Mark Gilchrist showing us some good cooking tips.


http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcYxfOf0Xg







http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBXHj8Gm6s

For those who wanted photos of that salad the last time, here you go:



Enjoy!

Take the ingredients below including a parsnip that I forgot to put in the picture.



Also take a few bits of game from the freezer. No need to use that beautifully plucked duck, this stuff is diced so it doesn't need to look pretty (Use that hard shot snipe squashed up the back of the freezer!). I used a pheasant breast, two hind legs of a rabbit, some pretty hard shot partridge breasts, two snipe breasts to add colour, texture and a richer flavour and some hickory smoked bacon.



Strip the meat of all the bones and dice it up. Cut the bacon very thinly as you want this to disappear but leave its flavour. Mix the meat with the finely chopped parsley and a little finely chopped onion and some similar sized chunks of parsnip. Add a pinch of oregano and crack some black pepper.



Take a pint and a half of water and boil. Add the carcasses, onion, most of the parsnip, cracked pepper, some parsley and a good dollop of home made Jam and a small slug of red wine.



Next the pastry, For my size of pie I used roughly half a 1kg bag of plain flour. Half a block of lard, a good dash of salt and 250ml of boiled water. Dissolve the lard in the water. Mix the salt and flour together. Pour on the fatty water and mix with a fork quickly.



Grease a pie dish with butter and squash three quarters of the pastry into a pie base with your fingers. Make sure you plug any gaps and don't let it get too thick in the corners.



Fill the pie with your game mix.



Use the remaining quarter of the pastry for a lid. make sure you pinch the edges so that it makes an air tight seal. Then cut a two inch hole in the middle to let the steam out.



Put in the oven for two and a half hours at 150 degrees C or gas mark 2 I think it is. While all this was going on your stock was simmering nicely in the back ground. Put this on low heat and let it cook on until the ingredients are quite mushu and gave up their flavours. Drain the stock amd boil it down again to strengthen the flavours.



When the pie is two hours in take it out and brush with a beaten egg then put back in the oven. Do again fifteen minutes later. After the full two and a half hours are over. Take the pie out and rest it a few minutes. Loosen the meat from around the hole you made in the top. Take your stock and taste it. If it needs to be sweetened then add a little more Jam. When it is ready add a packet of gelatine. Read the label to see how much you need. When this is all stirred in start filling the hole with the liquid. The liguid will seep into the pie and fill the gaps in the meat. This could take five or so minutes as it becomes saturated with stock. Thats it, all you got to do is let it cool.



I put the pie in the fridge first thing this morning and heated a big slice up for lunch with carrots and peas. Absolutely bang on! Try it, its not as hard as it sounds!






Mallards.

Have to say, if that tastes half as good as it looks, it must be gorgous.

Only one question Mallards.

Exactly where do you live ? :pac::rolleyes::)

I will not tell a soul. :cool::cool:;)

Well the game was shot in Tyrone and cooked in Dublin, that's all I can divulge!
As for the banquet, the game pie was to use up the last of the frozen stuff. The freezer is empty and waiting to be filled again!

Mallards.

One more for good luck this time a woodcock