many persons seem to imagine that butter of any kind,
however bacl, is good enough for paste. Dripping, when
clarified, or lard, will answer as a substitute for butter, and
make good paste. When no baking-powder is used, paste
may be made one day, wrapped in a cold wet cloth, put
aside in a cool place, and cooked next day. This gives the
starch of the flour time to swell and burst before cooking,
and thus the paste is rendered lighter and more easy of
digestion. Groat care and attention must be given in cooking
the paste. When baking-powder is used too much alacrity
cannot be displayed in making and baking the paste, for
as soon as the flour, &c., containing the baking-powder
is wetted, effervescence begins, and unless the paste comes
in contact with heat while this is going on, and the paste
is rising, the air will escape and the paste fall, and no amount
of heat or trouble will make it rise again. The amount of
success will also greatly depend upon the heat of the oven.
If it is too hot, the top will become scorched before the
centre is warmed. If too cold, the paste will become heavy
and sodden. It is best, therefore, to keep the pastry out
until the oven is of the right temperature ; experience is
the best guide, but a good plan is to try the heat of the
oven first with a small piece of paste ; the heat should be
strong enough to cause the cold air in the paste to expand
and so make it rise, and then set in the form given by
this expansion of the air. Another test is to throw a little
dry flour on to the oven shelf, if it becomes nicely browned
in a few seconds the heat is good, but if it becomes charred
it is too hot. Do not open the oven door for some few
minutes after putting in the paste, and when you do so
shut it again as gently as possible, so as not to send in a
current of cold air, which would chill the paste and cause
it to fall.
i gill stock.
Put the water and lard in a saucepan over the fire, and
let them boil. Mix the flour and salt in a basin, pour the
RAISED PORK PIE.
1 lb. flour.
1 gill water.
1 lb. fresh lean pork.
Pepper.
4 oz. lard.
1 teaspoonful salt.
1 teaspoonful powdered
sage✪ Raised Pork Pie.
AN ECONOMICAL PASTE FOR COVERING MEAT TIES. 93
boiling water and lard into it, and mix the whole well
together with a spoon. After this, turn the paste upon the
board, and knead it till it is smooth and there are no cracks.
Cut a piece off to form the cover, and put it in a warm place,
while you mould and knead the remainder quickly with the
hands into the form of an oval or round box-like mould,
hollow in the centre and about half an inch thick in all parts.
Bear in mind that the paste must not be allowed to get cold,
or it will become hard. Have ready prepared the meat cut
into small pieces, and dip each piece first into water and then
into a mixture of sage, pepper, and salt to taste. Put this
into the paste shape. Roll out the piece that was put aside
for the top ; and, after wetting the edges of the sides, place
on the cover. Press it firmly round the edges to make it
unite, and pare it neatly, and ornament the rim with pastry
pincers or the thumb and finger. Make a hole in the centre
of the top, and brush over the whole pie with a beaten
egg. Roll out the trimmings thinly, cut leaves for decoration
and stick them on the pie in any form you may desire.
Page 52 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1894. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
many persons seem to imagine that butter of any kind, however bad, is good enough for paste. Dripping, when clarified, or lard, will answer as a substitute for butter, and make good paste. When no baking-powder is used, paste may be made one day, wrapped in a cold wet cloth, put aside in a cool place, and cooked next day. This gives the starch of the flour time to swell and burst before cooking, and thus the paste is rendered lighter and more easy of digestion. Great care and attention must be given in cooking the paste. When baking-powder is used too much alacrity cannot cannot be displayed in making and baking the paste, for as soon as the flour, &c., containing the baking-powder is wetted, effervescence begins, and unless the paste comes in contact with heat while this is going on, and the paste is rising, the air will escape and the paste fall, and no amount of heat or trouble will make it rise again. The amount of success will also greatly depend upon the heat of the oven. If it is too hot, the top will become scorched before the centre is warmed. If too cold, the paste will become heavy and sodden. It is best, therefore, to keep the pastry out until the oven is of the right temperature ; experience is the best guide, but a good plan is to try the heat of the oven first with a small piece of paste ; the heat should be strong enough to cause the cold air in the paste to expand and so make it rise, and then set in the form given by this expansion of the air. Another test is to throw a little dry flour on to the oven shelf, if it becomes nicely browned in a few seconds the heat is good, but if it becomes charred it is too hot. Do not open the oven door for some few minutes after putting in the paste, and when you do so shut it again as gently as possible, so as not to send in a current of cold air, which would chill the paste and cause it to fall.
Put the water and lard in a saucepan over the fire, and let them boil. Mix the flour and salt in a basin, pour the
RAISED PORK PIE.
1 lb. flour.
1 gill water.
1 lb. fresh lean pork. Pepper.
4 oz. lard.
1 teaspoonful salt.
1 teaspoonful powdered
sage.
AN ECONOMICAL PASTE FOR COVERING MEAT TIES. 93
boiling water and lard into it, and mix the whole well together with a spoon. After this, turn the paste upon the board, and knead it till it is smooth and there are no cracks. Cut a piece off to form the cover, and put it in a warm place, while you mould and knead the remainder quickly with the hands into the form of an oval or round box-like mould, hollow in the centre and about half an inch thick in all parts. Bear in mind that the paste must not be allowed to get cold, or it will become hard. Have ready prepared the meat cut into small pieces, and dip each piece first into water and then into a mixture of sage, pepper, and salt to taste. Put this into the paste shape. Roll out the piece that was put aside for the top ; and, after wetting the edges of the sides, place on the cover. Press it firmly round the edges to make it unite, and pare it neatly, and ornament the rim with pastry pincers or the thumb and finger. Make a hole in the centre of the top, and brush over the whole pie with a beaten egg. Roll out the trimmings thinly, cut leaves for decoration and stick them on the pie in any form you may desire.
Records on this page
Raised Pork Pie