Rabbit Pie

I’ve seen various recipes for rabbit pie and this is my version, which in one way or another is probably an adaption of those recipes.
I thought it very apt to make it, in celebration of British Pie Week and have included some flavours that conjure up the British countryside, wild rabbit, of course, apples and cider. For an old-fashioned feel, I perked up the sauce with mace and mustard.
The pastry is very short, as in the ratio of fat to flour is quite high, but it makes the pastry so melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous.

Please do try to use wild rabbit as I’m sure it has had a better life before being killed, plus a diet of wild grass and herbs can only improve the taste.
Wild rabbit is easy to come by these days – you’ll find it at your farmers' market or, dare I say, even in the supermarket.

Ingredients
For the pastry
225g strong white flour
half tsp salt
100g unsalted butter
50g lard

For the filling
knob of butter
small amount of vegetable oil
300g boneless wild rabbit
1 tblsp plain flour
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
generous pinch ground mace
150ml cider
sprig thyme
half tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper
2 tblsp creme fraiche
half an eating apple, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
25g mushrooms, sliced
1 tspn fresh tarragon, chopped
beaten egg or milk to glaze

Method
First make your pastry.
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and cut in the fat and rub in lightly with your fingertips until the mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs.
Add a very small amount of chilled water. The less you add, the better as this results in a light crumbly pastry.
Stir in with a knife until the pastry just starts to stick together. Form into a ball.
This process can also be made in a food processor, just whiz together the flour, salt and fat until combined an while the machine is still running add the water a tiny bit at a time until a ball magically appears.
Wrap the ball of pastry in some cling film and put in the fridge.

Now make the filling.
Preheat the oven to Gas4 / 180C / 350F.
Cut the rabbit into 2.5cm pieces. Place in a bowl and sprinkle over the flour. Stir and shake the bowl to evenly coat the meat with the flour.

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan and put in the rabbit pieces. Fry gently until they take on light golden colour. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon and transfer to a lidded casserole pot.

Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary and add the onions, carrot and celery. Fry gently until they soften but do not let them burn.
When they have softened transfer them to the casserole with the rabbit.

Return the pan to the heat and pour in the cider and bring to a simmer, scraping ap all the bits on the bottom and sides of the pan and stir well.
Tip the cider into the casserole. Add a sprig of thyme, the mustard, mace and some salt and pepper. Mix well to combine everything.

Put the lid on the casserole pot and place in the oven for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and retrieve any thyme stalks and discard. Add the apples, mushrooms and creme fraiche and stir well to combine.
Transfer to a pie dish and allow to cool.

When the filling is cold, preheat the oven to Gas 6 / 200C / 400F.
Knead the pastry slightly, and roll our fairly thickly, so it’s big enough to cover the pie.

Moisten the edges of the dish and place the pastry on top. Press the edges down lightly on to the rim and trim.
Roll out the trimmings to make a decoration for the top.
Brush with the egg or milk to give a lovely golden glaze.

Cook in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Photo: ©childsdesign 2011

Roquefort Cheese, Pear and Potato Pie

You've really got to like blue cheese to eat this, and I know I certainly do. Roquefort and pear have always been perfect companions in salads, so why not in a pie. I wanted to create something that was quite rustic rather than cordon bleu, so opted to leave the potatoes and pears with their skins on. The pastry is very much 'country-style,' spelt flour adding its wholesome nuttiness to the whole pie.
It's not obligatory to use Roquefort – Dolcelatte or Stilton would be just as good.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
For the pastry
4oz plain flour
4oz spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4oz butter, cold from the fridge, cubed
a little cold water

For the pie filling
10oz new potatoes or salad potatoes (no need to peel)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
half glass white wine
1 heaped tablespoon plain greek yoghurt
4oz of Roquefort cheese
1 pear - Williams variety is good, core removed and sliced (no need to peel)
freshly ground black pepper

For the crumble topping
1 teaspoon olive oil
2oz pine nuts
2oz fresh white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Equipment
one,  8 inch diameter, 2 inch deep, round cake tin

Method
For the pastry
Sieve the flours and baking powder into a large bowl, add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add a drop of water and stir into the mixture with a fork. Work lightly to bring together into a ball. Be careful not to make the dough too wet. Using your hands, work the dough into a ball. Wrap it cling film and put into the fridge for an hour to chill. This will make it easier to roll later.

For the pie filling
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and fry gently until golden, add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so. Pour in the wine and simmer until it has completely evaporated. Transfer the onions to a large bowl to cool, keep the frying pan, unwashed, for using later.
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until the sharp point of a knife pierces one easily. Drain, and allow to cool slightly, before slicing them into big pieces.
Add the potatoes to the onion mixture, stir in the yogurt and season with pepper.

For the crumble topping
Heat the oil in the frying pan you used for the onions, tip in the pine nuts and fry gently until they become slightly golden, add the breadcrumbs and rosemary and continue to fry until the breadcrumbs are golden. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Preparing your cooking tin and pastry case
You'll see from the photos, that I've used folded aluminium foil strips in the tin. This was intended to assist the removal of the pie. I'm going to make a confession — although this should have worked in principle, I had to resort to turning the pie out by putting a tin over the top and turning it upside-down, and then inverting it back on to a plate. When I tried to use the foil to lift it out, as originally intended, it proved to be rather difficult and may have resulted in certain breakage!

Grease the tin. Place the chilled dough on a floured work surface and roll out so that it's big enough to line the tin. Place the pastry into the tin, making sure it fits against all the surfaces. Trim away the excess pastry.

Assembling the pie
First, tip in the onion and potato mixture so it covers the bottom evenly, then crumble the cheese over. Arrange the pear slices on top and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Push a few rosemary sprigs into the top.
Place on the middle shelf of a preheated oven, Gas 4 for about an hour. iceland reykjavik norway sweden reykjavik finland

Remove from the oven and leave to stand in its tin for 5 minutes before turning out.
Serve cut into wedges with a green salad.