DINGLE PIE
Preparation 50 minutes Cooking 5 hours 40 minutes (if making stock) Serves 6 Mutton and lamb pies were, and still are, traditional in many parts of Co Kerry, including Dingle and Listowel. Cumin was not part of the original recipe but was an addition by Myrtle Allen, which Ballymaloe House guests loved.
450g boneless lamb or mutton (from the shoulder or leg; keep bones for stock) 250g onions 250g carrots 1-2 good tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp plain flour 300ml homemade lamb or mutton stock (see right) FOR THE PASTRY 350g plain white flour
175g butter 1 organic egg, beaten FOR THE LAMB OR MUTTON STOCK lamb bones from the meat outside stalk of celery 1 carrot 1 onion a bouquet garni made up of a sprig of thyme, parsley stalks 1 small bay leaf
1 Put all the stock ingredients into a saucepan. Cover with cold water and simmer for 3-4 hours. 2 Trim all the surplus fat from the meat; dice the meat into small, neat pieces about the size of a small sugar lump. Render down the scraps of fat in a hot, wide saucepan until the fat runs. Discard the pieces. Cut the onions and carrots into slightly smaller dice and toss them in the fat, leaving them to cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the vegetables and toss the meat in the remaining fat over a high heat until the colour changes. 3 Dry roast the cumin seeds in a hot frying pan for a few minutes and crush lightly. Stir the flour and cumin seeds into the meat. Cook gently for 2 minutes and blend the stock in gradually. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Return the vegetables to the pan, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and leave to simmer, covered. If using young lamb, 30 minutes will be sufficient; an older animal may take up to 1 hour. 4 Meanwhile, make the pastry. Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Dice the butter, put it into a saucepan with 110ml water and bring to the boil. Pour the liquid into the flour all at once and mix together quickly; beat until smooth. At first the pastry will be too soft to handle but as soon as it cools it may be rolled out 2.5-5mm thick, to fit two 15cm tins, 4cm high. The pastry may be made into individual pies or one large pie (use a 17.5cm tart tin). Keep back one-third of the pastry for lids. 5 Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan) gas mark 7. Fill the pastry-lined tins with the meat mixture, which should be just cooked and cooled a little. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little water and put on the pastry lids, pressing them tightly together. Roll out the trimmings to make pastry leaves or twirls to decorate the top of the pies; make a hole in the centre. Eggwash the lid and then eggwash the decoration also. Bake the pies for about 40 minutes. Serve with a salad of seasonal leaves.