Wednesday 17 May 2017

Recipe: Anchovy, Bacon & Potato Pie


I really like old cookery books...

It's a mix of the almost-musty smell combined with the softness of the well-worn pages, plus the curiosity of who owned them before me. Often there's a name but in one I found recently there was only a handwritten recipe for a Porter Cake, which I have still to make ... but this was still a connection to a previous owner and their cooking, which is something special.

The book is called 'The Good Cook's Encyclopedia' and was published in 1962 so it's hardly ancient, and while I was thumbing through the pages for a recipe for a meaty pie I came across this one instead:


Something appealed about it - probably the thoughts of the salty anchovies combined with the mini-chips and a silky smooth creamy sauce. So I decided to cook it with a small amount of variation. I felt a little bacon would help - as it often does generally in life -  and added a little extra zing with a bit of mustard, black pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan

So here it is...

Ingredients:

  • 4 Large Shallots chopped in rings
  • 4 Medium Potatoes cut in to mini-chips, rinsed and dried
  • 50g of Anchovies in oil
  • 300ml Cream
  • 1 Streaky Bacon cut into thin strips
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Mustard
  • Black Pepper
  • Parmesan


Recipe:

  • Fry the bacon in olive oil until crisp and remove
  • Soften the shallots in the same oil
  • In a small ovenproof dish add half the chips, then a layer of anchovies combined with the bacon, top this with the shallots and then finish with the rest of the chips
  • Dot the top of the pie with a small amount of butter and drizzle some of the anchovy oil over too for good measure
  • Cook in a hot (200C) oven for 10 minutes
  • Mix a teaspoon of mustard with the cream and pour into the dish, top with a dusting of parmasan and black pepper
  • Cook for a further 30-40 minutes until the chips are cooked and there is some colour on the top of the pie
  • Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Liam