NOTES
I used herring fillets, pine nuts, almonds, dates and sultanas for the filling. Instead of cloves I used mixed spice but the other spices are the same. In true spirit of the recipe I did not make the pastry myself but got my pastry-cook (i.e. Rosie) make extra from the dish she was making. Probably this just means I need to practice making pastry. It is a simple pastry with flour, butter, eggs, water and salt.
Also for decoration a fish shape has been crafted out of pastry as the lid to warn eaters that though it looks like a fruit pie, sea creatures lurk within.
COSTING
Herring fillets $4.40, dates: $1.73, almonds & Pine Nuts $3.76, sultanas, oil, sugar, spices $0.00 (already had some), flour $1.25, butter $1.75, eggs $1.59
Total $14.48
Though weird in principle to be eating fish and fruit in one mouthful, it was surprisingly tasty. The filling ended up quite dry and crumbly however.
Mortreus de Chare
(from http://www.godecookery.com/nboke/nboke79.html)
NOTES
As I could not find any pork mince I ended up buying pork sausages and de-skinning them. I found this worked quite well as the sausage meat was ground quite a lot finer than mince usually is, this would have helped with the setting of the meatloaf.
I made the breadcrumbs myself by toasting bread in the oven and crumbling it. I also added an extra egg yolk because it looked like it needed it.
The tower decoration was made out of pastry scraps from my other dish.
COSTING
Pork Sausages $5.30, ale $3.70, bread crumbs, spices $0.00, eggs $1.59
Total $10.59
This was really tasty - the pork was tender and juicy.
To my surprise the Fish Pie won, and the pork loaf came second *embarrassed* But I was very proud considering I don't consider myself a cook of any great skill and often go the Baker's Delight route for potlucks. Definitely going to do more cooking for potlucks from now on.
Well done! I like how you've built the food into something interesting.
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