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The Crusty Chronicles. Savories from Bakeries.


Anna N

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On 9/15/2020 at 7:55 PM, haresfur said:

Here's an Australian Aldi contribution from the frozen section

I am having a hard time getting over the idea of chicken and leek in Camembert sauce as an appropriate pie filling. Probably I am just too damned old-fashioned.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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My freezer has been replenished!  
DF32BA68-DA63-4020-A889-BF129B7239D6.thumb.jpeg.79be60e5166b30fc5fcacec17aa9fd2a.jpeg

 

I asked for a pork pie. I should have been much, much more specific. What I had in mind was a Melton Mowbray pork pie like this.  Despite the pie being labelled “traditional” and despite my being born and raised in the UK, I admit to not being familiar with this strange hybrid.
 

30DC262D-DEB7-496D-931B-31A0604AB884.thumb.jpeg.3e672b18aba50ca53a1cd509e46650a9.jpeg

 

Since it came with heating direction I knew that I was not in the presence of the kind of pie that I was hoping for. (Any pork pie that I have had has been eaten cold.) So I followed the heating directions — 350°F for 20 minutes.  
 

AE562CE3-94D9-4619-AFDD-C541C42BE980.thumb.jpeg.8c0d46e251308611ac2b1200405748d4.jpeg

 

Hmmm.   I added a little of this chutney to the plate and made it at least sort of of edible. 
 

 

F167E488-E51D-4ECB-9A37-3AFEF78CB76A.thumb.jpeg.828fd805fe138a1483c142dfea2c9dbf.jpeg
 

 

CBB31BBE-80F4-4592-B928-E258F9EEF61E.thumb.jpeg.0cc9c2792f5c8083f4f3dbd76868c58d.jpeg

 
The pastry was really hard to get down. 

 

Curious to know how many of you have eaten a pork pie such as this. 
 

edited to add: @Kerry Bealsorry!  I’m not really the ingrate that I sound!  I should have been more specific. 

Edited by Anna N (log)
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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20 minutes ago, Anna N said:

My freezer has been replenished!  
DF32BA68-DA63-4020-A889-BF129B7239D6.thumb.jpeg.79be60e5166b30fc5fcacec17aa9fd2a.jpeg

 

I asked for a pork pie. I should have been much, much more specific. What I had in mind was a Melton Mowbray pork pie like this.  Despite the pie being labelled “traditional” and despite my being born and raised in the UK, I admit to not being familiar with this strange hybrid.
 

30DC262D-DEB7-496D-931B-31A0604AB884.thumb.jpeg.3e672b18aba50ca53a1cd509e46650a9.jpeg

 

Since it came with heating direction I knew that I was not in the presence of the kind of pie that I was hoping for. (Any pork pie that I have had has been eaten cold.) So I followed the heating directions — 350°F for 20 minutes.  
 

AE562CE3-94D9-4619-AFDD-C541C42BE980.thumb.jpeg.8c0d46e251308611ac2b1200405748d4.jpeg

 

Hmmm.   I added a little of this chutney to the plate and made it at least sort of of edible. 
 

 

F167E488-E51D-4ECB-9A37-3AFEF78CB76A.thumb.jpeg.828fd805fe138a1483c142dfea2c9dbf.jpeg
 

 

CBB31BBE-80F4-4592-B928-E258F9EEF61E.thumb.jpeg.0cc9c2792f5c8083f4f3dbd76868c58d.jpeg

 
The pastry was really hard to get down. 

 

Curious to know how many of you have eaten a pork pie such as this. 
 

edited to add: @Kerry Bealsorry!  I’m not really the ingrate that I sound!  I should have been more specific. 

Those were sadly the only pork pies they had! Search will continue.

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I made it to the bakery today, just for you guys. 

 

Went for the traditional plain steak. 20200928_185607.thumb.jpg.2b3448c8806514291b86086d0c82bc63.jpg

 

Its a good heavy little pie with no pesky tin tray. The pastry was a little under today. 

20200928_185638.thumb.jpg.0fa6336f23ed6849665c409474093912.jpg

 

The steak is soft and quite chunky (which I prefer to a minced filling). 

