October. Who would have believed it. My brain is still in July. They say that as you get older the perception of time increases making it go by a lot faster... they're not wrong.... October! Only 85 days until Christmas for crying out loud.
Anyway. The onslaught of October means my challenge begins. If I'm totally honest, I was hoping to be a little more organised than I presently am. We've had some building work done on our house and our new kitchen was supposed to be finished by the end of last week... it's not. As a result we don't have a hob of any kind yet but it's nearly there and we have an oven. I've commandeered a one ring plug in hob for the time being so we should be fine.
We went out to some friends last night for supper and as a result Mr M and I are both feeling just a little faded this morning. This means comfort food. Having leafed through a couple of recipe books and magazines this morning I have plumped for a cheese, bacon and onion pie for supper this evening. The photo of the dish looks fabulous although I have a feeling mine may not be quite so shiny... we'll see.
I went to the shop this morning and brought all the ingredients as well as some lovely watercress, lettuce and spring onions to make a lush green salad to serve the pie with.
The recipe says the cheese should be Vacherin which is a seasonal cheese only available between around November to February in this country. It's a fabulous cheese and one I highly recommend. It's made from the milk of cows of the French Alps and is only made in the winter season. It is released onto the international market around October and is only made until the 10th March (legally controlled by the French cheese police!) Once I've sourced some I will definitely get a couple of the shop - it's one of my food highlights of the year and not to be missed. However, we don't have any at the shop at the moment so I am substituting the Vacherin for Camembert.
Melted Cheese, Bacon and Onion Pie
Serves 2-4
Prep Time 40 mins
Cooking Time 30 - 35 mins
Ingredients
Vacherin or Camembert
70g Pancetta Cubes
1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbspn Fresh Thyme Leaves (from my garden not the shop but you could buy dried!)
100ml Dry White Wine
1 Packet of Puff Pastry
1 Free Range Egg, beaten
Plain Flour for dusting
1. Put the cheese in the freezer while you prepare the other bits.
2. Heat a frying pan over a high heat and fry the pancetta until crisp. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion and thyme to the pan, turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring often for 20 - 25 mins until the onions are soft and well caramelised. Turn the heat back up and pour int he wine and bubble until almost completely evaporated. Put in a bowl to cool. Stir in the pancetta.
3. Unroll a pastry sheet, keeping it on it's paper and cut a rough circle approximately 2 - 3 inches bigger than the cheese. Put the pastry, still on it's paper, onto a baking sheet. Take the cheese out of the freezer, remove the packaging and place in the middle of the pastry. Top the cheese with the bacon and onion mixture, patting it down and making sure none topples onto the pastry.
4. Brush the beaten egg over the pastry border around the cheese. Roll out another pastry sheet so it's big enough to cover the cheese and the border. Drape it over the cheese, pressing it down onto the egg washed pastry edge to make an approx 1 inch lip around the cheese. Try and squeeze out any air as you go. Once sealed, trim with a knife and then press around the edge with a fork to decorate the lip (if you want). Brush all over with a beaten egg and chill for 30 mins.
5. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush pie with egg again, then if you're feeling creative, score a pattern on the top of the pie being careful not to cut through the pastry. This has no effect on the taste, of course, so if you can't be bothered, don't worry.
6. Bake for 30 - 35 mins until dark golden and glossy. Leave to stand for 10 mins then serve up. Make sure you use a plate with a lip to serve it on as the melted cheese may run once cut into.... yum!!
A hit! Perfect comfort food. The only thing I would add is a delicious chutney on the side or even in the pie. We have a new range of chutneys coming soon at the shop from Tracklements.. if you haven't come across them yet you're in for a treat!
Anyway. The onslaught of October means my challenge begins. If I'm totally honest, I was hoping to be a little more organised than I presently am. We've had some building work done on our house and our new kitchen was supposed to be finished by the end of last week... it's not. As a result we don't have a hob of any kind yet but it's nearly there and we have an oven. I've commandeered a one ring plug in hob for the time being so we should be fine.
We went out to some friends last night for supper and as a result Mr M and I are both feeling just a little faded this morning. This means comfort food. Having leafed through a couple of recipe books and magazines this morning I have plumped for a cheese, bacon and onion pie for supper this evening. The photo of the dish looks fabulous although I have a feeling mine may not be quite so shiny... we'll see.
 |
| Not sure mine will look like this... will post a photo later! |
I went to the shop this morning and brought all the ingredients as well as some lovely watercress, lettuce and spring onions to make a lush green salad to serve the pie with.
 |
| Ingredient brought from the village shop |
Melted Cheese, Bacon and Onion Pie
Serves 2-4
Prep Time 40 mins
Cooking Time 30 - 35 mins
Ingredients
Vacherin or Camembert
70g Pancetta Cubes
1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbspn Fresh Thyme Leaves (from my garden not the shop but you could buy dried!)
100ml Dry White Wine
1 Packet of Puff Pastry
1 Free Range Egg, beaten
Plain Flour for dusting
1. Put the cheese in the freezer while you prepare the other bits.
2. Heat a frying pan over a high heat and fry the pancetta until crisp. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion and thyme to the pan, turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring often for 20 - 25 mins until the onions are soft and well caramelised. Turn the heat back up and pour int he wine and bubble until almost completely evaporated. Put in a bowl to cool. Stir in the pancetta.
3. Unroll a pastry sheet, keeping it on it's paper and cut a rough circle approximately 2 - 3 inches bigger than the cheese. Put the pastry, still on it's paper, onto a baking sheet. Take the cheese out of the freezer, remove the packaging and place in the middle of the pastry. Top the cheese with the bacon and onion mixture, patting it down and making sure none topples onto the pastry.
4. Brush the beaten egg over the pastry border around the cheese. Roll out another pastry sheet so it's big enough to cover the cheese and the border. Drape it over the cheese, pressing it down onto the egg washed pastry edge to make an approx 1 inch lip around the cheese. Try and squeeze out any air as you go. Once sealed, trim with a knife and then press around the edge with a fork to decorate the lip (if you want). Brush all over with a beaten egg and chill for 30 mins.
5. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush pie with egg again, then if you're feeling creative, score a pattern on the top of the pie being careful not to cut through the pastry. This has no effect on the taste, of course, so if you can't be bothered, don't worry.
6. Bake for 30 - 35 mins until dark golden and glossy. Leave to stand for 10 mins then serve up. Make sure you use a plate with a lip to serve it on as the melted cheese may run once cut into.... yum!!
 |
| Not quite as good looking as the recipe photo!..... |
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| Really delicious! #allfromtheshop |
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