[Sca-cooks] Re: A redaction all of my own.

[Louise Smithson]

I guess my mail really was too long, the remainder of the recipe and the method got chopped off.  I guess I'll try again and post just those this time.
I did form my coffin over a mold, but could not get it to release.  In the end I rolled out the pastry on saran wrap, laid that over the mold.  Shaped the pastry,wrapped the outside with cooking parchment, turned it over,  pulled the mold out, pulled out the saran wrap.  I'm sure my mother doesn't do that (it took me 30 minutes on the phone to get all the details of the method from her) but it worked for me.
Helewyse de Birkestad

Redacted recipe
Ingredients
For the pastry:
3/4lb all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces lard
5 fluid ounces water
For the filling:
18 oz trimmed Pork shoulder
12 oz trimmed veal shoulder
2 cups Red wine
2 cups home made chicken stock, enriched with trimmings from pork and veal and reduced to 1 cup
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup chopped dates, (about 16)
1/2 cup currants, whole
good pinch saffron
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
scant pinch nutmeg

Latin names of spices
ginger: Zingiber officinale
mace/nutmeg: Myristica fragrans
saffron: Crocus sativus
cinnamon: Cinnamomum zeylanicum

Method
For the filling:
Chop the meats finely with knives or a food processor (mincing changes the texture of the meat considerably).  Place into an appropriately sized pan, add the stock and wine to cover.  Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat strain the meat from the broth and allow to cool for ten minutes.  There should be about 1 cup of liquid remaining.  In a bowl beat the egg yolks to break.  Remove a spoonful of the hot broth from the meat and mix into the egg yolks to temper.  Add the remainder of the both mixing continuously.  Slowly add the egg yolk mix to the meat stirring continuously.  Add the fruit and seasonings, taste and adjust for preference.  Spoon the filling into the prepared pastry case.
For the pastry case:
Sieve flour and salt into a warm basin.  Place the water and lard in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and quickly add the boiling liquid while mixing constantly with a wooden spoon.  Mix with the wooden spoon until the dough is cool enough to handle.  Turn pastry onto a board and knead until smooth.  The dough at this point should still be warm.  Remove 1/3 of the dough and place in a basin over hot water, cover and leave to one side.  Take a 6" diameter cake or other tin, turn it upside down and flour well.  Flatten the remaining 2/3 of the pastry and lay over the tin.  Shape it and work it down the sides until it is even and about 4" deep.  Invert the tin with the pastry on it and lift the tin out gently.  Fill the pastry case with the prepared filling, stopping about1/4" from the edge, dampen the edge with beaten egg.  Roll out the remaining 1/3 of the pastry and place on top of the pie.  Trim the edges and crimp to seal.  Use pastry trimmings to decorate the top of the pie.  Make a hole in the center of the lid.  Brush the top and the sides of the pastry with a beaten egg to improve browning.  Pin greaseproof paper around the sides of the pie to help it retain its shape.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 °F for 1 hour until the pastry is firm, remove the paper from the sides of the pie and bake for a further 1/2 hour to 1 hour until the filling is cooked.  Chill on the baking sheet then transfer to the fridge.  Serve it forth.