Mini Pork Pies

[JohnT]

Thanks BriCan, now I just have to source a supplier for some lard to experiment making the pastry. There is no commercial supplier for lard in South Africa so I will have to render some myself or try and get a local butcher to render it for me. The other problem is to get the fatty pork to render. Most butchers do not sell it as they all keep it for their own sausage production - it is like gold dust here! I wonder if a butter/Holsum mix could be used as a substitute or just straight Holsum. Any comments would be most welcome!

[crustyo44]

Hi John,
My Italian friends always made their own lard which they used in cakes etc etc.
At salami making time, all the excess fat was put in a large pot which was half filled with water and boiled for a few hours until all the excess fat was used up.
The hot lard was ladled off the water and put in glass jars and sealed. That's all.
It wasn't pure white but it should be great in your pastry mix.
Everybody is looking forward to the time when I make these pork pies again, this time I will make twice as many.
Good Luck,
Jan.

[JohnT]

Jan, unfortunately, things are no longer that easy over here - lard was very common and easily available. We used to be able to obtain lard in supermarkets and butchers very easily and at very low cost. However, due to modern farming methods, pork is produced far leaner than in days gone by and butchers keep all excess fat for their own sausage production. Then we have our government that has put a stop to the commercial sale of lard "for health reasons" - you need to look back in our recent history and see that our minister of health and state president both came up with the brilliant cure for HIV/AIDS: Eat more garlic and beetroot and you will be immune and cured of the problem!

I have tried everywhere to obtain lard or excess fat to render my own lard and have only found one person willing to supply it in Pretoria - over 1500 km away from Cape Town. The cost to get some to me is prohibitive!

So, until I can properly set up my own curing and sausage making business to a scale that I will be able to buy whole pork carcasses, I need to try a substitute for lard to make pork pies. I deliver yachts for a living and have one further delivery from Cape Town to Grenada starting next month and then, in the new year, I am classifying myself as "retired" and going full time into expanding my hobby into a small business.

I was in Europe at the end of last year on a deliver and stopped off at a few Spanish and Portuguese ports and visited a number of butchers (my crew all thought I was nuts). I was amazed at the amount of fat on the carcasses compared to that on South African pork. If the delivery had ended in Cape Town, I would have loaded the on-board 210 litre freezer with it and brought it home. However, the delivery was from the UK to the US and I doubt the airline flying home would have been happy to accommodate me and my "parcel".

[crustyo44]

Hi John,
All pigs in Australia are also bred to be very lean but usually what we do here is arrange with a pig farmer to buy an old sow that is no longer a breeding proposition.
Plenty of fat and dark meat, great for sausages and other goodies.
You guys are certainly blessed with knowledgeable government leaders, especially in the health area.
All of their brilliant suggestions were always printed in the papers here, I said "were", as this no longer so.
Fancy offending some one in charge.
Keep in touch Mate,
Jan Ooms,
Brisbane.

[DanMcG]

Well it only took me about a year to do, but I finally made a pork pie. I used BriCans recipes for the crust, meat mix and jelly and all three were excellent. Even my wife said they were great, and that's no small compliment....
Being a first for me there was a large learning curve but I think I nailed it fairly well for a yank. I think I need to get the crust a little thinner and get more jelly into the pie.

Thanks to everyone and especially Robert...I see a new and larger wardrobe in my future.


got it;


these were so good we nearly ate the whole thing in a mater of minutes....

saved enough for a snack later or maybe lunch tomorrow..

[NCPaul]

Great job Dan!

[BriCan]

Looking real good Dan;

keep up the good work and if I can find a way I will be over wiv the beer and pickled onions

[DanMcG]

Pickled onions.......Mmmmm, I got to give that a try too.

[DanMcG]

Finally got around to making the mini version I asked about a year ago.....Just came out of the oven....Can't wait till they cool down some.....



Where's my mustard and Beer?

[BriCan]

Looking good Dan

I know you will be thinking ... why did I wait so long --- they do freeze well so you can stock up for Christmas

[DanMcG]

Thanks Robert, I was going to ask about freezing them, I guess you're a mind reader as well as a master at sausage.

One other question for you bakers out there. I think I'm over kneading the pastry. Robert said to "knead till smooth to the feel" which isn't a long time. But I've been kneading till it looks smooth, which is along time and results in it being somewhat elastic....Is that over worked?
Thanks.

[BriCan]

Thanks Robert, I was going to ask about freezing them, I guess you're a mind reader as well as a master at sausage.

Not really Dan, just the remnants of being a good proprietor and being able to anticipate the customers needs.

If you do freeze, defrost in fridge on a Terrycloth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrycloth

One other question for you bakers out there. I think I'm over kneading the pastry. Robert said to "knead till smooth to the feel" which isn't a long time. But I've been kneading till it looks smooth, which is along time and results in it being somewhat elastic....Is that over worked?
Thanks.

Nope ... just right ... under do it and the pastry cracks (in my case) I am sure that Ruralidle can help on this one