pork, fennel + white bean hand pies or: how to make it though the rest of the stew

so much stew…

For we noble and intelligent and attractive people trying to live and eat well on a tight budget, cold weather is our friend.  Cold weather means making huge pots of slow cooked meat, soups, stews, fresh bread; leaving the crock pot, oven, stove on all day and ending up with enough food to feed you for a week.

The key, however, is to not want to off yourself by the end of that week because you’ve eaten the same f***ing bowl of f***ing stew every day for a f***ing week.

So here’s an easy, cheap and tasty recipe that works well as a stew (either as is or with a little added broth), as a pasta sauce, and in flaky buttery hand pies.  Turning stew into pie is certainly not an innovation but these hand pies are a lot easier to make than a traditional pot pie and you get a much higher pastry to filling ratio which, for me, is a big big plus.

Makes 4 pies with 4 cups leftover stew

pork, fennel + white bean hand pies

ingredients

crust

• 1 c unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 c flour
• pinch salt
• 2-3 tbsp cold water

stew

• 1 lb pork (I used tenderloin because I had some in my freezer but almost any cut would work) cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp salt
• ground pepper
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 generous handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 small carrots, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, quartered and finely sliced
• 1 550ml can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 300ml can diced tomatoes
• 1 splash white wine vinegar
• 1 splash balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

from stew to pie

preparation

crust

Get the crust ready first.  Add the cold butter to the flour and salt.  Mix with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles small peas.  Add water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just holds together.  There should still be visible pea-sized butter chunks, that’s what will make your crust tender and flaky.  Divide the dough into 4 equal balls and wrap each one tightly in saran wrap, pressing down to make a small flat disc.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

stew

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and oregano and stir until onions are translucent.  Turn the heat to high and add pork.  Stir for a couple of minutes until pork begins to brown then deglaze the pan with white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar.  Add carrots, bell pepper, fennel, white beans, tomatoes and parsley.

Turn heat to low and let simmer, partially covered, for 25 to 30 minutes.

Let the stew cool.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Roll out the pastry discs one at a time and place a few tablespoons of stew in the center of each one, leaving a 2 inch border around the filling.  Fold the top half of the pastry over the filling and fold the bottom edges in over the top crust.

Like a pizza pocket.

Brush the lightly beaten egg over the tops of the pies to make them nice and shiny – if you have a pastry brush that would be ideal, if you don’t then just dip your dainty little hands into the slimy egg and smush it all over the top of the pastry.  It works.

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crust turns light golden brown.

pork, fennel + white bean sauce

You can also turn the stew into a hearty pasta sauce by putting 2 cups of stew, a can of tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar in a pot over medium heat while your pasta cooks.

from stew to pasta sauce

thai green curry

I’m white.  I’m extremely Caucasian.  There you go, that’s a little bit of personal trivia for you.  So it goes without saying that I’m not even remotely Thai, therefore, I make no claims about the authenticity of this green curry.

That being said, it is super tasty, healthy, and easy to make.  Works great if you’re feeding lots of people too.

Makes 4 servings

4.85$ per 2 servings

green curry

ingredients

• 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, julienned
• 2 small carrots, sliced into medallions
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 3/4 c snow peas, tipped and tailed
• 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
• 4 green onions, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp thai green curry paste
• 1 lime
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 12 shrimp, shelled and deveined or 1 c firm tofu, cubed
• 1 c rice
• fresh cilantro (optional)

preparation

Cook the rice.

When rice is almost done cooking, heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic, ginger, green onion and curry paste.  Sautee until curry paste is fragrant – 30 seconds.

Add carrots – sautee 30 seconds – add peppers and broccoli – sautee 30 seconds.  Add coconut milk, fish sauce and juice of half a lime and bring to a simmer.  Once the mixture is simmering add snow peas and shrimp / tofu.  Cook until the shrimp is pink and firm and vegetables are just tender – 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve vegetables, shrimp and liquid over rice.  Garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges.