The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook - Dinah Bucholz [21]
Dust the pancakes with confectioners' sugar or serve with a dab of marmalade.
Makes about 11 large pancakes
Four Classically British Pies
Professor Slughorn likes his food. At his “Slug Club” gathering onboard the Hogwarts Express, he passes around a platter of assorted pies (see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 7). Assuming some were savory and some were sweet, recipes for both types are included. The following four pie recipes are classically British.
Medieval pies were filled with all sorts of food thrown together, like a magpie's collection, hence the name pie. Today we try to stick to a theme, so we have “chicken and mushroom pie” and not “chicken and mushroom and apples and whipped cream and oats and raisins and cinnamon and black pepper pie.”
Chicken and Mushroom Pies
Pie Crust
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, chilled and cut into pieces
½ cup (8 tablespoons) vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
½ to ¾ cup cold water
Chicken and Mushroom Filling
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
5 ounces (half a package) white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1¼ cups chicken broth
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into ¼-inch pieces
¼ teaspoon thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for brushing the tops of the pies
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter and shortening over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 15 pulses. Turn the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle ½ cup water over the mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is dry (better too wet than too dry). Divide the dough in half, form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
To make the Chicken and Mushroom Filling, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and mushrooms and sauté until well browned. Sprinkle the flour over and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Slowly pour in the chicken broth while stirring. Cook until the mixture thickens. Add the chopped chicken breast, thyme, and salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Bring back to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to another bowl, and cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a generously floured surface, roll out one of the disks very thin. Use a 6-inch saucer to cut out six circles. Fit the circles into a 6-cup muffin pan, leaving the overhang. Fill generously with the chicken and mushroom filling.
Roll out the second disk of dough. Use a 4-inch cookie cutter to cut out six circles. Brush the overhanging dough with water and lay the circles over the filling. For each pie, fold the over-hang over the top circle of dough and press with your fingers to seal. Cut slits in the top of each pie to form vents, and brush the tops with the beaten egg. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown, rotating the pan midway through baking.
Makes 6 pies
A small town in West Yorkshire called Denby Dale makes the biggest meat and potato pies in the world to celebrate major events. The tradition started in 1788 to celebrate King George III's recovery from mental illness. In 1988, the pie that was baked to celebrate the 200th anniversary of this tradition made it into the Guinness Book of World Records at twenty feet by seven feet and eighteen inches deep. But the pie baked in 2000 to celebrate the millennium broke that record at forty feet by eight feet and forty-four inches deep.
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