[Sca-cooks] Star gazey pie recipe

[Olwen the Odd]

Dorothy Hartley, in _Food in England_ has a drawing of a "stargazy" pie
(made of pilchards) along with several other dough-wrapped fish
presentations.  She doesn't give an origin, however.

INGREDIENTS
saffron egg glaze
crust for bottom and top
FOR THE FILLING
8 fresh sardines, herrings or pilchards, 6inches long or so
2 small eggs
1/4 to 1/2 pint clotted cream (I used organic heavy cream)
small handful green herbs, chopped (I used tarragon and dill)
8 rashers streaky bacon
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped (I peeled and par-boiled the onion before
cutting it)

Make up your dough, divide into two and chill for later.

Put cream into pan and warm up but do not boil.  Turn off heat, add saffron
and set aside.

Clean and fillet the wee fish leaving heads attatched if possible but
removing all fins and tail.

Set onion in water to boil for a bit till tender but not mushy.  Then drain
and set aside to cool a bit.

Roll out bottom dough and lay in lightly greased pan.

Salt and pepper each fish and wrap in bacon making sure to start at the head
in order to secure it to the fillet.  As each fish is wrapped lay it in a
pattern on the piedough in the pan.  The tail ends should be touching or
overlapped a bit and the heads should be sticking out the side of the
piepan.  (I used eight fish as that is the typical number of guests at a
feast table).  Repeat until all the fish are wrapped and put in place.

Chop onion and toss into piepan on top of the fish bodies.

Divide eggs.  Add yolks to the cream/saffron mixture.  (Take a spoonful of
this mixture and add it to the reserved whites and set aside).  Add herbs to
the cream/saffron/eggyolk mixture and beat well.  Pour cream mixture into
the piepan.

Roll out top crust, reserving a bit for decoration, and lay on.  Make sure
to prop a little extra "padding" under the heads of the fish and fold the
top crust around the heads, rather like tucking in a wee child with covers
up to it's neck.  The heads should be all sticking out having a look round.
Cut out any extra crust into star, moon or whatever shapes you like and,
using the reserved eggwhite mixture, brush the entire top crust, lay on
cutouts and brush again.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature
to 350°F for a further 25-30 minutes until the pie looks crisp and golden.

Lady Olwen the Odd
Clan of Odds
House Blackstar
Bright Hills Cooks Guild
Order of the Pearl
Barony of Bright Hills
Kingdom of Atlantia!




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