Coronation Street Inspired Spring Form Pie

This is my spring form pie.

My wife watches Coronation Street religiously. I've been seeing a pie just like this one in a display case on the show for years now. It makes me hungry every time I see it. The show plays every week night so I get hungry a lot.

I was walking through Winners the other day and saw a spring form pan for $3. The rest as they say is history.

Step 1: Locate and Wipe a Spring Form Pan With Lard.

This is my spring form. Its a 3" x 6". That is large enough to make a pie that serves 4 people or 2 very hungry people.

Step 2: Lets Get Cooking

Carrots need a head start so cook them until they aren't crunchy but are still firm. Then add broccoli, cauliflower and some chopped nappa cabbage. Once this mixture has had time to soften add a can of mushroom soup with a half can of water and stir in.

Step 3: Now for the Mushroom and Onion That You Will Mix With Ground Beef.

Add chopped onions and a bit of oil (I use grape seed oil) and saute until translucent then add sliced mushrooms. Once they are soft add a can of mushroom soup and stir in. Set this aside with the veggies

Step 4: Ground Beef. Yum!

Now cook ground beef until no pink remains. I added some of my own mixed pepper powder from this years harvest.

This is where I had my brain fart and didn't take a few pics that would have fit here perfectly. So I ask you to imagine a pan of gorgeous ground beef. Now envision a bowl of perfectly cooked onions and mushrooms resting in a mix of mushroom soup being stirred into the beef and set aside.

Thank you.

Step 5: Now We Visit the Doctor

Dr. Oetker is an easy to make pie crust. I have made scratch crust before but this stuff is just so handy. I keep a few boxes on hand for when I get bored and hungry.

All you do with this mix is add the recommended amount of butter and water. The instructions are on the box. You can't go wrong. Once you get your hands into the bowl work fast and kneed the mix until smooth. You don't want to melt the butter so do it quick tear a piece large enough to roll out as a top , wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for later.

This procedure is not camera friendly so again I ask that you use your imagination.

Step 6: Now Lets Roll

The wife happened to walk into the kitchen. Instant new camera person.

When you roll the dough out use some flour to make sure it doesn't stick to the work surface.

Step 7: Fill Er Up!

So the phone rang grr!

I had draped the dough into the pan and filled it to the half way mark by the time my photographer returned. So again I ask you to imagine that step. You're getting good at this imagination thing aren't you?

I had leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge so I added them in between layers. Potato, beef, veggies etc. until the pan was full. No room though at the top for potato.

Step 8: Roll and Cover

So now the refrigerated piece of dough comes into play. It gets rolled out slightly larger than the top of the pie. In this pic it looks much larger than it is. Once its on the pie it looks more in perspective.Now roll up and pinch the edges closed.

Step 9: Egg Wash and Vent

An egg and a squirt of water mixed up and brushed on the top will help it brown when cooked. The vent holes on top will stop it from cracking on top when the internal temperature rises.

Step 10: Lets Get Cookin'

The Dr. prescribed a stretch in the 450 degree oven for 25 minutes. Dr. Oetker knows his stuff. The pie looks amazing. 15 minutes to cool before attempting the spring form removal is essential.

Step 11: The Grand Opening

To make cutting into perfect pieces possible I put the pie in the fridge till the next day. A bread knife made sawing through the top crust doable. Slow and steady did the trick. I wrapped up two pieces and froze them for another day and the wife and I had the other two for dinner. Nuked to the prefect temperature in our microwave.

I'm sure as an eat it the day you cook it item it would be a bit messy but it is quite impressive when it is delivered to the table.

Comments

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Lovely! I love how the layers turned out :)

[DanPro]

Thanks Penolopy. I think adding the day old mashed potatoes gave a nice clean line to the layers.
I must credit my wife for that addition. She makes the best fermented lemon mashed.

[boocat]

Great looking pie! I got a Silverwood form, but haven't yet had the nerve to try a pork pie. Got some Atora Shredded Beef Suet to make short crust. (I am American from the West Coast and have been collecting British cookbooks and trying to study English dishes.)
Seeing your instructable lends me confidence. Thank you for sharing.

[DanPro]

Glad you were inspired. Wow a Silverwood form, Atora Suet AND Brittish cook books! You are as ready as anyone can be. My Fat Dadio's form, Dr. Oetker and virtually no measurements is somewhat embarrassing by comparison. I did some research on hot water crust, but Dr. Oetker allowed me to wing it without the effort involved in using expensive ingredients and reading a recipe. Cut in butter, add water knead and roll. Not exactly rocket science. I would love to see you do an instructable showing how the British do it to compare with my Southern Ontario version. Worst case scenario is stew with croutons still delicious.

[Nancy JG]

These are interesting instructions, and the end product looks great, but by definition, doesn't a "recipe" include a list of ingredients and approximate quantities thereof?

[DanPro]

Point well taken Nancy.
This was my first attempt at an instructable and a spring form pie as well.
My cooking style is very much an on the fly approach.
I just open the fridge and cupboards and start cooking.
If its in the fridge it may very well end up in the pot.
Quantities are ones personal expression of the art form.
I love spice so I add lots, but to tell you to add a table spoon of habanero powder would be wrong of me. Also, I don't use salt when I cook so I guess I should have added "season to taste" as an instruction. You can add it in but you can never take it out. I had five children so quantities = make lots. In fact the pie was just a small part of the end product. It was merely something to make the cooking experience more fun. So another quantity, that of fun = again have lots. The rest of the ingredients are being enjoyed still and it has been days since said pie has faded into a distant memory.
I do understand, a little late though, what you are saying. I just saw a comfort food contest and thought "Hey I can do that" Then I went into creation mode. After submitting the end product I looked at a few other entries and saw that even making a sandwich or a burger can be documented to the extreme. If I do another Instructable it will be a much more well documented effort. But I think this one begs you to throw aside measuring devices open the fridge and cupboard and have some fun.

[attosa]

Hahahah i love love love your inspiration for making this pie! My sister watches Coronation Street but I have not seen said pie. This looks delish!

[DanPro]

Thanks Attosa it was yummy.