Directions: |
Directions:No Christmas feast in medieval times was complete
without a 'grete pye'. In some recipes, it could
contain many varied meats, but quite often only two or
three different kinds were suggested; change the meats
suggested here if you wish. Use just over half the
pastry to line a 23-cm/9-inch pie plate. Brush the
inside with some of the egg white. Skin the pieces of
breast and other meat if necessary and parboil them
gently in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and
leave to cool. Mix together in a bowl the minced beef,
suet, salt and pepper to taste, the egg yolks and half
the spice mixture. Add the rest of the spices to the
dried fruit in another bowl. Slice the parboiled meat.
Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Add 1 or 2
tablespoons of the beef stock to the rice flour or
cornflour in a small saucepan and cream them together;
then add the remaining stock and stir over gentle heat
until slightly thickened. Keep aside. Cover the bottom
of the pastry case with half the mince mixture.
Arrange the sliced meat in a flat layer on top.
Scatter the chopped spiced fruit over it and cover
with the remaining mince. Pour the thickened stock
over the lot. Roll out the remaining pastry into a
round to make a lid for the pie. Brush the rim of the
case with a little more egg white and cover with the
lid. Press the edges to seal, and make escape slits
for steam. Decorate with the pastry trimmings and
glaze with egg white. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce
the heat to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and bake for 45-50
minutes longer. Serves 6 to 8. Grete pyes. Take faire
yonge beef, And suet of a fatte beste, or of Motton,
and hak all this on a borde small; and caste therto
pouder of peper and salt; and whan it is small hewen,
put hit in a bolle. And medle hem well; then make a
faire large Cofyn, and couche som of this stuffur in.
Then take Capons, Hennes, Mallardes, Connynges, and
parboile hem clene; take wodekokkes, teles, grete
briddes, and plom hem in a boiling pot; And then
couche al this fowle in the Coffyn, And put in euerych
of hem a quantite of pouder of peper and salt. Then
take mary, harde yolkes of egges, Dates cutte in ij
peces, reisons of coraunce, prunes, hole clowes, hole
maces, Canell and saffron. But first, whan thoug hast
cowched all thi foule, ley the remenaunt of thyne
other stuffur of beef a-bought hem, as thou thenkest
goode; and then strawe on hem this: dates, mary, and
reysons, &c. And then close thi Coffyn with a lydde
of the same paast, And putte hit in the oven, And late
hit bake ynough; but be ware, or thou close hit, that
there come no saffron nygh the brinkes there-of, for
then hit wol neuer close. |
This recipe for Lionel De Welles, 6th Baron De Welles - A GRETE PYE is from