Melt in the Mouth Duck Pie
Ingredients
- 1 duck weighing 4 1/2 lbs
- 5 pts water
- 3 tsp salt
- Soup vegetables carrots, leek, celery, etc.
- 1 onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 1 1/3 cup button mushrooms
- 2 1/2 oz butter
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1 egg separated
- 2 pinches freshly ground white pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
for the pastry
- 3 cups plain flour
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 floz iced water
- Butter to grease tin
- egg yolk for glaze
Instructions
- To make the filling, bring water and 2 tsp salt to the boil.
- Wash duck and giblets, then lower duck, heart and gizzard into briskly boiling water.
- Put liver aside. Simmer duck gently, skimming off scum as it forms during first 30 minutes.
- Wash and trim soup vegetables. Peel and halve onion, spiking bay leaf to one half with cloves.
- After 30 minutes add vegetables to duck and continue to simmer for 1 hour longer.
- To make pastry, sift flour onto work surface with a well in centre. Scatter butter in dabs around edge, putting egg yolk, salt and water in well.
- Work all ingredients lightly together, then roll pastry in foil and leave in refrigerator to chill.
- Remove duck from stock, cool slightly, then take meat off bone and chop very finely.
- Skim fat off cold stock and measure out 1 cup (8 fl oz) 250 ml.
- Finely chop liver; wipe and chop mushrooms. Heat butter, saute liver and mushrooms before sprinkling with flour and continuing to saute until pale brown.
- Gradually add stock and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Take pan off heat, stir in egg yolk and season to taste with salt, pepper and thyme. Stir in chopped duck.
- Beat egg white until stiff and fold into filling.
- Preheat oven to 220° (425°F) Gas Mark 7. Grease a 23 cm (9 in) tin with butter.
- Roll out pastry into 2 circles the same size as the tin, plus a long strip to make the side of the pie. Place one circle in base of tin and the long strip around the edge, sealing well.
- Spoon filling into shell, place lid on top and press edges together with a fork. Prick diamond patterns on top with a skewer so that steam can escape.
- Brush with beaten egg yolk.
- Bake for 1 hour on bottom shelf of oven and allow to cool in the tin before serving.
Calories: 791 kcal
Carbohydrates: 40 g
Protein: 18 g
Fat: 62g
Saturated Fat: 27 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 177 mg
Sodium: 1304 mg
Potassium: 342 mg
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 1 g
Vitamin A: 927 IU
Vitamin C: 4 mg
Calcium: 47 mg
Iron: 5 mg