Turkey Pithivier - Christmas leftovers, dressed up for New Year's Day!

Now that is what I call a celebration!

Our latest task, set by the "Lean on Turkey" campaign, was to create something wonderful from the Christmas leftovers

Now that immediately set us a problem, as the date is the middle of November - and Christmas was quite a long time ago.  The only Christmas leftovers I had in the freezer, were some cranberries.  So, the first problem was where to find "Christmas leftovers".  Simple - make them.

Bearing that in mind, we made a coffee and gathered in the board room (bedroom - it's where we do all our best thinking) for some brainstorming.  Yes, the bouncy midgets (Jack Russell terriers) came too - it is so helpful when brainstorming, to have a couple of small terriers fighting in the middle of the board table (a.k.a. bed).  You should try it sometime.  Jonty, the Saluki, was there already - in his role as eye candy.

We began by acknowledging the part that both curry and pie have to play in dealing with Christmas leftovers - and moved on.  Fricassee was momentarily dallied with, but rejected for being too dull.  What we needed was an edge for this symphony of "what-shall-I-do-with-it-now's".  A focus - that was what was required.

Hubby came up with it - "what about something for New Year's Day, that's a celebration - but uses all the leftovers from Christmas?".  Now that proposal had some legs - turkey legs, in fact.

Straight from the oven - a Pithivier with a capital P

Pithivier (or "pasty" - but we'll skip lightly over that definition and stick with "pithivier", if you don't mind), is something that we've seen pass us by on various cooking shows.  However, we'd yet to attempt one.  The latest incarnation of pithivier making was on the Great British Bake Off, where we'd seen all manner of interesting combinations used as fillings - and all manner of decoration used, to create a lovely looking final creation.

Now, running with the pithivier idea for a moment, what would "Christmas leftovers" comprise?  Well, turkey (obviously), plus stuffing (always too much stuffing), chestnuts (always left with some of those lurking in the cupboard) and cranberries (which I did still have in the freezer, from last January!).  It's not beyond the realms of expectation to find a couple of pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) lurking under an abandoned roast potato, either.  We rejected the brussels sprouts idea, because - to be completely honest - nobody wants to find a twice-cooked brussels sprout in their New Year Pithivier.  No, no.  I doubt anyone would object to a piece or two of juicy carrot, mind you.

Filling the bowl with leftovers - the final layer

Well.  I do believe we have the makings for a very acceptable New Year's Day Turkey Pithivier!

So the next thing to settle upon was what comprises "turkey leftovers"?  Well, I guess that depends on how big your turkey is and how many people you have eating it - but generally, I think it's true to say that leg meat is the largest part of leftover turkey.

Hence, we went out and bought a turkey drumstick with which to create said "turkey leftovers".  If you have any breast meat leftover from your turkey - don't hesitate to include it!

Thanking the gods of well-oiled bowls may commence ..

I also cooked a little bit of extra vegetables and a couple of extra venison sausages in the few days leading up to "Pithivier Day" and so it all came together.

A pithivier is more defined by its shape, than the ingredients of its filling - in the same way as a Cornish Pasty is immediately recognisable by its shape.  They have to be dome-shaped rather than a lump of filling inside a casing of pastry - and have the traditional centre-to-outside edge curved lines carved into the pastry (that are a lot more difficult than they seem, particularly when your hand is shaking!).  They also need to have their edges quite deeply scalloped - which I think I failed at, pretty much.  They looked plenty scalloped when it went into the oven, but the puff of the pastry blew them out a bit!

It is a BIT like a hat, don't you think?

Sorting out whether to layer the fillings or be all random about it, took a bit more pondering.  I had intended to be all random with the ingredients, but in the end opted for the layered look.  I don't really know why I bothered, as once cut, the layers weren't exactly obvious - so it's up to you whether you go for layers or not!

My pithivier had layers of sliced cooked venison & red wine sausage (from The Dorset Smokery), stuffing with cranberries, stuffing with chestnuts, cooked turkey meat, cooked carrot, celery and asparagus.  The vegetables had been cooked with the turkey drumstick, so were tender and juicy with the flavour of the turkey stock.

