Feeding Boys & a FireFighter

Recipes & tips for filling bottomless pits

Book review: Pieminister

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shot by James Bowden and layouts designed by A-Side StudioAs the weather cruelly switches from Indian summer to wind, rain and grey skies, a recipe book full of pies for every possible occasion has definitely got my attention.

Pieminister creators Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon fancy themselves as the leaders of a ‘pie revolution’ – reinventing the pie for a new generation. Personally I don’t think the Brits needs their arms twisting, as it’s the one part of our food heritage I think we’re all rather fond of.

Anyway the two brothers-in-law founded the company back in 2003 and started knocking out pies in a shop in Bristol. The boys were passionate that their products contain fresh, responsibly sourced, free-range and natural ingredients gathered from as close to home as possible.

They hit the big time with their pies after serving them up at Glastonbury festival and at London’s Borough Market where they really caught people’s attention. You can now get hold of them all around the country at delis, food halls, famers markets and supermarkets.

So now they’ve written a book spilling all their secrets… generous of them eh?!

Who is it for?

Pie enthusiasts and those amongst us who love eating pies but perhaps have never tried to make one before. It’s not just winter food either, there are pies for summer parties, spring suppers and even one you can serve in a mug while camping!

Easy to follow

The first section of the book is given over to the important matter of pastry. There’s recipes and instructions for all the variations, from shortcrust to rough puff, suet to filo. I’ve never been brave when it comes to making pastry – I usually chicken out and buy ready-made. This book did inspire me to have a go as it made it seem so much more straightforward.

There’s a handy glossary in the pastry section too which explain all those technical terms like baking blind and crimping. There are also tips of what to do with your leftover pastry trimmings. I usually let my kids play with it like edible playdough, but I guess jam tarts would be a bonus!

shot by James Bowden and layouts designed by A-Side Studio

The rest of the book is less instruction manual and more coffee table read. Full of lovely photographs and rambling text that’s not broken up into numbered points. It’s a book to sit with on the sofa and read of an evening, and then stick post-it notes on the recipes you fancy. It’s not really a book you can just dive into and quickly find a recipe – it demands to be savoured.

It’s helpfully divided into seasons though, with an intro to the vegetables, fruit, meat and fish that are available at that time. There’s also a section at the back with ideas for what to serve with your pie.

Family friendly

The very nature of a pie is family friendly. It conjures up images of a big kitchen table with a huge steaming pie in the middle surrounded by a hungry family waiting to dig in.

In terms of recipes some of them are quite gourmet using game and spices which are perhaps not strictly suited to the tastes of small fuss pots.

However there are plenty of other more approachable recipes to choose from. There’s the wonderfully named poussin boots pie which is a fantastic spin on the traditional chicken filling, with bacon, red wine and a soured cream pastry topper.

Glamping pies with a delish sounding sausage and bean filling eaten out of mugs with puff pastry lids – great for camping or just a fun tea-time at home.

And the classic pietanic! Billed in the book as the finest fish pie to sail the seven seas, it certainly looks like family food at it’s best.

Vegetarian friendly?

The book could do with a vegetarian heading in the index so you can quickly find all the veggie recipes that are liberally dotted around the book. I was really pleased with the amount of appealing meat-free pies on offer though – I have to admit I wasn’t expecting there to be so many.

There’s a vegan friendly courgette and chickpea filo pie which looks vibrant and astonishingly healthy. The red pepper and butter bean ‘bada boom’ mini pies with herby breadcrumb crusts look tempting. And the glorious fan-taffy pie full of leeks, cheese, wine and double cream is definitely worth a go.

Most likely to cook

Well I’ve already made sausage, cider and potato pie, which was a roaring success. I’m certainly going to work my way through the vegetarian offerings, and I think I’ll make a non-spicy version of chilli ‘pie-angles’ for the kids’ lunchboxes.

Least likely to cook

I used to have a pet rabbit called Thumper, so wabbit roll and love bunny pie would never ever in a million years get served up in my house.

Would you buy it for a friend?

I think it would make a superb present for a man. Pies are seen as a macho thing, and having been written by men the book has a very masculine look and feel. A lot of the photos are of men making and eating pies.

