LEFTOVER EGG WASH RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. For this recipe, you will need 800 g cooked white turkey meat, torn into big chunks.
  2. This is dead simple, completely versatile and absolutely gorgeous. It’s not a pretty-boy pie; it’s a proper, old-school pie that everyone will be over the moon to see on the table. I’m putting leftover white turkey meat to good use here, but you could also mix brown meat in there too.
  3. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Put your bacon in a large pan on a medium heat and add your thyme leaves. Add a lug of olive oil and let it all fry off a few minutes. Add all of your prepped leeks and fry them off for about 3 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper then pop the lid on top, turn the heat down to medium and let them cook away gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they don’t catch. There’s going to be enough moisture in the leeks to keep them happy in the pan so they should be soft and melt in your mouth once they’re done.
  4. When your leeks are ready, add the turkey meat to them and stir. If you’ve got a bit of stuffing mixed in there you can put that in too. Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. Add the crème fraîche then turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil. Have a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if it needs it then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the wonderful gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry.
  5. Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your pastry out so it’s about double the size of your dish. Crumble the chestnuts over one half of the pastry then tear a few of the sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the other half of pastry on top then roll it out carefully and evenly so you have a rectangle big enough to cover your baking tray. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there.
  6. Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top, tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg then paint this egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. When the pie is ready, re-heat the lovely gravy and serve with your pie, along with some peas tossed in butter, lemon, salt and pepper and everyone’s happy!

Steps:

• For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the chilled butter using your fingertips. Gradually add enough cold water to form a dough (about 150-180ml/5-6fl oz).
• Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle. Grate 60g/2¼oz of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the top third as if folding a letter. Turn by 90 degrees and roll out again. Repeat, adding the remaining frozen butter and fold as before. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
• For the filling, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the leeks to the pan with the orange juice, zest and sherry. Cover and cook gently for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the leeks are just tender. Remove the lid and increase the heat, reduce the volume of liquid until you are left with a few spoonfuls of buttery liquid. Sprinkle the flour over the leeks and stir to mix evenly. Gradually stir in the stock and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Add the mustard, turkey and ham and stir. Finally add the tarragon and cream. Season to taste with a little white pepper and salt.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Pour the pie filling and sauce into a 1.2-1.5 litre/2-2½ pint pie dish dish and allow to cool. If you have a pie funnel, put it in the middle of the filling.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to about 5mm thick. Cut a 2cm/¾in strip of pastry. Brush the rim of the pie dish with egg wash, then place the pastry strip onto the rim and brush it with more egg wash.
• To make the pie lid, cut the remaining pastry a little larger than the dish and lift it into place (use the rolling pin to help you). Make a steam hole to expose the funnel (if using). Press the edges to seal then trim away any excess. Re-roll any trimmings and use them to make decorations. Brush the pastry with egg wash, arrange any decorations on top of the pie and brush these with egg too.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden-brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving.