From across the pond

     In Friday's VinnyPost I mentioned a dish from the UK, Pork and Apple Pie.  Over the weekend I conducted an unofficial poll and discovered that it is virtually unknown in the United States.  Writing to my British cousin, Rita, I asked if she was familiar with such a pie and she promptly sent me a recipe.  It called for things like Bramley apples and castor sugar, things we are don't normally find in American cook books.  And all the measurements were  metric.  It made my head hurt attempting to make the conversions.

     But upon further research I found several differing recipes for the pie that unites two flavors that go well together on the dinner plate.  Some have a crust on both the top and bottom, some just the top, and one eliminated the pastry crust altogether in favor of a mashed potato crown, much like a shepherd's pie.  And the pork filling varied as well.  Ground pork, shredded pork shoulder and cubed pork loin were all acceptable as a part of the pie.

 

   Historically, today's pork and apple pie descends from an eighteenth-century workingman's lunch called the Bedfordshire Clanger--a hand held pie filled with meat on one end and jam on the other.  It was a compact way to serve lunch and dessert at the same time.

 

     And being frugal as the British are, this pie is an excellent way to make use of the left over meat from a Sunday roast.  As stated in "The English Kitchen" blog one roast on Sunday could last most of the following week.  Monday it would be sliced and served cold with the leftover root vegetables, Tuesday it became pot pie, Wednesday it was made into soup and Thursday it was a partner in the apple pie.

 

     For a recipe to try, click on the following from Yankee Magazine.