The seasoning is a matter demanding close attention :
here the " spiced pepper" described at page 111 will be
found of great assistance ; and minced mushrooms, minced
truffles, and minced olives, (made from remnants you may
have saved after an important day's cooking) will come
in most efficaciously. Finely chopped liver is a capital
thing to shake over the crevices when building a pie, and
little bits of chopped anchovy may be similarly used.
Ham and tongue, either sliced, or grated, is welcome in
every kind of ' pasty,' bacon is almost as effective, and
sliced Bologna sausage a very good substitute.
Always rub your pie-dish with a shallot, before pack-
ing it.
It is customary to garnish the surface of a savoury pie
274 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS.
with quarters of liard-boiled eggs : if you have a few
button mushrooms, you can use them for that pui-pose also,
and strew some finely minced parsley over the whole.
The cupful of gravy should be poured gently into the
packed pie-dish the last thing, just to moisten the contents
as it were.
Assuming that the cook can make a good light pie-crust,
and that the dish has been neatly covered in therewith,
care must be taken about the state of the oven : — if too
slack, the crust will be heavy and dull, and if too hot, it
will be burnt before the pie is completely cooked. The
oven should be so hot that you cannot quite bear your
hand inside it.
Always leave an aperture in the centre of your pie-
crust, which you can cover with an ornamental device in
pastry towards the end of the baking. This is necessary
as a vent for the escape of the gas which the cooking of
the meat generates, and also as an opening through which
you can pour the rest of your gravy as a finishing touch
after the pie is quite baked. The glazing of the crust
should be done towards the end of the baking by brushing
a well beaten up egg over its surface.
If you bear these general rules in mind, I am sure that
you will soon experience a marked improvement in the
savoury pies that your cook may in future place before you.
There ought to be little or no difficulty in flavouring a
pie even though circumstances may render it impossible
for you to compose the really good gravy which I have
recommended as so highly essential. Take an ordinary
" chicken and beef-steak pie" for instance : there ought to
be some scraps left after cutting the beef to fit the pie-dish,
and there must be some valuable trimmings available
for broth-making when you have cut up and di'essed the
chicken — the neck, pinions, legs and feet, giblets, &c.
A FEW NICE PIES. 275
Page 155
Presented as published in 1885. 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
The seasoning is a matter demanding close attention : here the " spiced pepper" described at page 111 will be found of great assistance ; and minced mushrooms, minced truffles, and minced olives, (made from remnants you may have saved after an important day's cooking) will come in most efficaciously. Finely chopped liver is a capital thing to shake over the crevices when building a pie, and little bits of chopped anchovy may be similarly used. Ham and tongue, either sliced, or grated, is welcome in every kind of ' pasty,' bacon is almost as effective, and sliced Bologna sausage a very good substitute.
Always rub your pie-dish with a shallot, before packing it.
It is customary to garnish the surface of a savoury pie
with quarters of hard-boiled eggs : if you have a few button mushrooms, you can use them for that purpose also, and strew some finely minced parsley over the whole.
The cupful of gravy should be poured gently into the packed pie-dish the last thing, just to moisten the contents as it were.
Assuming that the cook can make a good light pie-crust, and that the dish has been neatly covered in therewith, care must be taken about the state of the oven : — if too slack, the crust will be heavy and dull, and if too hot, it will be burnt before the pie is completely cooked. The oven should be so hot that you cannot quite bear your hand inside it.
Always leave an aperture in the centre of your piecrust, which you can cover with an ornamental device in pastry towards the end of the baking. This is necessary as a vent for the escape of the gas which the cooking of the meat generates, and also as an opening through which you can pour the rest of your gravy as a finishing touch after the pie is quite baked. The glazing of the crust should be done towards the end of the baking by brushing a well beaten up egg over its surface.
If you bear these general rules in mind, I am sure that you will soon experience a marked improvement in the savoury pies that your cook may in future place before you.
There ought to be little or no difficulty in flavouring a pie even though circumstances may render it impossible for you to compose the really good gravy which I have recommended as so highly essential. Take an ordinary " chicken and beef-steak pie" for instance : there ought to be some scraps left after cutting the beef to fit the pie-dish, and there must be some valuable trimmings available for broth-making when you have cut up and dressed the chicken — the neck, pinions, legs and feet, giblets, &c.