Monday, March 20, 2017

Is a Beef Wellington a Pie?

Last night I had a Beef Wellington, at the Honest Lawyer Restaurant in Cockermouth.  It was made by putting a little filet mignon inside a puff pastry.  It was delicious.  I am not sure if this counts as a pie, but most pies I've been eating lately are basically beef and pastry crust, so I'm including it here on my pie blog.  I think most Beef Wellingtons are made with the whole tenderloin, not just a little filet, and if so, mine was like a pasty, or hand-pie, as some call them; an individualized little combination of beef and crust.  Very nice. 
In France, there is the filet de bœuf en croûte (fillet of beef in pastry), which seems to be a Beef Wellington here. 
Here are a couple photos of my Beef Wellington.  


Here is a great pie I had last week.  It was made by Nicola, a Sellafield security guard who trained as a chef in earlier days.  It was a chicken and leak pie.  The amazing thing is that there is a kind of granulated gravy here in the UK that mixes up with hot water, and this went with the pie, which was excellent, and a change from the mostly steak pies I've been eating. 


Sunday, March 12, 2017

I had a couple excellent steak & ale pies since the last post.  The first one was consumed yesterday at the Bitter End Pub, a nice pub on the banks of the diminutive Bitter Beck river in Cockermouth.  This pie was great, especially the pastry crust which was crispy and light.  Relatively light.  The second pie was tonight, at the Trout Hotel.  This pie was also excellent, especially the rich and thickly textured dark gravy.  The peas at the Trout weren't actually mushy peas, which I enjoy whenever I find them.  I enjoyed mushy peas the night before at the Bitter End Pub, for example.  The Trout Hotel peas were crushed and minted, and so they were not as creamy as one would expect if they were mushy, and minted did not impart a good taste. But the pie was delicious, which is what counts. 



Thursday, March 9, 2017

Last night I enjoyed a steak and ale pie at the Stanley Arms Hotel, in Calderbridge.  This probably was the second best pie I've ever had.  It was very amazing.  Thick with tender meat. 




Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Lunch today was a steak & ale pie, chips, and seasonal veg (strange root vegetables).  This was an excellent pie, from Sella Park Country House Hotel, next to the Sellafield site.




Tuesday, March 7, 2017

I just enjoyed a delicious pie of Moroccan lamb at Gothsforth Hall, Cumbria.