The Farmers Boy Inn - Steak & Stout Pie Review

An undoubted highlight of my pie for every meal challenge during British Pie Week was the trip to The Farmers Boy Inn in Longhope, Gloucestershire. For a Farmer's Boy like me (I grew up on a dairy farm) I was in pie paradise at the pub which is also where the Mad About Pies retail pie range originated. The proprietor, Phil Kiernan, was kind enough to give us an interview. Watch the video below from Day Six of my British Pie Week to see the interview. We are pleased that he shares our view in what makes a proper pie! We have tried some of the Mad About Pies before from the Phil Vickery and Martin Blunos ranges. These pies were excellent so I had high hope for the pie from The Farmers Boy Inn. They are made to the same recipes but they are made fresh at the pub.


The first thing that hit me was the huge array of pies that were available. So much so that The Farmers Boy Inn had a separate pie menu. I decided to play it safe and go for the 'Emerald Pie' which was Steak & Stout. What impressed me was that you could chose your pie in any of three sizes from 240g to 454g. You could also, if you are that way inclined, choose from two sizes of 'pie in a dish' top crust version, although if you are a follower of Pierate you would know we would never recommend that! I chose the 280g 'Bistro' option as a balance between calories and pie fulfillment. Watch the video from 7:55 to see the review. I will cut right to the chase and say that this was an excellent pie. I have in my mind an idea of what a quintessential British pie should look like, how the pastry should be and the consistency of the filling. The at pie at The Farmers Boy Inn came very close to fulfilling this stereotype for me. There really wasn't much that could have been improved about it, see below for a breakdown of the score.


Condition - 7.0 out of 7 - This pie really looked the part. It had a good structure and the fact that it arrived wrapped in paper was a nice touch. It looked so good that I forgot to start filming until part way through. Slightly plain compared to some pies we have had but it was simple and effective.
Colour - 6.0 out of 7 - A great graduation of colours on the lid, from sunset yellow in the middle to crispy, golden brown at the edge. The sides were a bit pale.
Cheapness - 4.5 out of 7 - The 'Bistro' option cost £10.95 for a 280g pie, more expensive than some pub pies which can come in under £10 but this kind of price is pretty average for a nice countryside setting like this. Plus the pies are made on the premises, with local Aberdeen Angus or Hereford meat which will cost more. Overall, not bad for a gourmet pie, but it wasn't the biggest.
Capacity - 6.1 out of 7 - This pie had a good height and the capacity was packed with content. The pastry to filling ratio was nigh on perfect.
Chewiness - 6.2 out of 7 - The slow cooked meat was melt in the mouth, mastication was barely required. The pastry had a perfect contrast in texture from crunchy on the outside to gooey in the middle, exactly what I look for. Probably the only criticism about this pie is that some of the pastry was too thick at the base, a bit too much to chew through.
Content - 6.9 out of 7 - Wow, what a flavour, the meaty taste was supplemented by a sour kick from the stout, there was plenty of flavour going on inside this pie. There was no attempt to do anything unusual with the taste, they just did the steak and stout flavour very, very well. The meat came in nice big chunks which were satisfying to eat and let's not forget it was local British beef!
Consistency - 6.8 out of 7 - The ample amount of thick gravy really delighted me. The pie was consistently good from beginning to end and worked really well as a package.

Overall, I was really glad that I paid a visit to The Farmers Boy Inn and have found another 'Pierate Highly Recommended' pie. All too often pubs serve casseroles with a pastry lid and call it a pie. When I have spoken to proprietors they say that it is 'too hard' to cook a proper pie from scratch. The Farmers Boy Inn show it can be done whilst still having a pie packed with content with a rich and thick sauce. If you add the large variety of pies on offer I know I will be visiting again and I would recommend it to anyone else who is fanatical about pies.


Steak & Stout (The Farmers Boy Inn [GL17 0LP])
6.21/7

SJL

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Mad About Pies - Pie Reviews

We eat a lot of pies on the Pierate Ship. Most of them are nice enough, but with such fierce competition it can be hard for any of them to stand out. But just occasionally we come across a pie, or pie company, which we fall in love with. It might just be the little things they do which make us smile, such as special flavours or beautiful presentation. The pies don't have to be perfect, but when it is true love the faults just don't seem to matter for some reason. When you start day dreaming at work about a particular pie then you know you've got it bad. This has happened to me recently. I think I am mad about Mad About Pies.

In January we reviewed the Phil Vickery & Mad About Pies Wild Boar & Cider pie, giving it 'Pierate Recommended' status. It then went on to win a Gold Award at the British Pie Awards 2014, which it thoroughly deserved. In British Pie Week SJL visited the home of Mad About Pies at the Farmers Boy Inn in Gloucestershire. The pie there was so good we have been unable to decide just how high we should rate it until we have a second opinion from another Pierateer (so stay tuned). In the meantime we have picked up some more of the Mad About Pies retail pies to review. See below the three pies, all from the Martin Blunos range. All these pies looked fantastic with writing on the top describing the flavour, similar to the Phil Vickery version. They have shortcrust pastry for the sides and base and a puff pastry lid, a great combination in the opinion of this reviewer. They came out of the oven a delicious, mottled, golden brown Colour. The pie lids all had some scoring across the top, it almost seemed like the Content was trying to burst out of the pie.



