Andrew Pern’s Game Pie

Serves 8

Cooking time: 11/2 hours plus overnight chilling # Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3 # To make the pastry, first warm a mixing bowl and sift the flour and salt into it. Make a well in the centre. Heat the lard in the milk and water in a saucepan over a medium heat until just reaching boiling point, then pour into the well in the flour and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until thick. # Continue working by hand to form a smooth dough. Cool slightly, then use the dough to line a greased 20cm tin, keeping some of the dough for the lid separately in a warm place. Put the tin onto a tray. # Line the pie case with the pastry and cut out a disc of pastry for the lid. Cut all of the game breasts into strips lengthways approximately 5mm thick. Season the pork and the game meats. Now layer the pork and breast meats inside the pie case, repeating until all the meats have been used. Brush the rim of the pastry with the egg yolk, cut a small hole in the centre of the pastry lid (through which the jelly will be poured when the pie is cooked), then seal to the base. # Egg wash the lid and cook the pie in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Towards the end of the cooking time for the pie, soak the leaf gelatine in a little cold water, until soft. Then bring the game stock, sloe gin and redcurrant jelly to the boil in a small saucepan, then remove the pan from the heat and add the soaked gelatine, whisking until this is dissolved. Add the juniper berries and allow to cool a little without setting. # After the pie has been removed from the oven, use a funnel to pour the sweet jelly through the hole in the lid, into the pie. Allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight. The jelly will set in a similar way to that in a traditional pork pie. Enjoy!

A Surprise of Pigeon

Main courseServes 4

# Season the pigeons with salt and cracked black pepper. # Using a butter knife apply the softened butter inside and around the bird. # Remove the leaves off the rosemary and thyme, chop finely, then sprinkle the herbs over and inside the birds. # Take the peeled quartered apples and stuff them inside the pigeons, this will give the pigeons a sweet centre and enhance the flavours, and taste great alongside the puff pastry and red wine jus. # Now roll out the pastry and wrap up the pigeons individually so that the birds are totally encased in the dough. # Mould the pastry around the legs of the pigeon and allow the bones to stick out slightly. # Next, put the egg yolks and a large pinch of salt in a bowl and mix together using a pastry brush.