The Velveteen Rabbit Luncheon Club is a gorgeous bistro in Great Ayton which is ran by Kirstine Walton and Ian Monro. They are both really passionate about educating people to eat more game. Try this delicious game pie recipe featuring pheasant and partridge.
Serves 4
You will need 4 pudding dishes or individual pie dishes. You can even use muffin tins for smaller pies. Just adjust the cooking time to suit
Ingredients
For the filling:
4 x pheasant breasts cut into 2cm cubes
4 x pigeon breasts cut into 2cm cubes
2 x partridges salt and peppered and roasted – when cool pick the meat from the bones
2 x carrots, diced
2 x sticks celery, diced
1 x medium brown onion, diced
2 x peaches, skin removed and diced
150ml Bourbon Whisky
300ml of good quality stock
Glug of cooking oil for frying
2 x tablespoons of arrowroot dissolved in 50ml cold water
2 x cloves of garlic,chopped
1 x tablespoon of Fairley’s steak sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt and white pepper to taste
For the pastry:
400g self raising flour
100g suet
100g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
Warm water
1 x beaten egg
Method
Make the pastry first because it needs time to rest.
Mix the salt with the flour, rub in the butter and diet until it looks like breadcrumbs Slowly add the water while mixing. You only want enough to just bring it together and leave your hands clean. Cover and place in the fridge.
Now make your filling. Take a deep pan (enough to hold everything)on a low heat with a little oil sauté the onions until they are translucent. Turn the heat up. Add the garlic, carrots and celery, pigeon and pheasant. Sauté for two minutes. Add the oregano, salt and pepper and Bourbon and simmer for two minutes more. Add all the remaining ingredients, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool a little.
Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan. Grease your pudding dishes. Divide the pastry into four parts. Flour a surface. Roll each one out to 5mm thick. Place in dishes making sure the pastry goes right to the bottom. You should have quite an amount of excess pastry over the edges at this point.
Divide your filling between the dishes. Gather the edges up over the top of each pie and pinch together. Glaze with the beaten egg and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top
You can eat them straight from the dishes or turn them out.
