Englische pork pies (Profoodhomemade).

Mini pork pies

Zutaten:
Teig:
400 g Plain or all-purpose flour
170 g Water
90 g Butter
100 g Lard (Schmalz) or solid vegetable fat
8 g Salt

Füllung:
500 g Minced or ground Pork, 15 % fat (oder evtl. anderes Hackfleisch)
4 g Salt
0,25 tsp Ground white pepper
1 tsp Dried Sage
0,5 tsp Dried Thyme
Pinch of Nutmeg
1 Large egg, for egg wash

Zubereitung:

• In a bowl, mix the salt and flour together.
• In a small saucepan, place the water on a low heat, add the butter and lard to the pan, bring to a simmer.
• Make a pit in the middle of the flour. As soon as the fats have melted, pour the hot liquid into the flour pit, and bring it all together with a wooden spoon. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a bowl scraper.
• Turn out the contents of the bowl out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Gently knead the dough until it all comes together to a smooth ball.
• Cut the pastry into 2 equal pieces.
• Cover both in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before using. If the pastry is prepared the day before, take it out of the fridge an hour before starting the recipe.

• Simply add all of the ingredients to a bowl and thoroughly mix them all together with your hands for about 3 minutes. Put into the fridge until the filling is used.

• Make up your egg wash, using 1 small egg and a dash of milk, whisk until smooth and runny.

• Grease a standard size muffin tray with lard.

• Sprinkle a little flour on the bench and put on the pastry. If the pastry still is too hard from the fridge, squeeze and manipulate it a few moments until it is soft enough to roll. Sprinkle a little flour on the pastry.
• Roll out your pastry to a thickness of 3 mm, and cut out twelve circles with a diameter of 12 cm for the bases of the pies, and twelve circle with a diameter of 6 cm for the lids of the pies. Check whether the sizes are correct, because the recipe originally mentioned eight circles – our muffin tray is possibly a bit different. Dust the circles with a little flour and stack them on top of each other.
• Line the muffin cups with the base pastries, press the pastry right down into the corners of the cups. Form a little pastry ball to press the pastry into the edge of the muffin cups.
• Any leftovers of the pastry can be wrapped with clink film and stored in the freezer for the next batch.

• Divide the meat into 12 equal pieces, using digital scales. Form 12 tight meat balls.
• Place the divided meat into the pastry cups, and gently press out any trapped air.
• At this point, preheat your oven to 170 °C.

• Brush egg wash all around the edge of the pastry base. Try not to get any egg wash between the pastry and the muffin form, because it will stick the pie to the tray as it bakes.
• Place the lid on the top of the pie base, and gently press it down, using your thumbs and forefingers, neatly crimp the two pastries together.
• With a thin bladed knife, cut two vent slits in the top of each pie.
• Give each pie a good coat of the egg wash, try not to get any egg wash in between the pastry and the tin, or it will stick as it bakes. Use a knife to remove any egg wash from the vent slits.

• Place the tray in middle of the preheated oven, and use the bottom element, if you have one.
• Now set your timer for 40 minutes.
• Once the time is up, move the muffins tray onto a wire rack, and allow them to settle still in their tin, for 5 minutes.
• After the 5 minute rest, carefully remove the pies from the tins, you can serve them hot or cold.

Fazit:
Die erste Version war okay, aber der Teig zu fettig und zu dick, und die Pies etwas zu kurz gebacken. Beim nächsten Versuch werden wir den Teig dünner rollen und Rinderhack nehmen, damit alles etwas weniger fettig wird.

Esser:

• Tania & Arnold