I thought I’d make some pecan pie as a nod to American Thanksgiving, which is today. I used this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I love pecan pie, the nuts go so well with the toffee-like syrup. Corn syrup is not very easy to get hold of in the UK, although you can get it online. If you can’t get any, you can substitute golden syrup, or a combination of golden syrup and black treacle.
Are you a bit sick of Christmas dinner leftovers? I love turkey and ham, but realistically there are only so many days after Christmas you can keep eating cold cuts. On Boxing Day, I watched Jamie’s Best Ever Christmas and he had a recipe for Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie. It looked delicious. So, with our leftovers, I made a turkey pie based on Jamie’s recipe. I say based on, because I didn’t have quite enough leeks, or any crème fraiche, or indeed any chestnuts to put in the pastry. I also added leftover Christmas ham. It was pretty close though.
It makes a pretty big pie (as Jamie says, it’s not a “pretty-boy pie”.) I’m not sure how many people it is supposed to serve, although even with smaller amounts than Jamie used, half of my pie was enough for four people.
No, that's not a real corn on the cob, that's just the dish.
Comfort food’s a funny thing: everyone’s got their own take on it. I can understand counting sweet things as comfort food, or starchy dishes like pasta. I’ve always found it strange though that some people describe dishes like stews or casseroles as comfort food. I suppose it often has to do with what we associate with childhood, or home. For me, this is comfort food: the chicken and cheese pie (or turkey and cheese, depending on the season) that my mum always used to make. The recipe is adapted from one in All in One Cook Book by Stork & Oxo. I like to use a mixture of shortcrust and puff pastry; shortcrust on the bottom/sides of the pie, and puff pastry on the top. I especially love it when the puff pastry that’s in contact with the pie filling gets a bit soggy!
Happy Thanksgiving! It’s Thanksgiving (well, yesterday!), the day when we all give thanks for… well, er… getting rid of those pesky pilgrims? Just kidding! Ok, so it’s not Thanksgiving round here, but there’s an American in this house, and there’s also a pumpkin, so it must be time for pumpkin pie.
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