Short-crust Pastry for Pie Top
6 T unsalted butter, chilled 1½ c all-purpose flour
and cut into ¼-inch bits 1 T sugar
2 T lard, chilled and cut into ¼ tsp salt
¼-inch bits 3 to 4 T ice water
---------------------
PASTRY DOUGH: In a large chilled bowl, combine the butter, lard, flour,
sugar and salt. With your fingertips, rub the flour and fat together until
they look like flakes of coarse meal. Do not let the mixture become oily.Pour 3 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture all at once, toss together lightly and gather the dough into a ball. If it crumbles, add up to 1 tablespoon more ice water by drops until the particles adhere.
Dust the pastry dough with a little flour and wrap it in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least one hour before using.
Pie
1½ pounds boneless veal shoulder, 3 T finely chopped fresh parsley
trimmed of excess fat and cut ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, preferably
into 1-inch cubes freshly grated
¾ pound lean boneless boiled ham, ½ tsp salt
cut into 1-inch cubes Freshly ground black pepper
½ pound fresh mushrooms, stems 1 egg yolk beaten with ¾ c fresh
removed, wiped with a dampened or canned chicken stock
cloth and cut crosswise into 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
quarters ¾ c heavy cream
3 T finely chopped onions 2 T dry Madeira (optional)
------------------------------
Preheat the oven to 400°. Cokmbine the veal, ham, mushrooms, onions,
parsley, nutmeg, salt and a few grindings of pepper in a 1½-quart
baking-serving dish, and toss them about with a spoon until the ingredients
are thoroughly blended. Pour in the egg yolk-chicken stock mixture. The
liquid should come about three quarters of the way up the sides of the
dish; add more chicken stock if necessary.On a lightly floured surface, roll the short-crust pastry dough into a rough oval or circle about ¼ inch thick and several inches larger than the top of the baking dish. Drape the dough over the rolling pin, lift it up, and gently unroll it over the top of the dish.
With scissors or a small knife, trim off the excess dough leaving a 1-inch overhang all around the rim. Tuck the overhang under the edges of the dough and secure the pastry to the rim by crimping it tightly with your fingers or the tines of a fork. Cut a 1-inch hole in the center of the pastry, and into it set a tube made from a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil. With a pastry brush, paint the surface of the pie with the lightly beaten egg yolk.
Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and continue to bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and slowly pour the cream (and the Madeira if you wish to use it) into the pie through the foil tube in the top crust. Bake the pie for an additional 15 minutes. Serve at once, directly from the baking dish. Serves 4 to 6.