20200928_185709.thumb.jpg.f62efd1244d89737f9682f5b34c7b868.jpg

 

It has been established I eat pies weird. Pastry Shell to chew. 

20200928_185735.thumb.jpg.d594a624e5e8b021406b7cef9dacf575.jpg

 

I even went so far as to buy their yukky sausage roll just to show you. I took the half unmushed side home for kid who is not fussy about sausage rolls. 

20200928_185758.thumb.jpg.9e4952184c3ab267885e43e9fbe208f5.jpg

 

The pastry is really really great and flakey. Which makes the filling even more disappointing. Beef sausage littered with carrot, zucchini, heavy on the pepper and absolutely filled with these seeds. Its also drier than I like a sausage roll. 

 

20200928_185824.thumb.jpg.08bdb5b1f95800e633ebd73ca52f3ee1.jpg

 

Why? 

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So I had the curry chicken pie from Denninger‘s and truly enjoyed it. So I was quite happy to check out another one and make a comparison.


 

A9F21C8D-594B-4277-8EFD-D63DB88BD47C.thumb.jpeg.b63e0ae0b7c5eed74cc58eccc090d73e.jpeg

 

091F7960-9D6A-49FB-9DA1-47E3CA480D7C.thumb.jpeg.e13afbaaee2b11c3d321592edcdd2dc4.jpeg

 

ready for the oven. 
 

C3B24226-70B0-47C0-8BFF-E8069CFA1F57.thumb.jpeg.6501fb4d3a6018cb38425d1e38daaf01.jpeg

 


A little too long in there I think. Or perhaps I should have reduced the temperature from 350°F to 325°F.

 

03F610A6-FEE4-47FE-821C-D1D1706236F7.thumb.jpeg.fb5a080e71faa6772f66834836e30bce.jpeg

 

A bit of a disaster moving it from the oven to the plate!  

 

It was possible with effort to detect the faintest, and I do mean faintest, hint of curry flavour. It was horrible by any means but I’m sure if it hadn’t been labelled I would not have detected the curry flavouring. And aside from the chicken there wasn’t much else in there to tempt the taste buds. 
The crust might have been better had I not left it in the oven quite so long.

 

CDE15BFA-ED50-4164-AC17-ECB47B1BB087.thumb.jpeg.7bc921e4df146a36152a28b2ff135acd.jpeg

 

I managed to get through most of it. It will not appear on my list of favourites.  

 

 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Well I finally got to the pie shop I’ve been wanting to go to for ages.  We’ve been before with houseguests to get some of their sweet items, but I hadn’t had any of their savouries yet.  It is called Proper Pie Co.  The owner/chef is a New Zealand native and they make NZ-inspired pies – sweet and savory.  Mr. Kim and I ate the same things and we should have shared.  We each ate exactly half what we ordered.  They aren’t making their full menu right now, but Mr. Kim and I got sausage rolls and beef and vegetable pies:

IMG_3603.jpg.f80a0fc0cf62c569deb80230a9e3330d.jpg

 

The sausage roll:

IMG_3605.thumb.jpg.1b07dc250d671c36cef8754d93026125.jpg

The crust and sausage are so magnificent that I forgive that little layer of underbaked crust next to the meat.  The pie:

IMG_3604.jpg.57711bdde05b18206ce12de76a702887.jpg

 

Jessica got the pork and peach BBQ pie:

IMG_3606.jpg.5403cb576c0b540808420e40619a12af.jpg

 

We also shared a couple of pieces of sweet pie.  Sour cream and plum streusel:

IMG_3609.jpg.bc8e8bb6c5ace34a604ddfe530832e81.jpg

These were some of the best plums I’ve ever tasted in my life.  Their suppliers are super!

 

Chocolate mousse:

IMG_3610.jpg.a919a2edfb6e7a7079b22d1d6cfebf7a.jpg

 

Every single thing was absolutely delicious, and I can’t wait to try their other savory pies.  They haven’t had Lamington pie for a while, and I hope they do soon.  It is a favorite of mine. 

 

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Thought I'd posted this the other day.

 

These Cornish pasties from the British Baker could be used as trusty doorstops. The pastry was firm - very firm. Even a large quantity of gravy didn't serve to soften it in anyway.

