The Tale Of My " Cheat " Pie ......

Before i moved in with my partner , i used to bake at my house , something for us to eat on a Saturday . He would come and pick me up at lunch time , after work , then we`d go to his house for the rest of the weekend .

Amoungst the things i did make , was my home made meat and potoato pie . We both like " traditional " english food , and this is one of them . There was never a time when any was left over .

However - a few years later , and i had moved in . I was " rumbled " or " found out " , on how i made my pie !

I was in the kitchen preparing it , and he came in and saw what i was doing . In front of me was ... 2 tins of cooked stewed beef , a packet of pastry - the kind where you add water to mix to a dough - and some cooked potatoes in onion gravy .
The conversation , went something like this .....

What are you making ?

My meat and potato pie .

But i thought you cooked your own meat ! ?

Why would i do that , when i can buy some already cooked ! It`s cheaper that way , and you`ve never said anything about it before .

That`s because i`ve not seen you make it ! That`s cheating ! That`s not a homemade pie !

Yes it is , i am making it myself aren`t i , at home ? It`s not a shop bought one !

Huh ! and off he walked !

So needless to say , i think i shattered his illusion of my pie making ! When he thought i would be slaving away cooking some meat first , then making my own pastry . I suppose that i could do , as i am a qualified chef ! But who wants to do this when you can buy some good quality tinned meat ready to use !!

So i thought i would show you some photos of my " Cheat Pie " , which i made at the weekend , with no complaints !!

Here it is in the oven proof dish . I cooked some bite sized pieces of potato in onion gray , until they were soft . Then added 2 tins of stewed beef .

Put a pastry lid on ... Nothing fancy , just quickly rolled out and plonked on top !!



Here it is 45 minutes later , 190 c ....

My plate , ready to eat it , with Yorkshire puddings , and LOADS of gravy !!

And i was told to take a photo without the pool of gravy on it ! So you can see it better ! And because he doesn`t like gravy too much ! How can you not like gravy ??

I always have some pastry left over .... So i do a corned beef and onion pasty , for him to take to work to eat the next day .

We`ve called it " The Brick " . As it is the size of a house brick !! We have to cut it in half to get it into containers !

Just cooked pasty .... It does look like a cornish pasty , but mine is a Homemade one !!

So theres my tale of my pie making ....

Still after years of being found out , he still eats it , and we both have a laugh about it being homemade ! ;o)