Steak & Blue Cheese

First up is the Steak & Blue Cheese which had a delicious content. Owner Phil Kiernan says he loves this pie and I can see why. Blue cheese can add a lot of flavour to a pie filling but it can be difficult to get the balance right, often the flavour of blue cheese is over-powering. But in this case the amount was perfect, really complementing the Steak.


Condition - 5.8 out of 7 - These pies all looked great, although for this pie the shortcrust pastry sides collapsed slightly on cooking.
Colour - 6.8 out of 7 - Great colour to the lid and filling.
Cheapness - 4.5 out of 7 - These cost around £3 which is a standard price for gourmet pies. Not overly big at 270g but with quality steak it is good value.
Capacity - 5.8 out of 7 - Quite tall but collapsed slightly on cooking making it hard to tell if there was an air gap. Good filling to pastry ratio.
Chewiness - 6.9 out of 7 - The slow cooked meat was melt in the mouth. The crispy lid and gooey sides provided a nice contrast in texture. The blue cheese made the whole pie lovely and moist.
Content - 6.3 out of 7 - Meaty and cheesy, this pie was a flavour sensation. The meat was in big chunks which couldn't fail to satisfy. I would have liked more meat but I was possibly just being greedy.
Consistency - 6.8 out of 7 - All the elements of this pie were good. This pie worked fantastically as a whole, the crispy pastry being kept moist with the running filling. Fully deserving of 'Pierate Highly Recommended' status.

Steak & Blue Cheese (Mad About Pies with Martin Blunos)
6.13/7

Steak & Ale

The steak and ale was another great pie, quite similar to the Steak & Blue Cheese but lacked flavour when compared it's blue cheese counterpart.


Condition - 6.0 out of 7 - These pies all looked great, this one held it's structure a bit more so it might have been down to cooking time.
Colour - 6.7 out of 7 - Great colour to the lid and filling.
Cheapness - 4.5 out of 7 - These cost around £3 which is a standard price for gourmet pies. Not overly big at 270g but with quality steak it is good value.
Capacity - 5.8 out of 7 - Quite tall but there was a little air gap at the top. Good filling to pastry ratio.
Chewiness - 5.9 out of 7 - The slow cooked meat was melt in the mouth. The crispy lid and gooey sides provided a nice contrast in texture. Unfortunately the texutre of the sauce was a bit runny.
Content - 4.5 out of 7 - Large meaty chunks which are great to get your teeth into. It was pleasing that the taste of ale was clear throughout the pie, however it lacked the flavour punch that the blue cheese version had.
Consistency - 4.5 out of 7 - This pie worked well as a whole, although the flavour could have been more intense. It is a pie I would buy again so it is fully deserving of 'Pierate Recommended' status.

Steak & Ale (Mad About Pies with Martin Blunos)
5.41/7

Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato

Lastly was the vegetarian Butternut Squash pie, I have nothing against vegetarian pies but they seem to be more difficult to get right.


Condition - 6.0 out of 7 - These pies all looked great, this one seemed to hold it's structure.
Colour - 6.8 out of 7 - Great colour to the lid and filling.
Cheapness - 3.5 out of 7 - These cost around £3 which is a standard price for gourmet pies. However, with no meat in could this pie be cheaper?
Capacity - 4.7 out of 7 - Quite tall but there was a sizable air gap with this pie, but there was still a decent filling to pastry ratio.
Chewiness - 3.5 out of 7 - The filling was not at all chewy but it was a little too mushy, some of the veg provided a bit of bite but it really need more crunch.
Content - 5.8 out of 7 - The flavour and variety of the content was actually where this pie did very well. It also contained celery and parsnip which added some interest. For flavour there was plenty of onion, garlic and other herbs which worked really nicely. The content was sweet, but not too sweet.
Consistency - 3.5 out of 7 - This pie really did taste nice but didn't do enough to make a non-vegetarian want to buy it again. It didn't quite work, but almost. That said, it was nice for a change.

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Phil Vickery & Mad About Pies - Wild Boar & Cider Pie Review

Phil Vickery was a character that confused me for a long time. It gives away my interests but to me Phil Vickery is a Rugby player. A few years ago I discovered that there was another Phil Vickery that was a chef. However, then I realised that these were both the same person, Phil Vickery the Rugby player having won Celebrity Masterchef in 2011. I was then pleased to find out that Phil Vickery loves pies which led to him being a judge at the British Pie Awards. After the British Pie Awards I saw the photos, quickly realising it clearly was not the Rugby player Phil Vickery, there must be two after all! As if this wasn't already confusing enough, it turns out that Phil Vickery the Rugby player turned chef also has a love of pies, in fact you could say he was Mad About Pies. The Rugby legend has teamed up with Gloucestershire's own Mad About Pies. They have produced a range of gourmet pies which claim to have been recipients of the aforementioned mentioned British Pie Awards. The confusion was enough to drive me mad...

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