Make Yourself Comfortable

An Autumnal food- Fidget Pie makes one think of childhood when your mom probably said, "Oh, stop your fidgeting!" Well, my mom said it to me on several occasions. This also makes a mind wonder to why this pie is called such a peculiar name. Well, it seems that it is named the way it is due to the way the pie was traditionally prepared with five sides, thus it was "fitched". This pie was served to workers during harvest time.

Shropshire Fidget Pie differs from Huntington Fidget Pie, as the former contains potatoes. While I wouldn't buy a Huntington pie a return ticket to it's origins....I'm in Shropshire and also potatoes are good-that is the kind I made. I have seen differing recipes as far as the use of bacon, or gammon.




3 Medium Potatoes, cubed in rather lrg. pieces
2 Onions, sliced
2 Cooking apples, peeled, cored cubed
3 Slices Sweetcure gammon, de-rinded and cut into cubes
2 Teaspoon sugar
100 gr. shredded mature cheddar cheese (the stronger the flavour the better, otherwise why bother, right?)
Salt and black pepper
dash of worchestershire sauce
225 Gram Shortcrust pastry (make your own!)
egg wash

Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F / Gas 4. Par cook the potatoes. In a separate pot par cook the apples with most of the sugar. Lightly carmelise the onions slowly in a skillet with a sprinkling of remaining sugar. In a lrg. bowl toss the filling ingredients together, being careful not to mash the potatoes. Line a pie plate with pastry, pour in filling. Top with more pastry, seal edges, make a steam whole and egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven to 170 °C / 325 °F / Gas 3 for a further 10-15 minutes, or until the pie is golden brown.



Please notice the return of Physalis berries on the side of the pie. They make a very good chutney!