Cheshire Pie - Part 2: The Filling

Next we will be looking at how to fill your Cheshire Pie!  If you haven't already visited the crust making tutorial in part 1, you can find that here.

Now that you are ready to fill your pie you must prepare your ingredients.  Again I have referred to Hannah Glasse and History is Served for the particulars of the filling, though I have made a few adjustments of my own.





For your filling you will need:

• Nutmeg
• Sugar
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Cinnamon 
• A Sweet Red Apple
• A Sour Green Apple
• A Sweet White Wine
• Butter
• About 1 pound of pork
• 1 egg

Start by preparing your meat; I chose a small pork loin however a shoulder or butt would work very well
too.  Cut the meat into thin strips, or steaks as Glasse calls them, about a 1/4 of an inch thick.

Once you have the meat sliced throw it in a bowl and add your seasonings; nutmeg, salt, and pepper should suffice.  Some other recipes may give you exact measurements for these seasonings however I would argue that you should use them to taste just be careful as the nut meg is very potent.

Next fill your crust about 2/3 of the way with the seasoned meat ensuring that you are packing all available space, the meat will shrink as it cooks and you don't want to waste any space.

After the meat comes the apples.  Wash, core, skin, and slice both the red and green apples; I used a Granny Smith and a Gala however most recipes call for the red to be a Macintosh (I just happened to have Galas at home).  Toss the apple slices in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and then fill each pie and top each pie with a pad of butter.

Now what we have all waited for: time to crack open the wine! Fill each pie about 2/3's of the way up and be careful because you won't need much wine for these small crusts.

A note on the wine.  Many recipes online will call for a Rhine wine and if that is available to you I would use that however, like most historical cooking, use what you have at hand, your ancestors certainly didn't have access to the diversity of cuisine we did and they made due. Even Glasse only calls for "White wine". I used Lucky Duck Muscato because it is cheap, sweet, and readily available.

Now beat an egg thoroughly as it will serve as a glue to keep this all together. Apply a liberal amount of egg to the rim of your pie and the bottom of your pie top and then fix your top to your pie.  Jos A. Townsend suggests that you warm up your top prior to this step; I did it both ways: warmer is much better.

To achieve that wonderful toasted gold color be sure to slather your pies in some of the beaten egg.  Try using the egg as a coloring for your designs by only 'painting' certain sections in order to get some contrast.

Now a quick hour or so at 375 (350 convection) in the oven will bring your pies to completion.

Be sure to check that your pies have cooked through by using a meat thermometer to check the pork's temperature. I would suggest poking your thermometer through the tops of your pies when possible as a stab to the side tends to leak juices, something I found out the hard way.

Now your pies are ready to eat!  Historically speaking you would not intentionally eat the crust of these pies, they were more of a serving dish however the crust is edible and actually pretty tasty.

I hope you enjoy your meal and that this tutorial should help guide you on your quest to make a great Cheshire Pie.