What a triumph of wobbly lines and crimping

Now I know to be honest to the Christmas leftovers theme, I should have roasted my turkey drumstick.  However, I was cooking it early to give it time to cool and didn't want to run an expensive oven that was going to be needed later on as well - so I compromised and pot roasted it in some chicken stock, a carrot, celery, an onion, fresh parsley stalks and a quarter of a lemon.  I also put the asparagus in for 3 minutes, once I'd removed the turkey.

Once I'd made the stuffing mix (a packeted version, I'm afraid - but I was running out of energy by then!) and divided it into two for the cranberries and chestnuts, I was all set.

I spent quite a while pondering on which bowl to use to get the requisite dome shape of the filling - and finally settled upon my Nanna's brown glass casserole dish that had been handed on to me when she died.  It was perfect for the job and, after a judicious oiling, filling, pressing and a lot of prayers, the filling popped out onto the base pastry in perfect formation.

After that, it was a matter of doing some patchwork cutting and rolling to get the covering pastry the right size.  I had a couple of trial runs over the base of the bowl, as I figured that once it was laid on top of the filling pile, it wasn't coming off again!

See the asparagus, cranberry, turkey & carrot?

I even remembered to press the pastry close to the filling to expel any air pockets that might disfigure the pastry, before cutting it to size.  My hands were shaking by the time it came to the delicate task of cutting the pastry and carving in the decorations.  Ridiculous, really, it's not as though I was being filmed for Masterchef or anything - but it was stressful.  I mean, just imagine if your beautifully crafted bowl-shaped pile of filling had collapsed at the wrong moment.  ~shudder~  Horrible thought!

So you can imagine what a relief it was to get the egg wash done and put it to bed in the oven!

What emerged, after the requisite time, was a very impressive blancmange shaped pastry creation that impressed the heck out of me - and I made it!

Look!  The filling all stayed put!

What impressed me even more, was that during the delicate operation of removing a slice to put on the plate, the filling (pretty much) stayed put!  I had visions of it all flowing out from between the two layers of pastry in an unstoppable tide.  Oh - and speaking of the pastry, it was what Paul Hollywood would call "a good bake" in that there were no soggy bottoms in sight - the pastry was beautifully cooked all round.

Now I expect you're wondering how it tasted.  Well, I was glad that I'd made some gravy with the stock from cooking the turkey leg - but I am quite sure that even cold with some pickle, it will taste just as good as it did hot.  Because of the diversity of the layers involved, each mouthful had a different texture, a different flavour involved.  Sometimes you got a piece of chestnut, or a cranberry which burst with an intense sweet/sourness that worked beautifully as a palate cleanser.  I'd left the turkey meat in some quite big chunks, which were lovely to find.  The stuffing acted as the glue that held it all together - and made it very pasty-like.  The venison sausage slices added to the meatiness of the filling and, of course, added another dimension of intense flavour.

Feeding the family with Christmas's leftovers - now does it get better than that?

I served the pithivier with some mini roast potatoes and parsnips, some Brussels sprouts and peas, along with the ever-popular pigs in blankets.  The gravy, made with the turkey stock, was just divine.

So there you have it!  Don't throw away the remains of the Christmas turkey - you're already half way to making this gorgeous pithivier for New Year's Day!  Strip the turkey of every little bit of meat you can find and freeze it, along with all your leftover bits of stuffing, sausages and vegetables.  Then, all you need is two large pieces of puff pastry, a bowl and to remember to take the lot out of the freezer in time - and you too can be impressed as heck when you take it from the oven and place it in pole position on your New Year's table.

TURKEY PITHIVIER   (serves 8-10)

Ingredients :

1 tsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
a selection of Christmas Dinner leftovers, sufficient to fill a 1½ litre bowl, including :
- turkey meat;
- stuffing;
- cooked carrot pieces;
- anything else you might like to find in your pithivier, that's left over.  Plus
5 chestnuts, each cut into 3 pieces
a handful of fresh cranberries
sausage slices
2 x large sheets of ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 200degC/400degF/Gas 6.

2.  Take the leftover stuffing (or make up a box of pre-made stuffing, for convenience) and divide into two bowls.  Into the first bowl, add the chestnuts and stir to combine.  Into the second bowl, add the cranberries and stir to combine.

3.  Take a 1½ litre bowl and add the oil.  Using a pastry brush or your fingers, make sure the oil covers the inside of the bowl.  This is what will prevent the contents from sticking - so make sure it is well covered!