Rating out of 10

I’d give it a 7. It’s a great looking book with a lot of fantastic recipes – but like a lot of men I know, it just needs to be a bit better organised 😉

Published in hardback by Bantam Press on 1st September 2011, priced £14.99

*****THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED, NO MORE ENTRIES PLEASE****

WIN WIN WIN!

I have one copy of Pieminister to giveaway to a lucky reader….

1. For your main chance to win please comment on this post telling me about your favourite kind of pie.

2. For a bonus second chance to win please tweet this post Win Pieminister recipe book http://tinyurl.com/3pa2sd6 @cookingkt  and comment HERE telling me you have done so along with your twitter username

3. For a third chance to win please follow me @cookingkt on Twitter and comment HERE to tell me you have done so.

4. For a fourth chance to win please go and ‘like’ Feeding Boys on Facebook, and come back to this page to comment you have done so.

*****THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED, NO MORE ENTRIES PLEASE****

This giveaway is open to all readers with a UK mailing address. The winner will be chosen using an online randomiser and announced in a subsequent post.

I am running this competition on behalf of Bantam Press who will be responsible for sending the prize to the winner. Their decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

There is one main way to enter and several ways to get bonus entries. You must leave a separate comment for each bonus entry otherwise they will not be counted.

Closing date: 10pm Sunday, 30th October 2011

Good Luck!

Thanks to Bantam Press for my review copy of Pieminister

*****THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED, NO MORE ENTRIES PLEASE****

Comments

  4. Jan Bailey says

    Our family favourite pie is a chicken,bacon and mushroom pie which is good served hot or cold. I make it in a loose bottomed tin and ease it out very carefully when cool so it has the look of a raised pie – delish!

  5. lesley stevens says

    my favourite kind of pie – homemade steak and kidney pie made by my mother – with lots of rich thick gravy – such a warming dish on a cold bleak afternoon.

  17. Christine Ball says

    My favourite kind of pie is Steak and Kidney as it is wholesome, nutritious and tastes quite delicious

  21. Tracy K Nixon says

    My favourite pie is chicken, mushroom and red pepper! My mum showed me how to make it – simply fill it with condensed cream of mushroom soup with roast chicken pieced and sliced red pepper!

  26. Miss Natalie Wallace says

    Have liked your facebook page. My favourite pie would have to be corned beef and potato.

  39. Rachel Williams says

    My favourite kind of pie is my Nan’s homemade apple pie, served with cream and a nice cup of tea.

  45. Kiara White says

    My favorite would have to be chicken pie. Must admit though I myself have never made a meat pie, maybe this book would inspire me. So far I have always stuck to sweet pies, my favorite from them being bilberry pie made from bilberries picked on Ilkley Moor, served with double cream.

  50. Lucy says

    Anything with puff pastry, although huge fan of chicken and gravy pie with mash in the winter 🙂 Would love to branch out and be a bit more creative but I’m at a loss for where to start! Think you’ve just pointed me in the right direction though 🙂

  55. Ileana Fernandes says

    My fave pie of all time is a cheese, broccoli and caluiflower pie!! Sounds strange but is really delish!

  61. Neil Gotadoro (@ngotadoro) says

    Mine’s got to be the Minty Lamb pie. The combination of tender british lamb and redcurrant sauce with those sweetly roasted root vegetables induce fond memories of English countryside and cold autumn days at outdoor festivals. Best served with a red wine gravy and perfectly mashed potatoes – nothing else compares to the first wooden fork through the shortcrust top!

  62. Cheryl Bridges says

    Great review! And my favourite pie is the classic moo pie-but I havn’t tried them all so I need this book! 🙂

  73. nikki says

    not exactly a pie, but my ultimate favourite is homemade SHEPERDS PIE. If we are going for a proper pie, it would have to be what my nan named the SUNDAY ROAST PIE, with meat and veg left from the sunday roast. I still make it now. xx

  78. Paul Thomas says

    My favourite pie is Steak & Ale. Although pretty much any pie without chesse in it is great to me.

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