Meat Pie (French Tourte Anglaise au Porc)

The French refer to this recipe as "Anglaise" English in origin, likely dating back to the medeival era where the English introduced Europe to this delicious marvel.

Filling:
3 pork kidneys
blade steak, boneless (700 g)
smoked bacon (200 g)
4 large onions
2 large potatoes
2 sweet apples
puff pastry (300 g)
goose fat or lard (50 g)
1 egg
chicken stock cubes (2 dL)
fresh parsley
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Pastry:
1 recipe Double Crust Pie
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp. water, for glaze

Make the Pastry:
Make the pie dough, divide in half. Wrap each disc in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or even overnight would be great.

Roll-Out the Pastry:
Roll out half the dough and place it in a 9" pie plate; rollout the second disc and set aside.

Cut small slits in the top of the dough to allow steam to escape. Brush with egg yolk.

Make the Filling:
Split the kidneys in half, trim them carefully. Cut them into small cubes as well as the blade and the smoked bacon.

Peel and chop the onions. Peel the potatoes, cut them into thin slices, Peel the apples, cut them into small cubes. Wash and chop the parsley.

In a skillet, melt the fat and put the meat in it to brown quickly. Add salt and pepper. Remove them once golden and set aside.

In the same pan, put the potatoes and onions to brown.

In a bowl, mix meat, potatoes, onions, apples and parsley. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Pour into a pre-buttered pie dish. Roll out the dough. Cut a strip of dough the width of the rim of the dish. Lay it all around making it adhere, then cover the top of the pie with the remaining dough. Wet the strip so that the paste cover adheres well. Brush with egg yolk.

Bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes in a moderate oven. Cover the top with aluminum foil as soon as the pastry is golden brown.

Makes 8 servings.