Melton Mowbray style pork pie

The thing about pies from Melton Mowbray is that the pork must be fresh, not cured, chopped by hand (though it seems some mincing is allowed these days) and flavoured with anchovy essence as well as the more usual suspect: fresh sage. The pies from the best butchers are hand-raised, moulded by hand over a wooden pie mould called a coffin or coffer to make a free-standing pastry case, but there’s no shame in using a springclip tin.

Preparation time 30 mins
Cooking time 120 mins
Serves 8 people

Ingredients

1 kg (2.2lbs) Boned shoulder of pork, bones saved for the stock
3 Rashers of unsmoked back bacon
2 tsp Chopped fresh sage
1 tsp Anchovy essence or sauce
1 Pinches of salt, pepper and grated nutmeg
250 ml (8.8fl oz) Well-flavoured jellied stock cold but liquid - To finish

Step-by-step

Cut about 300g of the meat into neat cubes of about 1cm, and very finely chop or mince the rest – don’t use a processor. (You may find it easier to buy 300g lean pork, plus 700g good minced pork with around 20% fat.) Mince or finely chop the bacon.
Put all the meat into a bowl with the sage, anchovy essence, a little salt, plenty of pepper and a few gratings of nutmeg. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Take about a teaspoon of the mixture and fry it, like a mini-burger, then taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt and pepper, perhaps some more sage, as needed. The mixture should be tasty, not bland.
If possible, cover the bowl and chill overnight for the flavours to develop. If not, cover while making the pastry.
For the shortcrust pastry, follow the steps below and when cool enough to handle, cut off a third and keep for the lid.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the larger piece of pastry to a circle large enough to line the base and sides of the tin. Lightly flour the surface of the pastry, then fold it in 4 and lift it into the tin.
Unfold the pastry and press it on to the base and up the sides of the tin so it overhangs by about 2cm. Take care there are no cracks or holes. The pastry should be about 5mm thick.
Pack the meat filling into the pastry case, making sure there are no pockets of air. Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Fold the excess pastry neatly over the filling. Brush this rim with a little water.
Roll out the remaining pastry to a circle to fit the top of the tin – cut round a plate to get a neat shape if necessary. Lift the pastry over the filling to cover, then press the pastry edges firmly to seal. Pinch the rim to neatly flute it.
Make a large steam-hole in the centre of the pie and fit a small cylinder of foil into the hole to keep it open during baking.
Brush with beaten egg, then set the tin on the baking tray and bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and bake for a further 2 hours, covering the top of the pie with a piece of foil or greaseproof after an hour to prevent over-browning the crust.
Leave to cool in the tin, then pour the cold stock into the pie through the foil tube. Chill overnight to set fully, then unmould, remove the foil, and serve at room temperature.

:Good post:Yum Yum could just eat a large portion, with pickle.

pixi wrote:

Yum Yum could just eat a large portion, with pickle.

Don't know if you're in BG or not, Pixi. But if you are and can't find the required pickle, I stock Branstons and lots of other types. Also, if you can't be bothered making your own pork pies, I stock them as well :)))

One for the book for me to try although I have tried a few without any real success but lets see how this one goes, have you tried this one yourself George

Thanks for the recipe.I'm the odd Brit out as can't bear the stuff,but it will keep my man happy!

Hi George, no unfortunately I am in England at the moment, but we should be over in May or July. Thanks for the information, I will put this in my diary.

pixi wrote:

Yum Yum could just eat a large portion, with pickle.

I could eat some too - we are in Turkey and pork is a dirty word here. Haven't seen a pork pie for ages, let alone a Melton Mowbray, my mouth is watering at the very thought of one entering my mouth and tickling the taste buds. It's funny what you miss when you away from the UK, food is definitely my biggest miss.

coriolanus wrote:

Melton Mowbray style pork pie

The thing about pies from Melton Mowbray is that the pork must be fresh, not cured, chopped by hand (though it seems some mincing is allowed these days) and flavoured with anchovy essence as well as the more usual suspect: fresh sage. The pies from the best butchers are hand-raised, moulded by hand over a wooden pie mould called a coffin or coffer to make a free-standing pastry case, but there’s no shame in using a springclip tin.

