This is a question about steak and kidney pie.
January 4, 2013 9:08 PM Subscribe
This is a question about steak and kidney pie.
I think of S&K pie as having a very thick and unique pie top. My vague memories of it is that it has a sort of standard / normal pie crust, and inside is steak and kidney in gravy, but then the top is this very dense thick sort of bisquit covering. This covering section is chewy, tasty, moist, and goes really well with the gravy.
I do not know if that is the standard way it is made, or if I am just misremembering, or at one time was being served some very specific version, or what.
Could some expert please clarify this for me, and if my recollections are not false implants direct me to a recipe for this kind of S&K pie?
I think of S&K pie as having a very thick and unique pie top. My vague memories of it is that it has a sort of standard / normal pie crust, and inside is steak and kidney in gravy, but then the top is this very dense thick sort of bisquit covering. This covering section is chewy, tasty, moist, and goes really well with the gravy.
I do not know if that is the standard way it is made, or if I am just misremembering, or at one time was being served some very specific version, or what.
Could some expert please clarify this for me, and if my recollections are not false implants direct me to a recipe for this kind of S&K pie?
The steak and kidney pies I've seen in Australia have a puff pastry top, which is the standard top for an Australian meat pie.
Where have you had the s&k pie that you're thinking of?
posted by mosessis at 10:10 PM on January 4, 2013
Where have you had the s&k pie that you're thinking of?
posted by mosessis at 10:10 PM on January 4, 2013
I've only ever seen S&K pie with a delicious puff pastry top (both in the UK and in British pubs in the US).
You could always put standard recipe dumplings atop a normal S&K pie filling for the flavour you remember.
posted by monotreme at 10:59 PM on January 4, 2013
You could always put standard recipe dumplings atop a normal S&K pie filling for the flavour you remember.
posted by monotreme at 10:59 PM on January 4, 2013
Best answer: I think lollusc has it - or, more exactly, a S&K suet crusted pie like this.
(Fond memories of the alas now-defunct Traditional Lancastrian Bakery around the corner from where I used to live…)
posted by Pinback at 11:04 PM on January 4, 2013
(Fond memories of the alas now-defunct Traditional Lancastrian Bakery around the corner from where I used to live…)
posted by Pinback at 11:04 PM on January 4, 2013
Best answer: A proper (old-fashioned) S&K pie won't have a puff pastry top. That's something modern that you'll tend to find on factory-made pies (or pies made by people who prefer puff pastry). A suet crust should do the job nicely, although my mum always made them with an ordinary shortcrust (margarine/butter rather than suet). The underside of the pastry will go soft - rather like a dumpling) from steam rising inside the pie. I'd roll out the pastry to 5mm or so - it'll swell slightly as it cooks. You don't really need the pie to be enclosed - just fill an overproof dish and lay pastry over the top.
posted by pipeski at 12:36 AM on January 5, 2013
posted by pipeski at 12:36 AM on January 5, 2013
My mum used to make S&K pies with "rough puff" pastry, and you know, I have no idea how that differs from a normal puff pastry. I know she used animal fats as well as butter, and that pastry was DELISH.
But she also used to make what she called S&K sponge - which was a baking dish of S&K topped with a very thick spongy layer of this dumpling like stuff. It was really spongy in texture and soaked up a heap of gravy and was really good. Does that sound anything like what you're after?
Because if not, then all I can suggest is that you're looking for a straightforward shortcrust pastry, possibly make with self raising flour (rather than plain). I have an apple pie recipe I make in winter, with that sort of pastry, and the crust is denser than puff, and softer and loftier than plain shortcrust.
posted by thylacinthine at 2:09 AM on January 5, 2013
But she also used to make what she called S&K sponge - which was a baking dish of S&K topped with a very thick spongy layer of this dumpling like stuff. It was really spongy in texture and soaked up a heap of gravy and was really good. Does that sound anything like what you're after?
Because if not, then all I can suggest is that you're looking for a straightforward shortcrust pastry, possibly make with self raising flour (rather than plain). I have an apple pie recipe I make in winter, with that sort of pastry, and the crust is denser than puff, and softer and loftier than plain shortcrust.
posted by thylacinthine at 2:09 AM on January 5, 2013
Puddings are steamed (in a basin in a pan of simmering water), pies are baked. It's also true that the crust is different--the top (the whole shell, in fact) of a pudding is made from something very like scone dough. The crust of a pie could be any of the differences kinds mentioned--rough puff, shortcrust or hot-water crust. The filling is pretty much the same for both. See Wikipedia: pudding and pie. It squares with what I remember from olden times.
posted by Logophiliac at 3:05 AM on January 5, 2013
posted by Logophiliac at 3:05 AM on January 5, 2013
Best answer: The delicious creation that you are describing is, as others have said Steak & Kidney Pudding. Here is a recipe from Delia Smith, the queen of classic British cookery. I think its much nicer than the pie version because the crust absobs much more of the gravy flavours.
posted by cantthinkofagoodname at 12:02 AM on January 6, 2013
posted by cantthinkofagoodname at 12:02 AM on January 6, 2013
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posted by lollusc at 9:19 PM on January 4, 2013 [1 favorite]