Got your attention now, haven't I?
What is it about pie? What gives pies their irresistable appeal?
I have no idea...but you're thinking about pie, aren't you? The beauty of pie pastry - fine and crumbly or soft and gooey like the pies you get from a chip shop...and the fillings - chicken and mushroom, beef and ale, steak and kidney; succulent, meaty and satisfying fillings. Delicious.
And you may well choose, this evening, to go out and purchase yourself a pie.
Damn you.
Savoury pies aren't a huge thing here in the US of A. A pie is a dessert, like the apple pies which all women are required to make as soon as any of their children join the military, or the intriguingly named 'Mississippi Mud'. You can, as with most things, buy good stuff from specialised shops here in New York, there's the renowned Myer's of Keswick for instance, which does a nice little line in pies, but there comes a time when you can take no more. When all about you are happy to submit the masquerade of pizzas and quiches being dubbed 'pies', something has to be done. You have to roll up your sleeves - should you be wearing short sleeves, but you'd be mad not to as it's a bit chilly at the moment - and head into the kitchen yourself.
And this may not be the easiest of tasks.
For pies are, in a way, sacred. It's not like my usual pasta/rice/stir fry/chili/curry-type dishes where there's so much room for manoeuvre I can accidentally add grated armadillo and then play it up as the main feature of the meal. Oh no. If I were to succeed, I would have a pie, and it would be pie-like. If I failed...it would be obvious, and I'm not sure I could convincingly present Krissa with Meat and Floury Lump Casserole.
Nevertheless, desperate times...
The lust for homemade pie was born, and a pie attempt was organised; resources were mustered.
I had never attempted anything of the kind before.
This was the recipe selected.
I'll let you know how it went a little later - I really wanted to post and now I've got to go, damnit. I will give you this little titbit of information: the house is still standing.
That is all.
You little blog-tease. I'm interested to see what your readers PREDICT happened with the Pie. Guys?
Well, you're clearly still alive, so it can't have been that bad ;-)
I'm guessing that the top caved in.
oh my
an engineer in the kitchen with pastry...
...and the wrong temperature scales.
my bet- things worked fine, and will be better next time.
all I have to say to you is
*the original cornish pasty company* I have a friend who lives and works in spain and on arrival in the uk being asked what he would like for lunch gasped Cornish PAsty Cornish pasty
I applaud your attempts in the kitchen! I can't even boil water. just remember, here in the states, presentation is worth 75%. so i hope you remember to take a picture of the final product so we can compare it to Nigella's. great choice in recipie btw.....sounds amazing!
Hmmmm - we must be in tune, I attempted a steak & kidney pie making last night.
drunk
Stuart, in the time I lived with you I was witness to you attempting (and usually succeeding i might add) some very wierd and wonderful creations in the kitchen.
I'm not sure how you ever decided on them.. maybe it was a case of thinking of a few things you liked (whether or not any normal person would even comtemplate putting them together in one dish) and then finding some bizarre recipe that featured them all!
Most of them contained meat, therefore I didn't get to sample them... that was usually left to Annabelle... and well.. she kept on coming back time and time again for more of your cooking!
So, my point is, I have faith in you.. and anyway, where there's a will there's a way... and you definitely have the will for pie!!
"mmmmmm pie! want pie now!!" - Weebl, pie enthusiast
You need to discover Alton Brown, if you haven't already. Also, Kev and I had a delicious apple and cheddar pie last night - good, good stuff.
Apple and Cheddar pie? Sounds good to me...