Monday 11 January 2016

Feel the Appeal of the un-Real Meal

Fanny often wants to convince us that she is the undeniable, bona fide, irrefutable real deal when it comes to recipes, techniques, knowledge and skill. This is the entire basis of the partwork series, she is sharing her veritable gifts with us. At times she is blatantly blunt in telling us that her way is the right way. Other times she is, honestly, a little more subtle but absolutely as concrete in her message. For a simple dish of Shepherds Pie she takes us back in time to Old England to discover what this traditional pie meant to our ancestors, but makes it evident that we have been making it wrongly all these years by the simple addition of a single word. This is Fannys' Real Shepherds Pie.

Fanny Cradock Real Shepherds Pie

Well it would be if I wasn't insistent on fiddling with the recipe, twiddling out the meat and tiddling it up for vegetarians. Fanny uses a tangible mixture of cold, cooked lamb or mutton and finely minced lean gammon as the base for her pie, I use a packet of ready cooked Puy Lentils. So handy, and I think still valid, still in the spirit of the dish - a quick transformation of so-called leftovers and cupboard staples. It happens to be International Year of Pulses too, whoever knew that such a thing should exist. If Fanny were here in 2016 I am sure she'd celebrate with a special book. Or two. Or three.

Fanny Cradock Real Shepherds Pie

Fanny mixes her meat with a grated onion, freshly milled parsley, a little stock and seasoning, so do I with the newly elevated, internationally celebrated, legitimate lentils. I was clearly 'keeping it real' during the preparation too, as the grating of the onion resulted in streams of actual tears in the kitchen that simple chopping alone would not have uncovered. It seems a little odd to grate them in the first place and not cook them, but was we know Fanny is indubitable, so I don't question it.

Fanny Cradock Real Shepherds Pie

It's all seemingly fairly standard so far, no hints of the 'real' nature that Fanny promised with the pie. The filling goes into a dish and Fanny urges us to get on with the topping. Surely just mashed potato? Everyone knows that a Shepherds Pie is topped with mashed potato, don't they? Think again, authentic fans, Fanny has some flour up her sleeve. She does mash up her pre-prepared steamed (of course, never boiled) potatoes, adds some butter and boiling milk. Then she beats to a smooth paste before working in the flour to create a pastry paste consistency. She rolls it out and tops the pie with it. I was hoping for piping.

Fanny Cradock Real Shepherds Pie

Fanny calls this Potato Crust. She finishes it off by marking it in a criss cross fashion with a hot, wet knife in trellis lines. Then a quick brush with egg wash before the oven. The pie emerges well risen, and quite, well, crusty looking. It's an original texture, both fluffy and crispy and tucked underneath are the simply flavoured pulses, shining and singing among the parsley and the sweet grated onions. All-in-all it's a delightful pie. We only have Fannys word that this is the truly defacto real deal. I'm happy to just enjoy the pie. Who would question Fanny anyway?

Fanny Cradock Real Shepherds Pie

10 comments:

  1. My granny used to make this potato crust. She must have been a Fanny follower!

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    1. She must've been, how lovely! I've searched around for another recipe to match it - given that it's supposedly 'real' - but haven't found one!

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  2. You certainly have your finger on the pulse of international celebrations.

    I'm going to give that potato crust a bash, looks interesting!

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    1. :-) Everyday seems to be some other National or International Day of something or other... I think I will need to start a series of purely Local Days of celebration...

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  3. I like the sound of a potato pastry like topping! Real or un-real I would like to have this pie for dinner!

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    1. It was really good actually! Crispy on top, bit like puff pastry, but still fluffy like mash inside!

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  4. That's a really interesting topping, am intrigued, looks really really good!

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    1. Works really well, very tasty and light too! She knew a thing or two...

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  5. I came across your blog recently, and whilst I find fun and interesting, I do wish you'd post the recipes.

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    1. I used to post all the recipes, but at that time, no-one was interested or looked at them at all... Sorry you're disappointed! I'll look again at including them, any in particular? Thanks for reading!

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