Eddie

My brother thinks I should buy him this for Christmas!

https://belgiuminabox.com/shop/oude-geuze-unsweetened/6779-belle-vue-selection-lambic-gueuze-1999-75-cl.html#.X8PBLs5xdPY

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

We had the ceremonial tasting of the pork pie this morning. Absolutely lovely.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

It's Flemish stew - tastes utterly fantastic.
3 or 4 chopped onions 7 or 8 cloves of garlic, chopped 250 g mushrooms (I use chestnut mushrooms, but any really) 2 carrots, sliced thinly (julienne) 400 g beef (I tend to use shin beef - cheapish, but a decent cut) 25 cl beef stock 60 cl Belgian dark beer (I tend to use Leffe Brune - not the best by any means, but ok in a stew) Half a teaspoon of nutmeg 2 dessert spoons Syrop de Liege or any heavy fruit preserve (I've tried Morello cherry preserve, and that was really good) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 dessert spoons Demerara sugar 2 slices of bread, liberally coated in Dijon mustard 1 bouquet garni Method
Fry onions in hot olive oil until they start to caramelise Add the garlic, reduce the temperature a little, continue frying for a couple of minutes until the pungent aroma hits Add the meat, fry until browned and sealed. Add the mushrooms and carrots Add the beef stock and beer Add the vinegar Reduce to a simmer Stir in the nutmeg Add the sugar and syrop de liege Add the bouquet garni Spread 2 slices of bread with the mustard and float on top of the stew, mustard side down Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 hours, until the meat starts to disintegrate, stirring occasionally. By now, the bread will have completely dissolved, and this causes the stew to thicken When the stew is very thick, serve with French Fries or chunky chips.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

Not eating these tonight, but will definitely sample part of one tomorrow.
I decided to try my hand today at making a hand-raised pork pie (actually, I made two). In the process, I test-drove my new meat grinder - perhaps the best £25 I've spent recently that wasn't on beer. I must have read about 10 methods, and all the recipes were vastly different as far as the hot water pastry was concerned. Some had twice as much lard as water, some had twice as much water as lard, and so on. 
Another issue was making the pastry case separate to the pie, by using a jar, bottle, dish or anything like that as a mould, then putting it in the fridge until the pastry hardened, then trying to remove the (uncooked) pastry from the outside of the mould without breaking/damaging it. In the end, I decided to just roll the pastry out, mould the meat into the dimensions I wanted and then hand-raise the pastry around that. It seemed to work fine.

Just opened our first BIAB order for a while (two arrived on Friday - opened one today and will leave the other one for a few days yet).
I too was the recipient of a prezzy - a 75 cl bottle of Gulden Draak Brewmaster 2019.
He must be desperate to keep my custom.

Currently binge-watching Ozark on Netflix.
The Memsahib likes it. I think it's rubbish.

It's Flemish stew - tastes utterly fantastic.
3 or 4 chopped onions 7 or 8 cloves of garlic, chopped 250 g mushrooms (I use chestnut mushrooms, but any really) 2 carrots, sliced thinly (julienne) 400 g beef (I tend to use shin beef - cheapish, but a decent cut) 25 cl beef stock 60 cl Belgian dark beer (I tend to use Leffe Brune - not the best by any means, but ok in a stew) Half a teaspoon of nutmeg 2 dessert spoons Syrop de Liege or any heavy fruit preserve (I've tried Morello cherry preserve, and that was really good) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 dessert spoons Demerara sugar 2 slices of bread, liberally coated in Dijon mustard 1 bouquet garni Method
Fry onions in hot olive oil until they start to caramelise Add the garlic, reduce the temperature a little, continue frying for a couple of minutes until the pungent aroma hits Add the meat, fry until browned and sealed. Add the mushrooms and carrots Add the beef stock and beer Add the vinegar Reduce to a simmer Stir in the nutmeg Add the sugar and syrop de liege Add the bouquet garni Spread 2 slices of bread with the mustard and float on top of the stew, mustard side down Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 hours, until the meat starts to disintegrate, stirring occasionally. By now, the bread will have completely dissolved, and this causes the stew to thicken When the stew is very thick, serve with French Fries or chunky chips.

I guess it's not much use me popping round to Aldi then?

It's Flemish stew - tastes utterly fantastic.
3 or 4 chopped onions 7 or 8 cloves of garlic, chopped 250 g mushrooms (I use chestnut mushrooms, but any really) 2 carrots, sliced thinly (julienne) 400 g beef (I tend to use shin beef - cheapish, but a decent cut) 25 cl beef stock 60 cl Belgian dark beer (I tend to use Leffe Brune - not the best by any means, but ok in a stew) Half a teaspoon of nutmeg 2 dessert spoons Syrop de Liege or any heavy fruit preserve (I've tried Morello cherry preserve, and that was really good) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 dessert spoons Demerara sugar 2 slices of bread, liberally coated in Dijon mustard 1 bouquet garni Method
Fry onions in hot olive oil until they start to caramelise Add the garlic, reduce the temperature a little, continue frying for a couple of minutes until the pungent aroma hits Add the meat, fry until browned and sealed. Add the mushrooms and carrots Add the beef stock and beer Add the vinegar Reduce to a simmer Stir in the nutmeg Add the sugar and syrop de liege Add the bouquet garni Spread 2 slices of bread with the mustard and float on top of the stew, mustard side down Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 hours, until the meat starts to disintegrate, stirring occasionally. By now, the bread will have completely dissolved, and this causes the stew to thicken When the stew is very thick, serve with French Fries or chunky chips.

It's Flemish stew - tastes utterly fantastic.
3 or 4 chopped onions 7 or 8 cloves of garlic, chopped 250 g mushrooms (I use chestnut mushrooms, but any really) 2 carrots, sliced thinly (julienne) 400 g beef (I tend to use shin beef - cheapish, but a decent cut) 25 cl beef stock 60 cl Belgian dark beer (I tend to use Leffe Brune - not the best by any means, but ok in a stew) Half a teaspoon of nutmeg 2 dessert spoons Syrop de Liege or any heavy fruit preserve (I've tried Morello cherry preserve, and that was really good) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 dessert spoons Demerara sugar 2 slices of bread, liberally coated in Dijon mustard 1 bouquet garni Method
Fry onions in hot olive oil until they start to caramelise Add the garlic, reduce the temperature a little, continue frying for a couple of minutes until the pungent aroma hits Add the meat, fry until browned and sealed. Add the mushrooms and carrots Add the beef stock and beer Add the vinegar Reduce to a simmer Stir in the nutmeg Add the sugar and syrop de liege Add the bouquet garni Spread 2 slices of bread with the mustard and float on top of the stew, mustard side down Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 hours, until the meat starts to disintegrate, stirring occasionally. By now, the bread will have completely dissolved, and this causes the stew to thicken When the stew is very thick, serve with French Fries or chunky chips.