Potato Pork Pie

I've been reading up about the English cuisine...and i was surprised to find myself salivating ;). When it comes to dessert, West definitely rules (i am a Rachel Allen and Nigella Lawson fan), BUT when it comes to the main dish on the table, it had to be Asian for me. I need the spices, bland was never grand and so I was very  skeptical of dishes without a bit of chilli in it.


But the last few weeks of reading up on some of the traditional English recipes have so intrigued me that i decided to keep my biases aside and attempt one of the recipe. I initially wanted to attempt Cottage Pie but unfortunately the beef shop was closed and so i had to settle on making this Potato Pork Pie. Beef and Pork being my favorite protein, and so the obvious choice of meat :).

It was so good, i loved it and enjoyed it thoroughly. I am planning to follow up on this recipe using chicken for Hubby's sake. If you love pork and potato and baked meals, this one is for you. Here's the recipe.


Ingredients for the Pork:

500g - Ground Pork

11/2 Cups - Carrot diced

11/4 Cup - Green Peas (i used frozen peas)

2 - Garlic Pods

1 Tsp - Dried Chives

1 Tsp - Dried Rosemary

1 Cup - Chicken Stock

Salt - As per taste

2 1/2 Tbsp - Veg Oil

For Mashed Potato:

300 g - Potato

2 Tbsp - Full Fat Cream

1/2 Tsp - Garlic Salt

Method:
Preparing the pork:

• Heat oil in a wok and fry the onions till lightly browned.
• Add the carrots and peas and saute for a couple of minutes and then add the ground pork.
• Saute the vegetable and pork mixture till the meat starts to firm up
• Add the chives and rosemary and salt and saute for a few more minutes
• Now add the chicken stock, let me add here that you can use any stock of your choice :), let it come to boil and then turn heat down to simmer and cook till the pork is cooked
• Tilt the wok so as to drain the excess oil from the meat

Preparing Mashed Potato:

• Prick the potatoes with a fork and pressure cook the potatoes till tender (around 4-5 whistles)
• Mash the potatoes with a wooden spoon or fork till there are no lumps
• Add the cream and garlic salt

Assembling:

• Preheat oven at 200 degree C when your pork is just about done.
• Transfer the veg-pork mixture into a baking dish and spread it evenly
• Layer the top with the mashed potato and bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes 

Have it straight out of the oven, garlic bread pairs well. Drain the fat down by having some oranges or sweet lime and  all will be well :). With a recipe like this one i am looking forward to winter....