4.  Begin to fill the bowl with the leftovers and stuffing mixes.  You can do this in layers, or randomly, it is completely up to you - but remember, every so often, to press the ingredients down so as to compress them into the bowl.  The better you press them, the less likely it is that they will collapse when turned out.

5.  Take your baking tray (non-stick preferably - or if not, cover with non-stick silver foil) and place the first sheet of pastry over it.

6.  Whilst uttering prayers to your own particular god and whilst holding the pastry onto the sheet with your fingers, upturn it onto the open end of the bowl.

7.  Next, whilst continuing to utter prayers, upturn the bowl, pastry and baking sheet ensemble and gently tap the bowl - but without cutting through the pastry.  Remove the bowl, hoping against hope that you oiled it well enough and the contents will fall in a neat mound - and stay together.

8.  Whilst breathing a sigh of relief and thanking the gods of bowl-turning-out, break the egg into a small bowl and remove half the white.  Whisk the remainder of the egg together and with a brush, egg wash around the edge of the pastry base.

9.  Take the next piece of pastry and make sure it will cover the mound of ingredients, by having a trial run over the upturned empty bowl.  Once you are happy that it will fit, carefully lay it onto the mound of ingredients.

10.  Gently, without stretching the pastry and using the edge of your hand, snug the pastry in to the mound, making sure no air pockets exist inside.

11.  Leaving a lip of an inch or so, cut around the mound until you have a hat shape.

12.  Cut a small hole in the top of the pastry, and then carve radiating curved lines - but without going through to the ingredients below - into the surface.

13.  Carefully crimp the edges of the pastry, which will seal it.  You can afford to breathe a sigh of relief, as your ingredients are now all safely contained.

14.  All that is left, is to egg wash the surface of the pastry and add a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.

15.  Put into your pre-heated oven for 45 minutes - remembering to turn it half way for an even bake.

Serve.

Printable version

Pork, Leek & Apple Sausage Rolls of much deliciousness

I had been wanting to make sausage rolls for a very long time.  However, because my last few batches of sausage rolls had received something of a lacklustre review from the assembled throng, I was nervous.

Then, whilst pondering on what to do with a little bag of pulled pork that was left over when I portioned out the 2kg joint, I had what appeared to be a Very Good Idea.

The pulled pork wasn't enough to make anything except a sandwich on its own, but bolstered by something else (like sausage meat), it would make a grand ingredient.

So what is the obvious thing to make, when contemplating sausage meat?  Well, yes, I admit - Scotch Eggs was right up there.  However, because of hubby's sensitivity to eggs that wasn't too clever an option.  No, but in the savoury baking line, sausage rolls were a definite possibility!

I pondered on what type of sausage meat to use.  There are so many different types out there in the marketplace, the world is your oyster where making sausage rolls is concerned.  However, I wanted to keep the pork theme going - and I remembered that our local butcher had some lovely fat Pork & Leek sausages.  Now there's a bit of a problem with our butcher's sausages in that they can be dreadfully salty.  However, I reckoned that with the pulled pork in the mix, it might very well help to alleviate some of the saltiness - as would the pastry.

However, thinking about how the combination would taste - after all, the pulled pork was cooked in a vegetable stock so wouldn't really be bringing much in the way of flavour (other than its porkiness) but loads in the way of texture to the table - I felt it needed something else.  All the flavours, so far, were very savoury - what about a sweet note?  I considered the onion marmalade we'd bought at the Dorset Smokery, but felt that would dominate over the leek.  What would let all the other flavours sing, whilst providing a sweet note?  AHA!  Apple.  Something sharp but sweet, like a Braeburn or Cox's.  Not a cooker like a Bramley, as that would cook down to mush, but something that would hold its shape.  Plus, it just so happened that I had a homeless Braeburn in the fridge.

There, the sausage rolls were sorted.  It was a simple matter of chopping the pulled pork a couple of times to reduce the length of each strand, dicing the apple very finely and mushing the whole lot together with some skinned pork & leek sausages.

Wrap the whole lot up in some puff pastry (I really must learn how to make that stuff), egg wash and bake.

Happiness!  I served mine for a main course along with baked beans and hash browns.