 

 

198839677_IMG_23082.thumb.JPG.6c7d6fc37e339d8ea973079e9c3da977.JPG

 

 

646615150_IMG_23092.thumb.JPG.384a87d665107e3003a7d389c7435317.JPG

 

I got thinking about the Cornish pasties they served in the cafeteria of the hospital I did my med lab training in quite a few years back. They were fabulous. I had a rather serious MVC while I was there and ended up in Intensive Care for 9 days - the day I was leaving they were serving the pasties and I seriously considered staying another day!  (those were the days when they didn't rush you out of hospital)

 

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Had I been heading down a silver mine I might have been better mentally prepared to appreciate the unique qualities of this Cornish pasty. At least I might’ve had a pickaxe handy to break into it!  
Since these pastries were supposedly intended to be carried down the silver mines in Cornwall to provide a hand-held meal for the miner, they definitely needed a sturdy crust and a fairly dry filling. In this example these qualities were exaggerated to the nth degree. 
 

 

681669A7-DE23-4EB7-BD3F-31E27BF488C3.thumb.jpeg.afe43db837f7bd592818167f9e5c89d6.jpeg

 

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Out of the package, my suspicions grew that I would need help with this crust so as I warmed it up I prepared some gravy.

 

786D4A62-E38A-4EB2-9DCE-1BA9E2BB2445.thumb.jpeg.f587a588009bcd8e863e5a6046698c97.jpeg

 

Out of the oven. 
 

2E01A8E0-0CF5-4033-B349-27F1E0052022.thumb.jpeg.7dbead56777390bae30cf10643dd5bc1.jpeg

 

“Pastey” was the perfect adjective to apply to the meat. Very very peculiar texture and very, very little flavour. 

9AAA42B1-9922-40C1-BD46-FEE1874498EF.thumb.jpeg.bceb7646073a099b7eeecf36b0fa0e39.jpeg

Close up of meat. 
 

2B4C8C20-F2B9-4377-8DC1-BA223476BC59.thumb.jpeg.de4ec7906667a15ea58332ee37084b48.jpeg

 

Swimming in gravy. 
 

Lest you think @Kerry Beal and I are ganging up, I was talking to her on the phone while I was eating this and telling her we were not going to buy any more of these. And at that point she asked me if I had read her post about how awful they were. I had not. And I had a very good excuse why not — she only thought she had posted it! 
 

But it is always good to have one’s opinions backed up by somebody else. Thumbs down to these. The worst pastry so far. I hope it doesn’t get any worse.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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I have a question about savoury pies.  When served at our house when I was growing up, they were served hot, with gravy.   But I've seen that pork pies are served cold or room temperature.  Is that ONLY pork pies - or other pies also.  Would it be ok to eat them hot?  Or not.  I'm toying with trying to make a traditional hot water pastry pork pie, but I don't think I'd care for cold pork pie.  

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1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I have a question about savoury pies.  When served at our house when I was growing up, they were served hot, with gravy.   But I've seen that pork pies are served cold or room temperature.  Is that ONLY pork pies - or other pies also.  Would it be ok to eat them hot?  Or not.  I'm toying with trying to make a traditional hot water pastry pork pie, but I don't think I'd care for cold pork pie.  

Until I posted here I have never eaten or heard of a hot pork pie. In my opinion it is much more of a terrine than anything else — terrine in a pastry crust.  Terrines are served cold. I would love to get @liuzhou’s take on it. I would expect a slice of pork pie to be served on a plate with an assortment of pickles, perhaps a little mustard. 
 
Looky what we have here Click

Edited by Anna N
To fix a poor word choice. Then to add a link. (log)
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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I've only ever seen pork pies served cold. Well, room temperature. Usually in the manner @Anna Ndescribes. I guess they were invented to be eaten that way - perhaps in the fields after a long morning's farmwork. I had one last summer as part of a ploughman's lunch in the UK when I visited.

 

menu.jpg

 

Cornish pasties are normally eaten at room temperature and were also designed to be eaten at work in Cornwall's tin mines.

 

Sort of bag lunches with edible bags. Pork pies are also a staple of picnics.