Preparation time 30 mins
Cooking time 120 mins
Serves 8 people

Ingredients

1 kg (2.2lbs) Boned shoulder of pork, bones saved for the stock
3 Rashers of unsmoked back bacon
2 tsp Chopped fresh sage
1 tsp Anchovy essence or sauce
1 Pinches of salt, pepper and grated nutmeg
250 ml (8.8fl oz) Well-flavoured jellied stock cold but liquid - To finish

Step-by-step

Cut about 300g of the meat into neat cubes of about 1cm, and very finely chop or mince the rest – don’t use a processor. (You may find it easier to buy 300g lean pork, plus 700g good minced pork with around 20% fat.) Mince or finely chop the bacon.
Put all the meat into a bowl with the sage, anchovy essence, a little salt, plenty of pepper and a few gratings of nutmeg. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Take about a teaspoon of the mixture and fry it, like a mini-burger, then taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt and pepper, perhaps some more sage, as needed. The mixture should be tasty, not bland.
If possible, cover the bowl and chill overnight for the flavours to develop. If not, cover while making the pastry.
For the shortcrust pastry, follow the steps below and when cool enough to handle, cut off a third and keep for the lid.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the larger piece of pastry to a circle large enough to line the base and sides of the tin. Lightly flour the surface of the pastry, then fold it in 4 and lift it into the tin.
Unfold the pastry and press it on to the base and up the sides of the tin so it overhangs by about 2cm. Take care there are no cracks or holes. The pastry should be about 5mm thick.
Pack the meat filling into the pastry case, making sure there are no pockets of air. Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Fold the excess pastry neatly over the filling. Brush this rim with a little water.
Roll out the remaining pastry to a circle to fit the top of the tin – cut round a plate to get a neat shape if necessary. Lift the pastry over the filling to cover, then press the pastry edges firmly to seal. Pinch the rim to neatly flute it.
Make a large steam-hole in the centre of the pie and fit a small cylinder of foil into the hole to keep it open during baking.
Brush with beaten egg, then set the tin on the baking tray and bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and bake for a further 2 hours, covering the top of the pie with a piece of foil or greaseproof after an hour to prevent over-browning the crust.
Leave to cool in the tin, then pour the cold stock into the pie through the foil tube. Chill overnight to set fully, then unmould, remove the foil, and serve at room temperature.

Thanks for the post George it looks like hard work, but worth it in the end I believe. We will have to wait until we are over in BG before we make one, no good looking for pork here in Turkey, it's likely we would be thrown out of the country after even mentioning the word.
Eric

itchyfeet wrote:

Thanks for the post George it looks like hard work, but worth it in the end I believe. We will have to wait until we are over in BG before we make one, no good looking for pork here in Turkey, it's likely we would be thrown out of the country after even mentioning the word.
Eric

You'll be snowed under with pork and chicken in BG, Eric I have tried making this pie once - it is hard work and I made a complete hash of it

pixi wrote:

Hi George, no unfortunately I am in England at the moment, but we should be over in May or July. Thanks for the information, I will put this in my diary.

Look forward to seeing you when you are over, Pixi

coriolanus wrote:

itchyfeet wrote:

Thanks for the post George it looks like hard work, but worth it in the end I believe. We will have to wait until we are over in BG before we make one, no good looking for pork here in Turkey, it's likely we would be thrown out of the country after even mentioning the word.
Eric

You'll be snowed under with pork and chicken in BG, Eric I have tried making this pie once - it is hard work and I made a complete hash of it

Thanks George, I had a supermarket a few years ago and used to bone, rasher and make my own ham with 6 sides of Danish A1 each week. I am sure my skills will easily return when faced with a fresh side of pork. Yummy, haven't seen one for years, have started to sharper the knives in anticipation!!!
Eric

coriolanus wrote:

Thanks George, I had a supermarket a few years ago and used to bone, rasher and make my own ham with 6 sides of Danish A1 each week. I am sure my skills will easily return when faced with a fresh side of pork. Yummy, haven't seen one for years, have started to sharper the knives in anticipation!!!
Eric

Hi Eric,

You could supply the shop then as long as you have the 8014 relevant certificates, permissions and approval of the Mayor, his wife, his daughters, 14 sisters and brothers, 18 cousins......................

coriolanus wrote:

coriolanus wrote:

Thanks George, I had a supermarket a few years ago and used to bone, rasher and make my own ham with 6 sides of Danish A1 each week. I am sure my skills will easily return when faced with a fresh side of pork. Yummy, haven't seen one for years, have started to sharper the knives in anticipation!!!
Eric

Hi Eric,

You could supply the shop then as long as you have the 8014 relevant certificates, permissions and approval of the Mayor, his wife, his daughters, 14 sisters and brothers, 18 cousins......................

Oh . . . is that all!! I will start to work on the paperwork straight away and introduce them to my 43 cousins, should be fun!!