Beef and Bacon Pie (English Medieval)

"Part of him wanted nothing so much as to hear Bran laugh again, to sup on one of Gage's beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool." -A Game of Thrones

The sweetness of the medieval pie comes from added fruit and honey. As the pie bakes, the fruit melts, giving a lovely counter-taste to the tart vinegar and salty bacon. The fruit flavour fades into the background and what remains is a sweet, rich meat pie with an easy medley of flavours.

"To make Pyes. Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pepper and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it, suet or marrow a good quantitie, a lytell vynegre, pruynes, great reasons, and dates, take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe." -A Propre new booke of Cokery, 1545.

Pastry Dough (English Medieval):
pinch saffron, dissolved in ½ cup water
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 egg, for egg wash

Filling:
1½ lbs stew beef, cut into small pieces
½ cup bacon, diced or cut small
½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup prunes, sliced
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dates, chopped
1 cup beef broth
2-3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5).

Make the Medieval Pastry:
Dissolve the saffron in the water. Cut and combine the butter into the flour until crumb-size pieces of butter are formed. Add the egg yolks and the saffron water. Mix until everything just sticks together (add more water if needed). Dough can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen indefinitely.

Filling and Assembly:
On the stovetop, cook the diced bacon until the fat runs from it; drain off the fat.

To the bacon pan, add the beef, spices, vinegar and the fruit. Add enough broth to thoroughly wet the mixture - the final consistency should be runny.

Mix in the flour and cook on low heat until the juices form a of gravy. Let the meat mixture cool.

Line a 9" pie pan with a round of pastry dough and fill it with the meat mixture. Add a pastry lid, turn the edges under, pinch them closed, and brush with beaten egg.

Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is cooked, about 40 minutes.