Pork Pie

I've tried making a raised pork pie in the past - lots of fiddling round moulding hot water crust pastry around a jar, then the inevitable collapse when the filling was packed in - too much faff for me. So when I saw a pork pie tin in my local branch of Lakeland I thought I'd treat myself and give it a try.

Being moulded to the inside of the tin, and them baked in it, the collapsing problem is eliminated. Problem solved.

I followed the recipe  provided with the tin, which uses a pastry made by melting lard in milk and then cooling it, much easier to handle than the traditional hot water crust. The filling is made by dicing pork (they suggest an equal mixture of fat and lean, so I used cheap shoulder steaks that I would have found too fatty for grilling) and bacon and mixing them with thyme, cayenne pepper and salt. It looked like a lot of filling, but packed firmly, it filled the tin perfectly level with the top.

After baking and cooling, jellied stock is poured through the hole in the top. They suggest either making pork stock or using ham stock with gelatine, but as I had some rather fine home made chicken stock I set that with gelatine instead.

I must say, it's the finest looking pie I've ever produced - and it tasted delicious too. Now I've tried it out using the "official" recipe I'll be doing some experimenting with it.

I'm joining in with #CookBlogShare - ooh, and I really must try that carrot and lentil tabbouleh that's featured there this week!