Whatever you might require sausage rolls for - and let's face it, there's a million reasons to have a sausage roll - these will do the job.  Cut them big for taking to firework parties, cut them small for buffets and picnics.  The flavours are just brilliant - the apple worked so well - and the whole filling is just big, rewarding and flavoursome.  These aren't your mean, all-pastry-and-no-sausage supermarket sausage rolls - and they definitely aren't those nasty bright pink pap-filled things that you get from your local baker's chain.  These are real sausage rolls - and an excellent reason to hold onto a little bag of leftovers from the next pulled pork!


PORK, LEEK & APPLE SAUSAGE ROLLS   (makes 12)

Ingredients :

150g shredded pulled pork, any large pieces chopped smaller
6 large pork & leek sausages, skins removed
1 Braeburn apple, cored, peeled and chopped finely
2 sheets of pre-made puff pastry (around 650g)
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly.

Method :

1.  Into a large bowl, add the shredded pulled pork, the sausage meat and apple pieces.

2.  Squish and mix with your fingers until the ingredients are all evenly distributed.  You shouldn't need to season, as the sausage meat should be able to do the seasoning for you.

3.  Unroll the first pastry sheet and run a rolling pin over it lightly, just to flatten it.

4.  Cut in half (across the shorter side) with a sharp knife.

5.  Take a quarter of the sausage meat mixture and form into a sausage shape slightly in from one side of the pastry.  Take the meat right up to the edge of the pastry.

6.  Brush a little egg yolk onto the other side of the pastry and starting with the sausage meat side, roll over onto the egg yolk side.

7.  Give the roll a little press to make sure it forms a good round shape and press along the edge of the cut side of the pastry, to secure it to the roll.

8.  With a very sharp knife, cut into three smaller sausage rolls and place onto a baking tray.

9.  Repeat for the remains of the pastry.  You should, therefore, have made four large sausage rolls, that are cut into 12 smaller ones.

10.  Slash the top of the pastry lightly on each sausage roll, then brush with egg yolk.

11.  Put into a pre-heated oven at 200degC/400degF/Gas6, for 35-45 minutes or until the pastry is crispy and golden.

12.  Cool slightly before serving.

Printable version

Jamie Oliver's Minced Beef Wellington - my version thereof!

I have been promising you all that I'd blog this one - and since all the excitement of the photograph being shown to Jamie on Zoe Ball's programme on BBC Radio 2 today, I thought there might never be a better time!

It had been a while since I'd made this recipe and I'd forgotten the finer details.  However, just a quick look at the blog post from the last time (which is here) and it all came back to me.  So I put the mince back in the fridge, as I wouldn't be needing that until later!

Just the sheer fact that this is, quite probably, around the fourth or fifth time I've made this one should tell you that it is well worth doing.  In the last couple of days, with all the Radio 2 thing going on, I've received a couple of comments along the lines of "it just looks like a big pastie".  Well, I suppose you could think of it in that way, but in truth, it is a lot more than that.

For starters, there's an awful lot more meat than vegetable (which in your average pastie, is exactly the opposite), there's an awful lot more filling than pastry (which again, in your average pastie is exactly the opposite) and I've yet to find a pastie that can feed 3 people for a main course dinner, then three people for lunch the day after!


Yes, it does involve two cooking instalments - one to make the vegetables for the filling, then another to finish the Wellington and cook it - but neither of those instalments are particularly taxing.  As a great mid-week dinner, you just can't beat it.

With this particular incarnation, I made a couple of changes from a) Jamie's original and b) my last blogged version.  I added some leftover Celeriac that had been diced finely, used mushroom ketchup instead of Worcester Sauce and had run out of frozen peas, so substituted sweetcorn instead.

The end result was just as good, just as tasty - and well worth doing!.

MINCED BEEF WELLINGTON (serves 4 with leftovers)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 carrot, peeled & cut into fine dice

1 stick of celery, washed, trimmed and cut into fine dice

1 potato, peeled & cut into fine dice

a large chunk of celeriac, peeled and cut into fine dice

1 clove of garlic, minced or grated

2 large chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely

4 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from the stalks and chopped finely

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce or Mushroom Ketchup

a big handful of peas or sweetcorn niblets (frozen is fine)

500g good quality minced beef

sea salt & black pepper

500g puff pastry

1 large egg, lightly whisked.

