Granny's Pie - Recipe

Whenever I go to Portugal my Granny always makes a very scrumptious cold meat pie. Unfortunately I don't go as often as I'd like so I asked her for the recipe so I could make it myself rather than having to wait years! And because I love you all I am sharing it with you too....

Ingredients

For the pastry (that's right I didn't cheat like normal!)

600g plain flour, plus extra for rolling etc.
260g chilled unsalted butter
140g vegetable fat
180ml iced water
Salt

For the filling

1 onion, minced
1 pack of pork mince
8 sausages - it doesn't matter what kind, be creative!
1 teaspoon lemon juice
20g fresh parsley
1 large egg
Breadcrumbs (from 1 slice of bread)
2 chicken breasts
4 rashers of bacon
Salt and Pepper

You will also need a 24cm springform cake tin (the one with the clip at the side), about 6cm deep.

Method to the Madness

First order of the pie is to make the pastry. Sieve the flour into a large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, then add the butter and vegetable fat. Rub this into the flour with your fingers - bit messy.

When it is a rough crumbly texture, gradually stir in the sufficient iced water until the mixture begins to come together.

Turn it out on to a floured board and push the pastry together with the heel of your hand.

Cut off just under a third of the mixture and reshape the 2 pieces you have into flattish disks (this doesnt need to be neat).Wrap them in clingfilm and pop them into fridge whilst you make the filling.

Heat a small pan, add oil and cook the onion until soft before setting aside to cool. Put the pork mince in a large bowl (I used the same one I did the pastry in to save on washing up!). Cut the sausages out of their skins and put the sausage meat in the same bowl. Add the onion, lemon juice, parsely, and season with salt and pepper, before mixing together with a wooden spoon. Add the breadcrumbs and half the beaten egg and set aside. Slice the chicken breasts and trim the fat off the bacon.

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F or Gas Mark 4. Take the pastry out of the fridge, dust your work surface and roll out the larger piece into a circle 32.5-35cm. Grease your tin and carefully lower the pastry into it. Press the pastry against the edges of the tin, the edges should come up quite high in the tin as its meant to be a deep pie.

Put half of the sausage mixture in the base of the pie and press down firmly.

Lay the bacon over the sausage mixture and brush with a little of the beaten egg, then layer the chicken pieces on top before finishing with the remainder of the sausage mixture, pressing down firmly.

Dust the work surface with flour and roll the remaining pastry to a circle about 24cm in diameter. Brush the exposed edges with beaten egg and lay the pastry on top of the pie. Press the edges together until all that meat is sealed inside. Brush the top of the pie with  egg and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Put the pie in the over for 1 hour and 40 minutes before removing from the oven, wait a few minutes before carefully releasing the spring clip and removing the tin. Brush the sides with even more beaten egg, and return the pie to the oven for 10-15mins until the sides are golden too.

Leave your pie alone. Pop it in the fridge overnight and try to forget about it (yes I know its hard!) In the morning cut into that delicious meaty-ness and enjoy with salad and homemade chips. 

I am so proud of this pie, you have no idea! It's one of the best things I have ever made I think,and its so good!

C xxx    

July Favourites

Not too many favourites this month as I haven't really been here but what I have been loving you will find below!

Music

Only a couple of new songs on the favourites this month, I haven't found a new album I've loved but I'll leave you with these two:

First up - one of my songs of the Summer ~ Milky Chance with Stolen Dance

Secondly - Holdin On by Flume ~ I haven't stopped listening to this and I'm still not sick of it

Books

A very long time ago I started reading a book called 'A Discovery of Witches' and completly loved it. After a little wait Book 2 'Shadow of the Night' came out and finally 2 years later, just in time for my holiday 'The Book of Life' was avaliable. These books written by Debroah Harkness are rich with Vampires and Witches but without the real cheesy-ness of Twilight. There is also a healthy dose of history in there that appeals to my desire to read about the past. These books are brilliant in their detail and also provide you with a romance and passion. My rating: The second book is the best in the series.   

Food/Drink

I hate fizzy water, I just don't get it. However mixed with my new favourite thing ~ Elderflower cordial it's a little bit tasty, very bubbly and makes me happy. It's also a healthier alternative, if like me, you quite like the fizzy pop.

Home

The last thing I need in the house is more mugs but I saw these and they were just too sunshiney to say No to! They also go wonderfully in my Yellow Kitchen and were only a £1 each from Asda. They have sold out of the yellow ones but they do have black ones which you can find here.

Does a month go by without me loving something from Wilkinsons? The homeware section is really good and nice and cheap.

This month I picked up these cute little bowls for £4.50 - perfect for dips when my friends pop over and we demolish a whole bag of kettle chips.

