Game Pie

Main courseServes 4

What better way to stave off the chilly October evenings than with a delicious Game Pie.  Try this seasonal favourite from the Shibden Mill Inn, recently voted Best Freehouse in the 2015 Great British Pub Awards.

Ingredients

1kg of mixed diced game – pheasant, venison & pigeon

1 large onion

3 large carrots

2 sticks of celery

rapeseed oil & 50g butter

500ml red wine

250ml game stock

250ml chicken stock

thyme & rosemary

5 bay leaves

50g plain flour

Pastry

250g suet

500g plain flour

30g salted butter

picked thyme

salt & white pepper

20/30ml warm water

Method

  1. Make the pastry first by rubbing the suet, butter, thyme & flour together in a large bowl and slowly add the water till it comes together in a dough. Lightly flour a surface and knead the pasty for 1/2 minutes till all incorporated. Cover and place in the fridge for a couple of hours.
  1. For the best result marinate the game meat in red wine overnight. The following morning, in a large thick based pan, slowly cook the onion, celery and carrot off in the butter and rapeseed oil on a low heat which should take around 5 minutes.
  1. After 5 minutes mix in the flour and cook for another 5 minutes, finally adding in the marinated meat, wine, stock and herbs and cooking for 1 hour on a medium heat, making sure to stir every 15 minutes so that all the flour is incorporated in and the sauce begins to thicken.
  1. After the pie mix is cooked and cooled at room temperature, transfer to a large pie dish or roasting tray, cover with the rolled-out suet pastry and cook for 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
  1. Serve with roast potatoes & Yorkshire pudding.