Method :

1.  In a frying pan, heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat and add the onion. Fry until light golden brown, then add the remainder of the vegetables and the garlic and continue to fry until the veggies are showing signs of softening.

2.  Add the rosemary and the Worcester sauce or Mushroom ketchup and stir to combine.

3.  Add the frozen peas or sweetcorn and cook for another couple of minutes until thoroughly defrosted and mixed in.

4.  Decant the vegetables into a large bowl to cool completely.  I find that if I smooth them as far up the sides of the bowl as possible, it allows them to cool more quickly than leaving them in a lump.

5.  When cool, preheat oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

6.  Add the minced beef to the bowl with salt and pepper and half the egg.  With your hands, scrunch everything together until thoroughly mixed.

7.  On a clean worktop, roll out the pastry to the size of small tea towel and place the mince mix along one long side, in a sausage shape, but leaving a small area of pastry, so that you have something to start the rolling with.

 

8.  Brush edges of pastry with egg and roll pastry to cover mince completely.  Tuck any escapees into either end, then fold the ends together and squeeze the joins so that they hold.

 

9.  Flip the Wellington over so that the pastry join is underneath and transfer to a baking tray that has been lined with either non-stick silver foil or baking parchment.  

 

10.  Use a knife to cut a couple of holes in the top to let any steam escape, then brush with egg.

 

11.  Bake for approximately one hour (I'd check it after 30 minutes and turn it to ensure an even bake) until golden.

 

Serve with steamed vegetables and gravy.

 

Printable version

 

 

Pepperoni & Mozzarella Millefeuille - or pie!

I suppose it all depends on how much you want to befuddle your audience, as to whether you call this one a "Pepperoni & Mozzarella Millefeuille" or a "Pepperoni & Mozzarella Pie".

Because I'm feeling quite classy today - and it doesn't happen often, so it's good to make the most of it - I shall be calling the dish a Millefeuille.  However, don't be thinking of layers of crisp pastry interspersed with common old pepperoni and squishy mozzarella - oh no.  Be thinking of lovely golden puff pastry, filled with a luxuriant mixture of pepperoni, mashed potato (oh, sorry, did your expectations just crash and burn? *chuckle*), mozzarella cheese and spring onion.

Whatever you call it, it was flipping lovely.

The filling, before the top layer went on

This was another one of hubby's creations, in that he knew we had a pack of pepperoni and two balls of mozzarella in the fridge, left over from an expected pizza voyage that never happened.  The mozzarella is used up easily at lunchtimes, but the pepperoni was a different matter.  So he devised a use for it - and very nice it was, too.

All pleated up and egg washed - ready for baking

For simplicity, we bought some ready-made puff pastry and even a tub of ready-made mashed potato.  Now shop bought mash isn't my favourite by any means, but I have to admit that it did make what could have been a right old palaver a lot easier.  Of course, the best thing of all would be to make a bit extra the day before (presuming you have a dinner with utilises mash the day before).  For us, our meal plan that week had gone completely to worms and the rhythm of our dishes was completely up the creek - hence the shop bought mash.

The only two changes we'd make when making this again, would be to use a better quality of mozzarella - which would give better flavour, plus to use a small quantity of grated cheddar, just to increase the cheese flavour by a tiny bit.

The addition of the spring onion to the mixture was a stroke of genius, though.  Far nicer than straight chopped white onion, or a sweated off onion.  It gave a lovely bite to the texture plus a welcome splash of colour - not to mention the sweet, mild onion flavour which of course went so well with the other ingredients.

Mmmn, squidgy!

This is a recipe that I suspect would appeal to menfolk everywhere - and you could even get away with serving with a little salad, so long as you promise that there's lots of cheese involved in the pie!

Son & heir definitely approved and even ate his salad without complaint.  Hubby was, of course, super critical of the dish as it was his own creation - but agreed that it was definitely one that he'd do again.  I was pleasantly surprised by the flavours as I'm not the biggest fan of pepperoni outside of a pizza and found that the pepperoni flavour was muted by the mashed potato, which allowed the cheese to come through most agreeably.

