Meat & potato pie

Those winter nights are drawing in and whatever you call your evening meal depending on whereabouts you're from in the UK, the one thing we all want when its cold & gloomy is something warm, comforting & taste bud tingling delicious 

Well my recipe for a meat and potato pie is just that. Delicious slow cooked beef, paired with potatoes & encased in a rich short crust pastry.

The perfect centre peice for a family winter evening dinner. To serve 4-6 people you will need :

800g boneless beef or lamb

2 medium onions chopped

3 tbsps plain flour

300ml veg stock

2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tsp onion salt

2 tsp marmite/veg extract

4/5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 

1 tbsp tyme leaves ( fresh or dried ) 

2 tsp tomato puree

A good handful of steamed baby potatoes 

2 blocks of short crust pastry/2 sheets of ready rolled short crust

• Start by coating the meat peices in the flour in a bowl

• Seal the meat by cooking on a meduim to high heat until browned all over. You may find it easier to do it in batches. 

• Once the meat is browned all over, add in the chopped onion and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to colour. 

• Add in all the other ingredients except for the potatoes and leave to simmer on a low heat until the meat is nice and tender and the stock has reduced to a nice thick gravy. 

• Add in the steamed potatoes and stir through. Check the seasoning & adjust if required. Leave to completely cool 

• If you're using the pastry block, roll one block out to an inch thick and use this to line a 23cm round pie dish. For the sheet,  no need to roll - you can line your dish without rolling 

• Pour the cooled filling into the lined dish then roll out the 2nd block to the same thickness and place over the filling. Seal the edges by pressing them together with a fork or tip of a butter knife. 

• Brush the top of the pie with egg wash .. make a hole in the middle for the steam to escape. You can decorate the pie with the left over pastry trimmings - i used my leaf cookie cutter

• Bake for 25-35 mins at 210 fan or until golden brown all over & serve with whichever sides you like 

lemon meringue pie

Anyone that knows me well will tell you I am a sucker for meringue based desserts, especially when it's paired with sharp citrus flavours.. and my absolute favourite has to be the classic lemon meringue topped with fluffy swiss meringue that's lightly torched giving it a slight crisp finish.

Making my own lemon meringue pie has been on my baking bucket list for such a long while, and since I made some Lemon curd to gift at Christmas this year, it was the perfect chance to make one whilst I actually had every ingredient at hand.

To make a 9 inch round pie you will need

1 batch of my Sweet short crust pastry

Lemon curd*

For the swiss meringue topping:

300g caster sugar

6 egg whites

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

• Preheat your oven to 180c ( fan)

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 1/2       an inch thick

• Line a 9"/23cm loose bottom tart tin with the pastry, and place in the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes

• Line the pastry case with baking paper, and fill with baking    beans/ dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the        oven, remove the paper and beans.

• Place back in the oven for about 5- 8 minutes or until the          case is lightly golden all over. Remove from the oven and set    aside

• To make the swiss meringue topping, place all the            ingredients in a bowl, and place the bowl over a ban marie      ( a bowl of simmering water)  and stir together until the sugar has completely melted, and the temperature reaches 71c.

• Remove from the heat and with an electric whisk or free standing mixer, whisk the egg whites until thick and fluffy, they should hold their shape and form stiff peaks.

• Pour the lemon curd into the cooled pastry case* making sure it's level and smooth.

• Spread the swiss meringue all over the top of the curd, ensuring it is all covered, use the back of a spoon to make peaks all over.

• Use a blowtorch to lighlty torch the meringue all over, alternativley, place under your grill - but stay close as it will brown quite quickly.

• Carefully remove from the tart tin and serve.

* For the lemon curd i used my home made curd, but you can always use shop bought, i filled the tart with the curd almost to the top of the case- i left about 1/2 gap for the merigue topping

To make mini lemon pies, cut out 12 circles using a cookie cutter just slightly larger than the holes .. line each hole with with a pastry circle,  add 2 tsp of curd into each case .. pop in the fridge for 15 mins 

Bake for 8-10 mins until the pastry is lightly golden. Leave to completely cool before finishing off with the meringue topping 

My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie

I have always been an apple crumble kinda girl, not sure why, but it's probably because I learned to bake it at school and loved it so much I never even thought of trying alternate versions.. Until now. Whilst trying to muster up a bit more motivation and to push myself out of my comfort zone of cakes and cupcakes, I decided to trawl Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. 

Apple pie was one of the desserts that was popping up consistently, so it seems to be the dessert to indulge in as we head into the cold crisp winter evenings. 
So Apple pie it was .. and oh my I think I have been converted and may just be on team pie as well as team crumble... I dont think I could ever choose one over the other now.. It really was lip licking delicious. I tweaked mine from a combination of a few different recipes and the recipe below is what i ended up with

So to make my My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie to serve 6-8 people you will need:

For the Filling

1 kg apples (mixture of cooking and eating apples)

3 tbsp lemon juice

55g Butter

100g Soft Light Brown Sugar

2-3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cornflour
4 tbsp water

For the Shortcrust Pastry

340g Plain Flour

Pinch of Salt
2 tbsp Caster Sugar

240g Butter, cubed and cold

2-3 tbsp cold water

20g Demerara Sugar
beaten egg to seal & glaze 

• Peel and core the apples. Roughly chop into 1cm chunks. Stir in the lemon juice - this will help reduce them discolour

• Heat the butter and brown sugar over a medium heat. Once melted, add in the apples. Mix together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water and add to the apples, along with the cinnamon. Stir and cook over a medium heat until the apples are soft but not mushy. add Taste and add more cinnamon or sugar, if you feel it is needed. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

• Into a food processor, place the plain flour, salt, caster sugar and cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add in the water and give it another quick blitz. Lightly flour your work surface and bring the dough together using your hands. Do not knead it as this will result in a tough dough and not the crumbly texture needed. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes to half an hour.

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) Take a 20cm oven proof dish*. Cut the dough into half, roll out one half on a floured surface to roughly half / 1 inch  thick. Line your dish making sure the pastry overlaps the edges.

•  Add the apples, and level them ensuring they evenly fill the tin. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll the second piece of pastry, and place it top of the apples making sure it again overlaps the edges of your dish. Trim the excess with knife and seal the edges down by crimping with a fork.

• Brush the egg wash all over the pie lid and edges. with the beaten egg. If you're feeling creative,use the left over pastry to cut out designs... I did an apple with leaves going all around the edge. Brush your decorations with eggwash. Sprinkle the top with a generous amount of  demerara sugar. Make 3-4 small cuts in the top of your pie- this will help in releasing steam and stop the pie form cracking/ bursting as it is cooking . Bake for for 45-50 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve as you wish 

* I used my 20cm loose bottom cake tin. I lined the bottom with a sheet on greaseproof paper so to make it easier to lift the cake off the base once it had cooled.