Pork Pie

As I mentioned in our weekly menu, this pie was inspired by a post on Equal Opportunity Kitchen about Tourtiere. My final result though, was probably much more like the pork pie we had at the Whole Hog Dinner in December (despite the fact I didn't use head meat).

I thought we had some ground pork in the freezer that wasn't flavored into Italian or breakfast sausage but I was wrong so, I thawed some country style ribs to grind my own. In the end, I decided to skip the grinding all together & just cut the pork into small cubes instead. I think that cubes texture was actually really good against the texture of the grated potatoes & onions.

As for the rest of the filling I just went with flavors that I thought would be good with pork, beer, apple cider, sage, cinnamon & clove. The kale I added to get some healthy, leafy greens into our dinner. Simmering the pork, onions, kale & potatoes in the beer & seasonings made the pork & kale tender plus brought out a real sweetness in the onions. I was very surprised at home much apple flavor came through with just a little cider vinegar, part of that might have been the clove & sweet onions fooling my taste buds.

Let's talk pie crust*. I know I should be making my own but it so easy to just pull frozen store-bought dough out of the freezer. Plus, I recently discovered this local brand, Pappy's. I love how each packages contains four balls of dough (each big enough for a one crust pie) instead of already rolled out crusts. That means I can shape the dough anyway I want. It tastes wonderful & has a perfect light, flaky texture. Really, how could I resist buying a crust that says "the Secret is in the Lard" right on the package?!

Pork Pie
A great alternative to chicken pot pie! I made this in two individual pie plate so we could have one pie for dinner & the other for lunch leftovers but it'll also work perfectly in one large pie pan.

pie crust for a double crust pie
1/2 T olive oil
3/4 lb pork, cut into 1/2" cubes (I used country style ribs)
salt & pepper
4 1/2 - 5 oz yukon gold potato, grated
2 1/2 oz yellow onion, grated
2 oz kale, blanched & chopped
1/4 t dry sage
pinch cinnamon
pinch ground clove
1 c lighter-style beer (we used Grain Belt Premium)
1 T cider vinegar
1 egg, beaten with a little water

If using a frozen pie crust thaw it out.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork, season with a little salt & pepper then sauté until browned on all sides. Stir in the potato, onions & kale. Add the sage, cinnamon, cloves & a little more salt & pepper. Pour in the beer & vinegar. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer until all the liquid is gone, mine took 10 - 15 minutes.

Roll out half the pie crust to fill the bottom of your pie pan & up the sides. Add the pork filling. Roll out the other half the pie crust large enough to top the pie with a little extra. TOp the filling & fold the edges over with the excess bottom crust to seal. Brush with the beaten egg & sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Poke a few times with a fork.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F & cook for 30 more minutes.

Makes 1 pie, 4 servings.


* I wrote about Pappy's pie crust without any compensation or free product. I just like to support local companies that make good products.

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