One note that is worth mentioning, is that the fat content of this dish is off the scale.  It would be impossible to substitute chorizo, for example, as the fat that chorizo brings would just swamp out the texture.  If you consider that every single ingredient - the pastry, mashed potato, pepperoni and mozzarella - all contain a significant amount of fat, this is very definitely a dish for "once in a blue moon".  I'm sure it has a place, though - perhaps as a sharing dish for a mixed buffet, or as a picnic dish (it was very good cold, too!).  Something where you don't need to have a huge slab of the stuff.

Definitely one of those meals that are naughty, but very nice!

PEPPERONI & MOZZARELLA MILLEFEUILLE  (serves 4-8)

Ingredients :

400g puff pastry, rolled out into two sheets approx. 15" x 8"
120g sliced pork pepperoni
400g mashed potato (leftover mash is best)
250g mozzarella, grated
50g cheddar cheese, grated
5-6 spring onions, trimmed & chopped into quarter inch pieces
freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten.

Method :

1.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick aluminium foil and pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4.

2.  Slice the pepperoni into strips and place into a good sized bowl.  Add the remainder of the ingredients and season with a good pinch of black pepper.  Mix with a fork until evenly combined.

3.  Place one of the sheets of pastry onto the baking sheet.

4.  Tip the pepperoni mixture out onto the pastry piece and form into a rectangle, at least an inch in from the edges of the pastry.

5.  With a pastry brush, brush a little of the egg wash around the edges of the pastry.

6.  Lay the second piece of pastry across the top and press down around the edges, to seal.  Make sure you're not trapping air inside the pastry, by cutting two or three slots into the top of the rectangle.

7.  Pleat the edges of the pastry, to seal and neaten.  Then give the pastry a good coating with the egg wash.

8.  Place into the oven for some 35-40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

9.  Serve with a side salad.

Printable version
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Beef Silverside & Mushroom Pie - a classic "leftovers" pie

We knew that, with just the three of us eating from a 1kg piece of Silverside, there would be plenty of leftovers.  So, rather than use the remainder in (albeit delicious) sandwiches, I thought we'd do something a bit more useful and make a pie.

There was a good five or six slices left - and the smaller offcuts - so I had plenty of beef and didn't need to pad the filling out with lots of veggies.  So for all that it is called a "Silverside & Mushroom Pie", it was in fact a beef, onion & mushroom pie.

Now anyone who has been following this blog for a while, will know that I've had something of a chequered history with pies.  The big problem, it would seem, is that I rarely get the sauce/gravy consistency right.  It is either too thin, or too thick.  Too much, or not enough.

I was determined, with this pie, to get it right.

As such, I'd made sure that hubby kept any leftover gravy and stock from braising the beef the day before - so I had a great base to start with.

I kicked off proceedings by cooking two sliced onions until they were soft and golden - just starting to caramelise and deliver that lovely fried onion flavour.  I then added the mushrooms and quickly cooked them - not completely - but enough that they obtained a hint of colour.

Next, in went yesterday's gravy and the gravy that the sliced meat had sat in (in the fridge) since the day previous - and tasted.  Mmmn, nice - but not robust enough.

So, I then added two bay leaves, a half an Oxo cube (which helped with the beefy flavour and added a little salt), a teaspoonful of Bovril to boost the beefy flavour even further, a good glug or three of Worcestershire Sauce (which always helps beef dishes along a bit) and a dessertspoonful of tomato ketchup (which delivers a mix of spices that it is very difficult to find elsewhere, plus a little sweetness).

I gave that lot time to blend together as the gravy simmered, then tasted again.  Oooh yes, now we're talking - but it needed to be thicker and could do with a good grind or three of black pepper.  Pepper duly added, I rummaged in the cupboard and found a jar of Bisto "best rich & roasted beef" gravy granules.  Ordinarily, I'd opt for some flour or cornflour to thicken a gravy, but something made me use the gravy granules.  You need to be careful about how much salt is in the gravy already, as gravy granules can really deliver an intense salty hit, if you're not careful.  In this case, just a couple of tablespoonfuls made all the difference to the gravy, making it glossy, thick and oh so flavoursome.  Thinking on, although I was a tad embarrassed at using gravy granules, it occurred to me that it was really no worse than using a stock cube, in the context with which I was using it.  After all, I'm not exactly just adding water, stirring and calling it gravy.

Once I had the gravy where I wanted it, I added the beef (which I'd chopped into bite sized pieces) and heated it all through while the oven warmed up and I got the pastry ready.

