Ted meets the Pieminister

Yes .. really I did! Just before Christmas, but it may not be quite what you think, in fact it could be even better … I don’t know about you, but in our house eventually what was left over from the last of the Christmas leftovers almost always inevitably finished up in a pie. Delicious as they were of course it’s hard to stop recooked turkey, ham, and beef from being more than a little dried out, shall we just say, and leave it at that. So it was with a reasonable amount of trepidation that I approached the Pieminister pies, not being a pie kinda person first off that is.  Knowing that they certainly don’t use leftovers in any of their pies, and certainly not their christmas themed offerings, did offer a modicum of comfort.  So I invited a couple of mates around for a taste test.

Three Christmas varieties were on offer at my local supermarket so I took them all, after all there were three of us. We did the decent thing and started with the “christingle” vegie offering of honey roasted parsnip, cheddar cheese and chestnut, and what a tasty and substantial mouthful it made. Why it could hold its own with an NZ sauvignon blanc for lunch I reckon.  So the dirty business out of the way, we settled into the meat courses starting with “merry berry”. Yep turkey dinner in a pie, free range turkey no less, with bacon, red wine sauce and cranberries.  I’d probably say this was a “girls” pie (because the fabulous Mary Berry doyen of all things baking is a girl after all).  Nice light turkey meat, not too much bacon, and a good hit of cranberry, which could be consumed with a cosmopolitan cocktail held in the other hand.

The moment the boys had really been hanging around for finally arrived … the real meat pie … the one made from beef ... yes real beef!!  

The “mistlemoo” made from steak, a fancy blue stilton cheese, bacon and chestnuts  … now this is where the rubber meets the road!!  The boys were impressed, as I was I actually. Plates were licked.

In reality, there is something that makes these pies stand out though, and it’s the pastry - even thickness all around, and an ability when heated, to just crisp and lift, and become almost fluffy like good pastry should, all the while cushioning its precious contents safely inside …