat the cubes of pork with the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess flour. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the pork, and brown (about five minutes).

Add the garlic, onion, celery and carrot to the pork, and cook five minutes or so, with the lid on, until the vegetables are soft. Reduce the heat to a low heat.

Add the beef stock, red wine, thyme and bay leaves. Simmer very very gently for two and a half (maybe even three) hours - with the lid on for the first hour and a half, then with the lid off for the remaining time. Now is a good time to start making your pastry (or to get your pastry out of the freezer, or to whip off to the supermarket).

Add the mushrooms, and simmer very very very gently for a further half an hour. By this time, the meat should be starting to fall apart. If not, keep simmering very very very very gently. Once the mushrooms are in, start rolling out your pastry, putting it into pie tin(s) and baking the empty pie shells in the oven until only just cooked.

Sprinkle the flour over, combine, and mix until the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Season, add vinegar, and spoon into your pie shell(s). Put the lids on your pie shells, glaze if you can be bothered, and bake at 180°C for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is cooked.

Pastry****

225 g flour
100 g butter*****
1/2 t salt
1/4 c water

Rub butter into flour and salt. Add water a little at a time, until a stiff dough forms. Leave to rest 20 - 30 minutes in the fridge, then roll out into your desired shape. Pastry makers with time constraints can skip the resting part, but do be aware that your pastry will not behave nearly as nicely as it should without a good rest before rolling.


In other news, the Ride-on Mower has found a full-time position elsewhere (no grass for her here, no more work until Spring), Helen and Albie are still very much in love, and we are now saving for a donkey to replace the Ride-on Mower, much to Mr Farmer's distress.

*you could use more garlic, but Mr Farmer's stomach and garlic don't get on, so I didn't.

**or try rosemary, if you're adventurous. That is what the three little pigs will try next time.

***field mushrooms would also be excellent, but it's not the right time of year for them here.

****this is short-crust pastry. If you have time on your hands, or a supermarket nearby, this pie would be excellent with flaky puff pastry.

*****or use 50 g lard, 50 g butter - apparently lard makes an excellent pastry, but we don't often have it in the fridge. Margarine works wonderfully, too.