This really was a superb pie.  I think the closest I can get to it would be the Kate & Wills' Wedding Pie, but it would be close run thing to judge between them.

The beef was tender, the mushrooms delicious and the onions had just melted away into the gravy.  The gravy had all the benefit of the beef having been cooked in it, plus the effect of the red wine, which boosted its depth and flavour.  The consistency of the gravy was perfect in that it coated the ingredients but still had enough movement to ooze from the pie into the accompanying vegetables.

Goodness, just thinking back and remembering the flavours is making my tummy rumble - which is testimony to just how good the pie was, I think!

I won't set out a recipe for the pie, as the ingredients - particularly for the gravy - very much depend on what was used to cook the beef in to begin with.  However, I hope this blog post will act as inspiration for you to give a go to making a pie with the leftovers from your next piece of roast beef - if you have any, that is!

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Smoked Cod Koulibiac

First of all, what is a a Koulibiac?  Well, in my Mum's time, it used to be known as "Russian Fish Pie" and is a combination of fish (most recently, involving salmon) in a sauce, encased in flaky or puff pastry.

I have seen photographs of what purports to be a Koulibiac, but which looks more like a Salmon En Croute.  For me, what defines a Koulibiac is that the pastry is used to create a pyramid shaped pie, rather than simply being rolled around the piece of fish.  I've certainly never seen an En Croute dish that ever looked like a Koulibiac!

In my view - and I accept, I might be in error in this belief - smoked fish is integral to a Koulibiac.  Certainly the only ones I've ever made have included smoked cod or haddock.  Other ingredients after that depend entirely upon whatever you fancy including - although a choice of either prawns or hard boiled eggs also seems to be traditional.

All sealed and ready to bake

The Koulibiac which hubby made for us last Sunday, involved smoked cod, king prawns and queen scallops.

You would be forgiven for wondering how we managed to finance such an exotic mix of fish - but in truth, you don't need a huge amount of the smoked fish (especially if you're including other seafood), we had half a bag of king prawns left over from another dish - and four queen scallops isn't very expensive at all.

It was hubby's first ever go at making rough puff pastry and he'd be the first to admit that it didn't go exactly to plan.  He is is own worst critic however - and I can tell you that it was so close to being perfect that I'm sure another go would have the method down pat for him.  Hence, if you are looking at the photographs and wondering about the pastry - well that's what happened.

See that teensy piece of scallop coral?  Gorgeous!

However, if you want to have a go at cooking this recipe - and why wouldn't you, it's gorgeous - I am quite sure that shop bought puff pastry would do an admirable job for you. 

It is important with this recipe to make the sauce ahead of time, so that it has time to cool.  Believe me (because I've tried), it is not easy to encase hot sauce in rapidly melting pastry.

There's just something so moreish about smoked fish in a softly flavoured white sauce - let alone finding luscious king prawns and a scallop along the route - that just floats my boat.  Russian fish pie or Koulibiac - call it what you will, it will always be a favourite for me.

SMOKED COD KOULIBIAC  (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

500g pre-prepared puff or flaky pastry

1 egg, Beaten
2 eggs, hard boiled (optional)
300g smoked cod or haddock fillets
200g king prawns
4 queen scallops , corals removed and chopped

60g unsalted butter
60g plain flour
1 onion, halved
2 bay leaves
a pinch of nutmeg
1.5 pints semi skimmed milk
handful of chopped parsley.

Method :

1.  For the sauce :

Place the milk, onion, nutmeg and bay leaves in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.

 

Cut the smoked fish fillets in half so that they fit the pan easily and then poach them in the milk for three minutes.

Carefully remove the fish and the bay leaves from the milk and place into a bowl before covering and setting aside.  Remove the onion from the milk and discard.

Next, melt the butter into a saucepan before adding the flour.  Incorporate the flour into the melted butter with a wooden spoon, to form a thick roux paste.  Allow the flour to cook out for a few minutes, taking great care not to let it stick to the base of the pan.

Once the roux has turned a nice pale golden, add a little milk and stir vigorously to mix.   The milk will vanish almost instantly into the roux, at which point, more milk should be added.  Continue this process until the mixture resembles a very thick (and probably fairly lumpy) sauce.

