Game pie

If you are lucky like me, I do not think my wife finds this lucky, I have people from the local shoots come round with things that they have shot. Now all depending on how you feel about game and things that are shot is all a matter of personal conscience. I will not go out shooting but if the animal is dead then I will eat it. I know that that is hypocritical but that is the way it is. So having started a moral debate I will get straight in to the recipe.

You will need
675g/1½lb mixed game meat
225g/8oz venison steak cut into 2.5cm/1in cubes
2tbsp oil
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
120g/4oz smoked streaky bacon
120g/4oz chestnut mushrooms
1 clove garlic
30g/1oz plain flour
1 bay leaf
1 orange, zest and juice
1tbsp redcurrant jelly
300ml/½pt chicken stock
300ml/½pt red wine
340g/12oz puff pastry
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg or milk for glazing

Now you can get game meat such as pheasant, partridge, hare and rabbit all from a good butcher. Also you can get it all cut up and ready to use. But be carful they you are not just getting 50% plus of turkey leg as this can be a trick to sell you something that is not worth much at a premium.

Get a frying pan and add the oil heat it then add you game mix and venison until it is well browned. Only cook some of it of at a time you want to fry the meat not stew it and if you have too much in your pan you will run the risk of that. Then take the meat out and stick to one side.

Now start to cut your bacon up and start to cook this. Then add to the pan the onions until they start to soften. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook till the mushrooms have cooked down a little. Now take your flour and sprinkle that in to the pan and work this in to the liquids in the pan and make a roux.

Now season add the bay leaf, red current jelly, orange juice and zest, red wine and stock. Keep working this all the time, as you do not want lumps, the best way is to add the liquids a little at a time. Now add the meat that you browned off bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked. Then take it of the heat and let it cool down.

Now put your filling in a dish and roll out the puff pastry and cover the fill. Cut a hole in the middle to let out the steam and then glaze the pasty with egg or milk. Then put the pie in the fridge and chill, you only have to do this if you using puff pastry really it works better if you rest it after working it.

Now heat your oven to 200c/400f then bake your pie for about 20 to 30 minutes or till the pastry is golden and risen and the filling is hot. And that is your game pie.

You can add other things to this spices and more fruity notes but as a start this is pretty good one.