SC - Re: Lard

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

Balthazar says:
>>>>Allright...I think I am clueless again.  Can anyone send me the recipe
for
this?  I would like to see what you are talking about.  I think my idea of a
"coffin" pastry is different than the one you folks are thinking of.<<<<

Here is the recipe I use for raised (coffin) pyes:
1 Kg high gluten wheat flour (2.2 lb.) (NEVER self rising)
15g Salt (1 Tbsp)
1/2 Kg Lard (1.1 lb.)
1.5 dl milk (5/8 cup)
1.5 dl water (5/8 cup)
2 large eggs well beaten
1 stick butter

Sift the flour and salt together and rub the
firm butter into the flour with the fingertips
until crumbly.  Boil the lard with the milk and
water.  (Warning: do not add either to already
boiling lard.  Bring them to a boil together!)
Make a well in your mixed flour and pour in the
boiling (actually boiling, not just hot) lard. Stir
with a stout wood spoon until cooled enough to
knead with your bare hands... still very hot, mind
you.  You may wear rubber gloves, but I find the
very hot dough and grease to be very good for
my arthiritis and very moisturizing to the skin.
Knead well and let stand for 10 minutes.
Roll out some of the dough for the bottom of
the coffin 2cm to 3cm thick (3/4" to1 1/4" +/-)
and cut to shape of pye (round is easiest) and
about 1cm (1/3") bigger than you think you want
the finished coffin to be.  The dough/ paste must be
worked while hot or at least warm. The taller the coffin,
the thicker the base and walls required, so adjust
your dough amounts prepared accordingly.  Build
up the sides with coiled dough like a potter builds
a pot until you get it the height you want.  Smooth
the outsides carefully outside and in, always working
the paste upwards.  If you are using a soild meat
filling like small pieces of pork with currants and such,
you can pack it in solidly and put on a lid piece without
setting the pastry.   If your filling is more liquid like
a fruit filling, you will need to set the form before filling.
I recommend using long sheets of aluminum foil folded
several times lengthwise to make a kind of "bellyband"
to help keep the form from bowing or collapsing.  I use
paperclips to hold the joined folds of foil closed.

Brush the pye with the beaten egg, reserving some for later.
Bake at 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5) for 20 minutes to set
the pastry.  If already filled, reduce to 170C (325F, Gas Mark
3) to continue baking.  If not filled, cool and fill, then bake at
170C (325F, Gas Mark 3).  Obviously, the filling will have
a great deal to do with the time of baking required, as will
the size of your creation.  A soild raw meat filling will take 1 3/4
to 2 1/2 hours for a largish pye like this one.  Fruit/ mincemeat
will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Success requires some
experimentation, but generally even the failures are delicious.
About 10 minutes before the end of cooking time, baste the
whole thing with the remaining beaten egg to give the pastry
a good gold gloss.  Let the pye become quite cool before
serving.

A few notes:  For the pork pye, trim picnic shoulder to bite
sized gobbets, including fat (but not skin or gristle).  Season
with fresh rubbed sage, basil, salt and pepper; maybe some
rosemary or galingale if you like the taste).  Leave a 5cm (2") hole
in the top crust to let out steam and to pour in some reduced
stock if you like to fill the pye after it comes out of the oven.
You can use leftover paste/dough to ornament the lid with
flowers or heraldic critters.  It is very easy to do fairly elaborate
sculpture as long as you do it in high relief and not freestanding.
Baste liberally with beaten egg and use foil tents to keep it from
browning unevenly.   For the less adventuresome, I suggest using
a large springform to mold the coffin, however, the bottom and
sides must still be thick so as not to fall apart from the weight of
the filling when you release it from the form.

This is not a period method, though I assume pyes were raised
by the coil method in period.  I would think they had some kind
of clay pottery forms though, as they made these quite reqularly,
whereas a special form for our ocassional use is not very
practical.  The dough ingredients are traditional to English cookery,
allegedly back to the 14th century.  Of late, the English have been
substituting half of the lard with butter though.  The particular
recipe for Melton Mowbray Pyes supposedly has its roots in 14th c.
Arundel Castle.  Perhaps some of our list members across the pond
could see if they can find a period source from there?
Have fun experimenting!

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"