At this stage, add the chopped scallop corals and swap your wooden spoon for a balloon whisk and continue adding more milk to the sauce.  Keep whisking and adding more milk until you have a smooth, velvety, but thick white sauce.  Remember that the seafood will release liquid into the sauce during cooking so take care not to make the sauce too thin.

Carefully fold the bay leaves and smoked Fish into the sauce, trying not to break the fish up too much, before leaving to cool to room temperature.  Once cooled, add the cooked prawns and the chopped, hard boiled eggs (if you're using them) to the mix before assembling the Pie.

2.  For assembly of the Koulibiac.
 

Roll the pastry into a square, roughly 7mm thick.  Lay the rolled pastry onto a sheet of baking parchment and brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg.  Now form your saucy fish mixture into a high pile in the middle and place the four scallops on top in such a way that each quarter of pie has a scallop in it.  Now draw the four points of the pastry square to the middle, forming a four sided pyramid shape. Crimp each pastry seam shut before egg washing the whole pie and transferring to a large baking sheet, parchment and all.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/gas4 for 45 minutes and then allow to cool for five minutes before serving.

Printable version

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Courgette, Prosciutto & Blue Cheese Tart - dinner in a hurry!

This last Tuesday marked an important day in the calendar of our family, for this was the day that son & heir's first "proper" (aka "almost adult") school stage production got under way.

A much-shortened version of "We Will Rock You", it featured songs from the show (which is  based loosely around the songs of Queen) together with individual numbers from both groups and soloists.  Son & heir was appearing with his embryonic band "Black Ice" and would be playing his much loved bass guitar to "Another One Bites The Dust".

Assembled and ready to bake

Well, it all went swimmingly.  Nobody fell over and pulled the drapes down, the stage didn't collapse and no emergency services were required - which makes it a resounding success, in my book.  In fact, both hubby and I enjoyed ourselves enormously throughout the evening.

However, fitting the conundrum of eating into the evening was a little tricky.  For son & heir it was easy, as we took him a packed sandwich supper when we delivered his costume to school at 3pm.  For us, well, we had to condense our early evening into three hours or so - which wasn't that difficult but meant that the catering had to be of the simple kind.

Out of the oven and looking satisfyingly delicious

The weather having been unseasonably warm, my mind immediately turned to salad, but I felt that as we were going to be out in the big wide world (also known as the school hall), perhaps we needed something hot to eat before we left.  Yes, I was channelling Mum-ness.  I admit it. 

Anyway, that Mum-ness resulted in a quite lovely (and supremely quick to create and bake) tart.

Take a sheet of ready made, ready rolled puff pastry.  Draw a line around the inside of it, then cover the area inside of the line with ribbons of finely sliced (I used a veggie peeler) courgette that have been tossed in extra virgin olive oil and seasoning.  Next, lay on rumpled and torn pieces of Prosciutto bacon, then into the hollows and hills, sprinkle cubes of a soft, mild blue cheese.  Admire, then bake.

Served with some shop-bought pre-prepared salads, for speed - just perfect.

The end result was that the courgette ribbons cooked beautifully, all were soft and tender.  The Prosciutto crisped up perfectly in the oven and the soft creamy blue cheese melted and ran in delicious rivers all around the other ingredients.  Lush.

The tart really was completely flipping gorgeous - as indeed it was the following day, when we had the remainder for lunch.

COURGETTE, PROSCIUTTO & BLUE CHEESE TART  (Serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 sheet of ready made, ready rolled puff pastry
1 large courgette
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
75g pack of Prosciutto
150g French creamy blue cheese.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 200degF/400degC/Gas6.

2.  Lay the pastry out onto a flat baking sheet and lightly score a line approx 1" in from the edge, all the way around the pastry.  This marks the crust of the tart.

3.  Take the courgette and cut off both ends.  Then, using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel away long thin ribbons of courgette and place them into a bowl.

4.  Sprinkle a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper over the courgette and mix to combine.

5.  Take the strips and arrange them roughly onto the pastry, making sure they aren't all laying down flat and are inside the line for the pastry crust.

6.  Next tear pieces of Prosciutto and lay them roughly on top of the courgette.

7.  Trim off the rind of the blue cheese (if it has one!) and cut into small dice.  Sprinkle these across the surface of the tart.

8.  Sprinkle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil across the tart surface.

9.  Place into the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with salad.