Life

I want to take more time and garden. It would be nice to look out of the kitchen window and not see an overgrown mess. I also want to bring the garden indoors, and my bright idea for this is to grow Chives and Basil in little kilner jars. I just think it will look really cute, and after my last herb garden got knocked off the windowsill by the cat I am taking no chances this time and they are on a shelf. They haven't grown yet but I will keep you updates on the progress!

 Also as many of you will have realised by my many blog posts I have just been on holiday! It was a fantastic holiday, and so lovely to have a chance to relax.

Told you there weren't many ~ also there are no fashion favourites this month as I have already written about all my new clothes purchases for the month here and I'm trying to abstain from buying more! Ha!

C xxx

The Final Day

With a frowny face I awoke on our final day, desperate to try and top up my tan as much as possible before I left.

Our flight wasn't until 9.35 that evening so we had a little bit of time to sit in the sun and take pictures in the grass.

We stopped posing to have some lunch, which was yummy Chicken Lasagne served by my very lovely Grandad.

After saying our goodbyes we headed to the airport to fly home, which was very sad indeed. The mood was not improved when we got to the airport and were told that our plane was delayed for 40 minutes so we wouldn't be flying until 10.15pm. In the end we got back to my parents house at 1.45am so it was a very long day indeed.

It's been such a lovely holiday and I hope you have enjoyed reading about it, I've enjoyed doing these so much - although daily blogging is quite hard! I hope it has been entertaining :)

C xxx

A Trip Down Memory Lane

On our second to last day we decided to take a trip down to Monchique, the village at the bottom of the mountain and my old home.

First we drove down to Caldas de Monchique, it's a tiny little village with a spa and is famous for the water - apparently it has healing properties...

...what it definitely has is lovely picturesque areas.

We had a walk round and bought a few bits and pieces before getting back in the very hot car and heading to Monchique where we stopped off at some of my favourite places and had an ice-lolly. Monchique really is a beautiful place and I was so lucky to be able to spend time there.

Once we got back to the Villa we had a splash in the pool before getting changed for mine and Leigh's anniversary meal, which the whole family was invited to as it was also our last night!

We headed to a restaurant called Solar Do Farelo, with as much wine as you can drink with your meal on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays so we took advantage of that!

We chose our starter and mains from the blackboard, there is only one blackboard and no menus so the owner comes to your table with it and talks you through the options and reads the specials before noting down your order.

I went for the Prawn Cocktail to start and Leigh went for the Wild Boar Salad, both of which were delicious. Sometimes I find you don't get enough prawns in your Prawn Cocktail but I had 10 massive ones so I would highly recommend it if you decide to go.

After a very tasty starter we moved on to the main course. I had duck with orange sauce, which was cooked perfectly and so lush with the sauce. Leigh had Oxtail Stew which was one of the specials.

 

We had such a lovely meal and I would highly recommend going there if you are in the Algarve. Remember to book though because it gets very busy!

 After we went back to the villa we spent a little bit of time looking up at the stars which were out in their millions. It is so lovely to be in a place where there is no light pollution and you can even see the Milky Way spread across the sky which is beautiful and a lovely end to our four year anniversary.

C xxx

A Very Full Day

After an earlier start and a slightly hurried breakfast the family set off en masse to Lagos. For as long as I can remember we make our pilgrimage to Don Sebastios, one of our favourite restaurants in the Algarve.

We are well known there and have our own table, being greeted like old friends when we get there. Before we sit down for lunch we always go to the same bar which is perfectly positioned with it's sitting area to  people watch, which my mother and grandmother do with relish.

They also do pretty big beers there too, which matches perfectly with my pretty big hat....

After we finished our drinks Leigh and I had a walk down the back streets until we came across one of my favourite artists shop. I have been buying this ladies paintings for nearly 10 years and every time I return I buy a new one. I have quite a collection at home! This time I picked a slightly different one, as I normally go for street scenes, but it will go beautifully in our pale yellow kitchen.

We had a quick walk around some of the other shops before heading over to the restaurant to meet the others. We walked in and started naming all fish instantly, I like fish but I have real issues with picking my own!

We sat down and tucked into fresh bread, cheese, olives and chorizo which cooks on your table. I tried not to eat too much as I didn't want to ruin my main course!

I had what I always have, seafood rice. It comes in a big pottery pot and includes crab, mussels, prawns,  langoustines and clams all mixed in with tomato flavoured rice. It is by far one of my favourite ever meals and made even better by the big bib and tools you get to eat it with.

We always have figs and walnuts to finish, served with a glass of 'on the house' port or amaretto. We all took turns trying to crack as many nuts as possible.

After finishing our glorious meal we headed down to the seafront for ice-cream. I got Rum and Raisin as it's my favourite, but not one you find very often.

Feeling very, very full we headed back to the Villa where we spent a nice evening watching films, whilst I did a food shop. All very glamorous.  

C xxx