EASTER FOOD ANOTHER WAY!
Turkey & Ham Pie …
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I won’t be ‘doing’ Easter! -Well not in the way that we as a family usually do it! The big family event!! The Egg Game for example with scores of eggs!!! With our family in different places this year, it will be a paired down event - Of course we will do ‘The Egg Game’ but it will be a much smaller event, a dozen or so eggs. If you don’t know what the egg game is I will add the link at the bottom of this post! But I warn you it can get very competitive!
So with limited time & less people I want something simple to represent this new style of Easter event… A simple but super tasty pie … That can be made in advance & frozen if necessary - then defrosted & cooked to order - Perfect!!
So here is what I think will fit the bill!
Serve with any vegetable of your choice!
I cook this simple Turkey & Ham pie a lot. After Christmas - quite often I have left over turkey & ham, to be honest we have all had enough of it - So I wrap it in tin foil then double wrap it with cling film & freeze it.
Cooked Turkey properly wrapped can keep in the freezer for up to 4 months & cooked ham up to 6 months, to retain the flavour. To be honest ours never last that long - but that is the principal behind it!
PIE MIX
It’s very simple!
Cube the leftover meat into bite size pieces & then adjust the rest of the ingredients to match depending on the size of pie you want…
Pan fry some onions or leeks in some oil & butter, if you have a bit of orange juice you can add it at this point, it just gives the pie a bit of ‘oomph’, or some tangerine juice is quite good, but neither is necessary. Add the meat & cook through, add a good splash of white wine & some chicken stock, enough to just cover the meat & warm through. Now add some wholegrain mustard, salt & pepper and gently cook the sauce down. Add a very generous amount of crème fraiche & warm the sauce this will thickened & reduced down a little - Check the season to taste, I like to add a little garlic salt & some herbs.
Place the cooked meat & sauce in a casserole dish once it has cooled, then use a pastry support placed in the middle, I have my black bird for Easter! [actually it is the only pastry support I have - but works with the theme!] Roll out some shop bought puff pastry. Paint the edges of the casserole dish with egg wash and carefully edge the casserole dish with strips of the pastry, then egg wash the edging strips of pastry. Place the rolled out pastry with a small cut cross in the middle of the pastry & thread it over the pastry support - black bird - then attach the pastry to the edging strips & make a design of your choice, to keep the pasty edges in place, I just like to ‘squidge’ the edges with a fork.
Paint the pastry with the egg wash & cooking in a pre-heated oven 180 fan for 35 -45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
You can change the filling of the pie, by using other suitable meat, replace the crème fraiche with a tin of tomatoes.
Add celery, carrots or just use cooked chicken meat & add wild mushrooms - delicious ..
VEGGY OPTION - All of the above without the meat & add a good sprinkling of chilli flakes!
THE CHOICE IS YOURS!
HAPPY EASTER
