It seems that Pierateer TJP had an unfortunate experience with a meat free 'pork pie' the other day. I have to say I quite agree with his review - if you want to eat a pork pie, eat one. If you don't, well, I might just have the perfect pie recipe for you.

The Recipe:

Weeks after the event I'm still ridiculously over excited about our brief appearance on 'Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice' (did we mention that?!) and even though the show is over for another year I've still got Bake Off on the brain. Chetna was one of my favourite bakers this year and I've been dying to try her Indian hot water crust pies, and this weekend I finally got round to it.

No weird fake 'pork' here - just potatoes, vegetables and lots of delicious spices! You can find the recipe here along with Chetna's chicken pie: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/indian_hot-water_crust_81459

The Seven Cs:

Colour:
This pastry turns a lovely golden brown - just make sure your egg wash is even (unlike mine!)

Consistency:
There's not a lot of liquid in this pie, and the recipe gives you the quantity of potatoes by number rather than weight, so you're probably best keeping an eye on the filling as you make it and adjusting how much potato and tomato you put in. I used quite large potatoes and the filling was a tiny bit dry, so I probably should have added an extra tomato. That being said, the consistency wasn't unpleasant at all, and I always think that hot water crust pies need to have a fairly solid filling, so keep an eye on how much potato you use and I think this will come out perfectly.


Capacity:
This pie is lovely and big with plenty of filling, and no air gaps because you fit the lid tightly on top of the filling. A very high score.


Chewiness:
Nothing chewy here, but there were some lovely textures. Fluffy potatoes, nice soft onions, a bit of bite from the lentils and some liquid from the tomatoes. Yum.

Cheapness:
As with all pies, the cheapness of this recipe will vary according to the contents of your cupboard. If you have to buy all the spices it might set you back a bit, but I only had to buy the curry leaves and a few other ingredients, which meant it was very cheap indeed. Plus the pie is massive - we're going to get at least three dinners out of it and it doesn't need any accompaniments (except maybe some Indian pickles or chutneys).

Content:
I wasn't sure how well potatoes would work as the main component of a pie, but I needn't have worried. This is an unusual filling with lots of delicious flavours, and is just spicy enough to have a bit of a kick. This is definitely a good choice if you're baking something special for vegetarian friends, or if you fancy something a bit different from the usual pork or Scotch hot water crust pies. Top marks.

Condition:
One of the things I love about hot water crust pies is how robust they are, and this pie is no different. It's solid, slices well, and it looks and smells amazing. I couldn't wait to dive into this one and I'm looking forward to my second helping!


The Ship's Cook

P.S. Since writing this review I've had a chance to eat some of the leftover pie. It's even better after it's had a day to sit and soak up all the lovely flavours!

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Mr C's Pies - Chicken and Ham Pie Review

On The Pierate Ship we are always on the look out for pies that seem like they might be bit special. Often you can have a fair idea which pies might stand out from the com-pie-tition before even trying them. Perhaps they may have won numerous awards. Sometime you can tell just from the pictures. Mr C's Pies from Newburgh, Fife have certainly ticked both these boxes. They have won numerous British Pie Awards and Scotch Pie Club Awards. You can see from the picture below that they look outstanding. This is the Chicken & Ham, itself a winner at the British Pie Awards 2012. Just look at the perfect brown Colour and the lovingly handmade Condition, this pie really does look promising.


I was very pleased to find some Mr C's Pies when I went to Crombies of Edinburgh to review their Scotch Pie. In fact, to say I was pleased was an understatement, for a Pierateer this was very exciting. I grabbed the Chicken & Ham and rushed back home to try some.

It looked resplendent on the plate, this was a pie with presence. It helped that it was a big pie, but there was more too it than that. It was eye catching and different. It was made with the same kind of hot water crust pastry that you get with a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie but adapted through the experimentation of Mr C. This gives a wonderful rigidity to the pastry and because it is a pie that can be eaten cold it would be perfect for eating on the move. I can just imagine these as great picnic pies.



Delving into the Content of this pie it was impossible to be disappointed. They are absolutely packed with meat. For a 400g pie I felt I was getting good value at £4.35. There were plenty of herbs and seasoning, so much so that it tasted a bit like roast chicken with stuffing. The chicken was certainly dominant, I would say the Ham was a bit lacking which I think you can tell from the picture. I would have liked to have seen more Ham to give variation to the flavour. The meat was good quality and not at all Chewy. Despite this being a cold pie without sauce it wasn't dry in any way.

The pastry was soft and melt in the mouth and combined well with the filling to give a wonderful texture. The pastry also tasted great, it was well cooked so it was a pleasure to eat, even by itself. The main criticism I had with this pie was that it was a little too salty which I started to notice after a while (but perhaps this was because I was eating a lot of it). But this wouldn't put me off buying this pie again, it is a fantastic example of a hot water crust pastry pie. There aren't enough hot water crust pastry pies which provide something different to the standard pork flavour. After eating this Mr C's pie I am not quite sure why. It deserves the status of 'Pierate Recommended' pie to add to the other awards won by Mr C.

Chicken & Ham, cold (Mr C's Pies)
5.78/7

SJL

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