Chef Paul Freeman, I am passionate about the country larder, and what the seasons bring. as a keen wildfowler, and pursuer of country sports. I wanted to share some of my favorite recipes with you. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ingredients

225g pheasant, pigeon or duck breasts,
skinned and cut into finger-width strips
300g venison, or muntjac cut into
bite-sized chunks
2 tablespoons port
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
650g minced pork shoulder
50g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon sage
chopped small onion, grated
450g plain our
150g lard, diced
1 medium egg, beaten
400-600ml game or chicken stock
4 teaspoons powdered gelatine
Serves 12

Preparation: 1hr 5min › Cook: 2hr 45 mins

Put the pheasant or duck and venison into a non-metallic bowl with the port, oil and thyme.
Season and mix together. Leave to marinate overnight.
Mix the pork with breadcrumbs, sage and onion. Season well. Chill.
Sift the our into a mixing bowl with a large pinch of salt. Put the lard into a small pan with 150ml cold
water. Melt the fat slowly over a low heat and then bring to the boil. Tip into the our and quickly
mix together to form a dough. Knead on a lightly oured worktop until the dough is smooth and pliable.
Cut o a quarter of the dough and place under the mixing bowl to keep warm. Roll out the larger piece
into a 35cm diameter circle and use to line a 2cm x 14cm raised pie tin, pressing it evenly up the sides
and allowing the excess to hang over the edge – try to keep an even depth to avoid the pastry cracking
when cooking.
Drain the game and layer in the pie tin with the pork mixture, packing it in well (the meat will shrink
during cooking) and mounding in the centre slightly.
Roll out the smaller piece of pastry to form an oval lid. Brush the edges of the dough with egg, cover with
the lid and press the edges to seal. Trim the excess pastry and brush the top with egg. Make a hole in the
centre. Chill for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 190ºC (170ºC fan) gas mark 5. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg again and cook
for 45 minutes. Cover the top with foil and cook for a further 1 hour 30 minutes.
Carefully remove the edges of the tin (but not the base) and brush the sides with more beaten egg. Return to the
oven for 15-30 minutes, keeping the top covered, until the sides are golden brown.
Leave the pie to cool until just warm. If there are any cracks in the pastry, don’t panic. Plaster them over with cold,
pliable butter to stop the stock leaking and place the pie in the fridge to rm up.
Put 3 tablespoons stock into a small pan and sprinkle over the powdered gelatine. When the mixture looks spongy,
melt slowly over a low heat. Stir into the stock and leave for 30 minutes until syrupy but still pourable.
Using a funnel or piping nozzle, pour the stock through the hole in the top of the pie until you can see it has
reached the top. Chill overnight before slicing, removing any butter plastered over the cracks. Keeps for up to
two weeks. great to take out into the fields when shooting, serve with good old colemans english mustard.