 

Note exception: Yorkshire pork pies are eaten hot.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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2 hours ago, Anna N said:

Until I posted here I have never eaten or heard of a hot pork pie. In my opinion it is much more of a terrine than anything else — terrine in a pastry crust.  Terrines are served cold. I would love to get @liuzhou’s take on it. I would expect a slice of pork pie to be served on a plate with an assortment of pickles, perhaps a little mustard. 
 
Looky what we have here Click

@Anna NThank you and @liuzhou for the information.  I think I could deal with room temperature and it does help to think "terrine".  But, I must say, that photo of Adam's looks awful to me.   

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8 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Cornish pasties are normally eaten at room temperature and were also designed to be eaten at work in Cornwall's tin mines.

This makes perfect sense. I don’t think I could have even dreamed of tackling this pasty cold. But I obviously did not have my thinking cap on. 
Thanks for chiming in. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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6 hours ago, donk79 said:

Anna, that thread contains some serious gold.  Excellent digging!

Thanks. I was pretty impressed with that thread. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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6 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

@Anna NThank you and @liuzhou for the information.  I think I could deal with room temperature and it does help to think "terrine".  But, I must say, that photo of Adam's looks awful to me.   

Yes I was not all that impressed with the appearance of Adam’s pie but I’m wondering if that was photography/lighting related. I always think of a pork pie as being a very soft pinky colour but I haven’t had one for so very long. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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11 hours ago, liuzhou said:

@Anna N@Kim Shook

Don't forget Gala Pie. Basically a scotch egg reimagined as a pork pie. Also eaten at room temperature or on picnics

That looks amazing.  I could certainly imagine eating that room temp.  I've always eaten Scotch eggs that way anyway.  Thank you!

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22 hours ago, liuzhou said:

@Anna N@Kim Shook

Don't forget Gala Pie. Basically a scotch egg reimagined as a pork pie. Also eaten at room temperature or on picnics

That is a new one to me. But I certainly wouldn’t turn it down!

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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On 10/1/2020 at 9:24 PM, liuzhou said:

Note exception: Yorkshire pork pies are eaten hot.

Another one I am not familiar with. Wondering if there is any such beasty to be had here in southern Ontario. May have to set @Kerry Bealthe challenge!  . 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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54BE5890-D866-435B-AC78-2BE3E448F615.thumb.jpeg.7d0dc34e42297134c5b46da05b148d16.jpeg

 

I really wanted to love this pie. 
 

225B8AFE-9B62-46B6-8812-8973F11C4C80.thumb.jpeg.d86803af53173de28ec5437ffeeeebda.jpeg

 

Out of my freezer. 
 

24357E52-16BF-4F3C-8D3D-8EB5C6541DDA.thumb.jpeg.d4d4be2c110632995962ca10289b02b1.jpeg

 

Out of the oven. 
 

862B5F33-A2EC-4231-BC82-2CF811DBE4E3.thumb.jpeg.5d1674c7cba6601efd51f8a8e90732c3.jpeg

 

The innards. 
 

When a pie is labelled steak and onion I want there to be no doubt about the onion part. This definitely had onions just not nearly enough. The beef was just a little on tougher side but not inedible. 

 

3BD832E7-1BC6-47DB-9450-898FB9F61F8F.thumb.jpeg.6a0a6efe71aa43522c8bc5ee850f3f7c.jpeg


It was not so bad that I needed to drown it in gravy but it’s gravy, eh?  Sometimes the pie becomes the supporting beam for the gravy and not the other way around. 
 

I liked the crust. It was not soggy even with the gravy but neither was it hard and brittle. I would definitely eat another one but if I found a steak and onion pie elsewhere that was better then I would abandon this one. 
 

15138B7D-D224-4E13-AEF2-7CC71756B87C.thumb.jpeg.6de0627e1f2d8fb0949b8dbf41af9eed.jpeg

 

 

 

 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Pasty from my usual bakery. It had been in the fridge overnight so I warmed it in the oven. As near as I can tell, the filling is potato, cabbage, and carrot. Not bad for peasant food.

 

So the discussion in this thread made me realise that your bakeries seem to sell the pies cold. They keep them warm here so you can eat them right away.

20201004_085856.thumb.jpg.f557c9f9b7ef1a7016b738f7db9e5ff4.jpg

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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