Wednesday 17 August 2011

Mini Pork Pies

I just don't get the jelly in pork pies.

The pork sausagemeat: obviously, yes, delicious. The pastry: thick, crunchy, preferably in generous amounts.The hard boiled egg: technically we're talking a Gala pie now but still very much acceptable and welcomed. The jelly? No. Not a fan. A strange added layer squeezed between the pork and pastry which I find slimy and tasteless and annoyingly time consuming to remove. Hence why I got rather excited when I saw Lorraine Pascale’s Pork Pies with Cider recipe – due to its total lack of jelly.DSCF8753I’m sure that to a lot of people a jelly free pork pie seems like sacrilege (and a jelly-free pork pie with a quails egg in the middle even more so) but stick with it. These are delicious. I made these with my friend E. (my fellow foodie friend and a savoury cooking genius) on a bake day. We had an immense day and have another day planned – involving duck dumplings! We didn’t have any cider for the pork pies so we used apple juice which worked very well as you could taste the sweetness this brought and made the meat mixture extra juicy. DSCF8755These were mini pies, so they were a bit time consuming to make, but really enjoyable and strangely relaxing! It was our first time making hot water pastry and although we found the bright white lard a bit strange, the pastry was very easy to work with. I’d also never used or even tried a quails egg before – they are so adorable!DSCF8743The end results were delicious. Whilst the recipe states it makes 8 pies, we ended up with 12 – a happy bonus. They would be perfect for a picnic or a delicious summer lunch with salad. The pies got our imaginations going and we are looking forward to making more variations on pork pies – spiced ones, herby ones, a large one in a loaf tin with a whole line of full eggs. So, maybe I just haven't tried a good enough jelly-included-pork pie yet. Perhaps it is a taste that grows with age. Until then, I'm more than happy eating these little guys instead. Enjoy!

13 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love quail eggs and pork pies! Your pies are wonderful and look so appetizing.

Cheers,

Rosa

Victory Rolls & Mixing Bowls said...

those eggs are so cute! Love the look of the pies yum!

Nom!

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

I'm a huge fan of Jelly-Free Pies! I'd seen this recipe and mentally bookmarked it for future reference- so glad to hear it turned out so well, I'll definately be giving it a go!

La Table De Nana said...

The quail eggs and mini pies are GENIUS!

Did anyone ever tell you that you write charmingly also?
Someone should publish you!

Pork/Meat pies are a classic here at Christmas..what a little twist these would add!

James said...

OMG - I'm suddenly thinking even smaller ones as canapes! Without egg - could be very popular!

If you want the best jelly for pork pie you have to make your own from scratch with pigs trotters - you leave them boiling away for hours - that's where the real flavour is & natural gelatine too. Certainly not fast food, but worth it!

Also good when you mix the pork with other meats - duck, venison, pheasant etc. Endless possibilities. Add diced apple too, maybe dried fruit too - pork & apricot. Cranberries for a Christmassy pie. So many variations.....

Dewi said...

This is it! I am really really tempting to make savory pie and serve it with salad. Yum!

Maggie said...

I used to live in 'pork pie country' and I am afraid to say I will only eat the hot water crust pastry.
The pies look wonderful, no jelly and quails eggs such a great idea.

James said...

... and sundried tomato & basil I remembered this morning - the mediterranean version - it's the best :)

Irishbaker said...

These look delicious!Love the way you left out the jelly too.

The Caked Crusader said...

Oh, they look adorable!

I'm not a fan of jelly either but I think it adds flavour to the meat - I can't eat the big clumps that sit between meat and pastry though. My dad is such a fan of the jelly that he'll eat what other people scrape out of their pie. I guess it takes all sorts....!

Kalyan said...

The piesone looks so fresh and yummy.

Faith said...

Your pies are adorable and I really love the idea of using quail eggs! Beautiful pastry too!

Hazel - Chicken in a Cherry Sauce said...

I really hate the jelly in pork pies and think it is really the only thing that puts me off of them. Your pies sound wonderful, especially with apple juice! Small do take more time but they are so much cuter :)