From Booths Great Northern Christmas

Only two more sleeps until Christmas Day! And so the menu planning starts in earnest.….although I do tend to follow a well-trodden path; it’s usually an open buffet on Christmas Eve, although I did serve a fabulous Elizabethan Spiced Beef Stew two years ago. However, this year, it’s all about PIE, and with a lovely piece of Cumbrian Herdwick mutton that Booths sent me as part of their Great Northern Christmas, I am making their recipe for Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie; furthermore this amazing pie filling will be made in my new Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro Multi-Cooker, on the pressure cooker setting, which means meltingly soft mutton in just 45 minutes. I have made this pie once before, a week ago, and we all loved it so much that it has been requested as the festive meal of choice for Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve Comfort Food – Christmas Carollers’ Casserole: Elizabethan Spiced Beef Stew

You can see what else Booths sent me a few weeks ago, as part of a review for their Great Northern Christmas 2015 here: Booths Great Northern Christmas 2015…….and it’s clear that with all the goodies they sent me from their festive range, we are all in a for a treat this year, as well as friends who are coming over tonight for Carols and Cocktails, when I plan to serve some of Booths Harrogate Loaf Terrine, Trio of Smoked Salmon Terrine and their Best of Region Four-Piece Cheeseboard. But back to my wonderful piece of Herdwick Mutton; Herdwick sheep are the native breed of the central and western Lake District and live on the highest of England’s mountains. The word “Herdwyck”, meaning sheep pasture, is recorded in documents going back to the 12th century. Herdwick sheep are the most hardy of all Britain’s breeds of hill sheep, grazing the central and western dales of the Lake District with fells running to over 3000 feet, which I thinks adds to their amazing flavour.

Cumbrian Herdwick mutton

The recipe for this hearty pie is shared below, and is slightly amended from the original recipe, as I used my Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro Multi-Cooker to cook the filling, as I mentioned before; you can see Booths recipe using a conventional stove top method here: Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie. I will be sharing an in-depth review on my Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro Multi-Cooker in the New Year, as I have used it extensively since it arrived a few weeks ago, but I can tell you that as a nervous pressure cooker cook, (I once “pebble-dashed” the whole kitchen with steak and kidney pie filling by releasing the pressure valve too quickly!) the Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro Multi-Cooker is an absolute DODDLE to use and I love it! I haven’t used the slow cooker setting yet, but many a pie filling, soup and stock has been made in it since I received it.

So, I will leave you with my adapted recipe for Booths Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I will be back on Boxing Day with a FAB recipe using left-over turkey and Fenland Celery, as well as a new baking recipe for Mincemeat Soda Bread too……I also have some more Peppadew recipes to share with you all, have a WONDERFUL Christmas, Karen 

Disclaimer: I received a Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro Multi-Cooker free for review as well as the ingredients to make this Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie from Booths, all views and opinions are my own. 

Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	8
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	1 hour, 30 minutes
Total time	2 hours
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Occasion	Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
Website	Booths

Hearty, honest, warming and filling, it’s no wonder pies are considered a northern speciality. This spectacular recipe for a Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie, made with flavoursome, melt-in-the mouth Herdwick mutton, takes some beating. Cooked in the pressure cooker until the meat is so tender it falls apart, it is topped with a crisp, rich pastry, and for a real talking point, use the mutton shank bone as the ‘chimney’ pie funnel – but it tastes great with a traditional "blackbird pie funnel" too.

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry

• 200g butter placed in the freezer
• 350g plain flour
• Pinch salt
• 6tbsp chilled water

For the Filling

• 50g plain flour
• 2-2.5kg dry-aged Cumbrian Herdwick mutton or lamb (with or without the shank bone)
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 4 onions, quartered
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 600ml dark Cumbrian Ale
• 300ml beef stock

Note

Hearty, honest, warming and filling, it’s no wonder pies are considered a northern speciality. This spectacular recipe for a Cumbrian Chimney Pot Pie, made with flavoursome, melt-in-the mouth Herdwick mutton, takes some beating. Cooked in the Sage Appliances Fast Slow Pro multi-cooker on the pressure cooker setting until the meat was so tender it fell apart, it is then topped with a crisp, rich pastry, and for a real talking point, you can use the mutton shank bone as the ‘chimney’ pie funnel – but it tastes just as good with a traditional "blackbird pie funnel" too. (Recipe slightly adapted from Booths)

Directions

Step 1	For the filling: Season the flour with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cut the mutton into large pieces and dust in the seasoned flour. Heat the olive oil in the "Fast Slow Pro" multi-cooker and set the cooker to sauté to brown the pieces of mutton, for about 10 minutes.
Step 2	Remove the mutton from the multi-cooker after browning, add a little more oil and sauté the onions for a 5 minutes then add the garlic and fresh rosemary and sauté for a further 2 minutes.
Step 3	Tip in any remaining flour and cook for another minute then pour in the ale and stock. Return the mutton (including the bone) to the multi-cooker, and set to "pressure cooker" setting, medium pressure, steam release natural and set the timer to cook for 45 minutes, until the meat falls apart and the sauce is rich and thickened. Remove the shank bone from the dish, reserving it for the pie and flake the meat into pieces. Leave to cool.
Step 4	For the pastry: Sift the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Hold the frozen butter using a piece of greaseproof paper and grate it on a large coarse grater straight into the flour. Working quickly, stir the butter and flour together and then sprinkle on the chilled water and mix together to make a dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to chill.
Step 5	Prepare the pie: Fill a 2½ litre pie dish with the cooled mutton filling, leaving any excess juice to one side to serve as gravy. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and about 2.5cm wider than the dish. Cut a 2cm strip from the pastry. Brush the rim of the dish with a little water and place the pastry strip around the rim, pressing it down.
Step 6	Sit the reserved shank bone in the centre of the pie filling - or use a ceramic pie funnel if not using the shank bone.
Step 7	Cut a slit in the remaining pastry for the shank bone or pie funnel. Place the pastry lid over the top and slide it over the bone. Press down the edges of the pastry to seal it. Trim off any excess pastry and crimp the edges with a fork or between your thumb and forefinger.
Step 8	Brush with beaten egg and bake at 180°C/Fan 160°C/gas mark 4 for 30–35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.
Step 9	Serve warm with extra gravy, seasonal vegetables and potatoes.
Step 10	NB: You can also cook the filling in a covered dish over a very gentle heat for about 2½–3 hours until the meat falls apart and the sauce is rich and thickened.

Adding this to the Food Blogger’s Calendar by Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen for December:

#FoodYearLinkup