Experiment 1 Game Pie

Game pies - Experiment 1. Yes - they are home made pies! Not particularly pretty, but very tasty!

It's odd how things happen. After publishing 'Lady Isabel's Inheritance', my husband John insisted on reading it. He, being male, and not really into that sort of fiction, I was dreading the comments. Guess my surprise, when his first query was about the 'Game Pie' that Isabel has  asked Cook to make to keep her horrible stepson, Cedric, occupied!

Or maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, don't they? So, having confessed that I have only eaten Game Pie once in my life, and never cooked it, and only put it into the book because it seemed that it would be a likely item on the menu, I thought that the matter would die a natural death. I was wrong. 

Recipe for Game Pie from Mrs Beeton's book of household management

Game Pie was Googled for days, coming up with a myriad of variations on a theme, all of which, (Including Mrs Beeton), agreed on one thing - this was a substantial pie consisting of a good pie crust stuffed to the gunnels with various combinations of Venison, partridge, duck, pheasant, rabbit, wild boar, pork, and a variety of complementary flourishes ranging from redcurrants to cranberries and almost anything edible you can think of. Another two things - it seemed to be complicated and expensive.

Mrs Beeton's take on the variety of game available for such pies! Try finding that sort of variety outside Harrod's or Fortnum and Mason's.

Now anybody who knows me will tell you that I am a reluctant cook, at best. However, I too had become intrigued by this point, so I started to think about how I could produce an acceptable game pie, of a size suitable for just two people. Eventually I came up with a plan. I would get a 'game mix' to save on the expense side and having a freezer full of stuff that I had no idea what to do with, and I would use 'flourishes' that were reasonably easy to obtain, and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Decorated hinged pie moulds were popular in Victorian times.

Oh, and then there was that really alluring image on many websites of a marquise shaped massive pie, with decorated top and wonderfully crimped sides. It looked lovely! However, the brakes were put on when I realised that this size of pie would probably feed a small army, and that a new mould would cost me about £120. A bit pricey for something that I might only use once. So I put vanity aside, and decided that loaf tins would do for the purpose of these experiments.

 

Hinged Game Pie Mould available online from AJ Stuarts

Now locally we have a company called Furness Fish, Poultry and Game. As it is located not far from Holker Hall, we decided to make a trip there after we had finished our wanderings around that lovely edifice. Unfortunately, they had none in stock, but would be processing some, later that day. By now, I was ready to go home, so we declined, but accepted the offer of a posted catalogue (Christmas?)  which we would receive at some point in the near future.

We said goodbye and made our way home, stopping in at Booths (a local up-market supermarket chain) for a few things. And, yes you've guessed it! There was the game pie mix. 

*Happy with our discoveries, we trotted off home, and put our goodies away in the fridge. I had already bought some duck and smoked bacon the day before, so all was ready for marinating the game for the following day, Into a largish bowl went all the chopped up game, followed by about 200mls of ruby port (some recommend tawny port, some Madeira, some just red wine - see what you have in stock) and then sprinkle with allspice and some mace. Go easy with the mace - a little goes a long way!  I mixed it all well, and covered the bowl with cling film and returned it to the fridge.

The following morning, I made my short crust pastry, and left it in the fridge to rest. I also gave the marinade a stir just to make sure all the meat had been exposed to the wine spice mix. In the afternoon, the grand pie session started!

First, I gently sauteed the shallots (ordinary onions would do -  some recommend red onions), making sure that they did not colour too much. Next I took the meat in individual pieces and sauteed them lightly to so that they were just cooked, transferring them to a separate bowl when done. With this amount of meat it takes quite a while. With each layer of meat in the bowl I sprinkled a thin layer of flour (to help thicken up any juices later). After this process was completed, I fried up the smoked bacon (I should have probably dome this after the shallotts - note for next time. 

In the frying pan, I added the rest of the marinade and a little flour to make a roux. Then I returned everything (meat, shallots, bacon and roux) to the original bowls and mixed in the cranberry sauce. Salt and pepper to your personal taste - I usually forget completely. So the mix was now prepared.

Having greased two two pound loaf tins and lined with my shortcrust pastry earlier, it was now a matter of filling each with the game mix, adding the ready made puff pastry top, crimping it sealed and putting a hole in the middle (for the steam to escape). After giving it a quick eggy glaze, I (with much relief) shoved it into the oven on a baking tray at 160 degrees (fan) for 40 mins, and then turning it down to 110 degrees for another 15 minutes.  

Now a word of Caution! My fan oven is quite hot, so you may need slightly higher temperatures or a bit longer to get the desired finish.

At this point I was quite exhausted, so retired to an armchair with a glass of port and lemon to recover! 

Picture of the cut pie. It stood up quite nicely to cutting. The meat cut cleanly, but was quite tender, and there was no soggy bottom!

Results: Well I am pleased to say that the pie was excellent - the only comment I would make was that I put in a little too much mace. As this is an ingredient that is not widely available, I would say you could happily leave it out, or maybe use nutmeg, in moderation, as an alternative. (I shall be trying that next time). The pie looked good, tasted good, and sliced in a very satisfactory way. However, it is a bit of a marathon job making it, so if you can source a ready made pie easily, a busy person might find that a better plan. 

Having said that, I am now hooked on this project, and further experiments will be appearing on these pages, when I have recovered enough from this one!

This recipe made two pies, each of which would be able to feed probably about 4 to 6 people. The second pie has been frozen for a cold day when I can't be bothered cooking.

Detta x

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Recipe: Game Pie Experiment 1

Method : see above from *

Short Crust pastry: 

300g flour

115 g fat of your choice

pinch of salt

water to mix

Marinade 

200 ml port (or something similar)

1.5 teaspoons Allspice

0.5 teaspoon of Mace (optional)

Filling

4 large shallotts

oil for sauteeing

800g of mixed game in 1 inch chunks

175g of duck with skin removed

1 packet of smoked bacon medallions cut into chunks

100 g ready made cranberry sauce or jelly

salt 

pepper 

Top 

1 Packet of ready made puff pastry

1 small egg, whisked for glaze.