Cumberland Sausage Pie

A Cumberland Sausage Pie is, or so I was led to believe in Britain: The Cookbook by Phil Vickery (2007), a thick layer of pork sausage, generously flavored with leek, in a flakey pastry.  As it’s been a while since I made pastry; and as Karen had left a pound of sausage in the fridge, I can’t think of anything better for dinner.

It seems that everyone has a way with pastry that is “foolproof”.   I have to admit I’m no exception, but before I share my way with flakey pie crust let’s talk about what it is.  For pie crust to be flakey two things have to happen.  First, the gluten, a protein that forms when water and flour are mixed, must not be too strongly developed.  This is why it is imperative that once water is added to the flour that you work quickly and decisively.  The more the dough is worked at this point the tougher it will be.  The second concern is that the layers of gluten be thin and separated by layers of fat.  This is the purpose of the butter in the recipe.  Most techniques call for the cold butter to be cut into the flour with a cold knife, or a u-shaped tool designed for this purpose.  My complaint with that is that it creates little round balls of fat which it is assumed will be flattened out as the dough is worked;  but as I stressed earlier working the dough more than necessary will toughen it.

The technique I prefer is the following.  Start in a cold bowl.  Measure out the flour and toss in a pinch of salt,  salt helps bring up the flavors from the flour.  Next cut up the butter, cold from the fridge, into cubes of about half an inch and toss them in the butter so that they are well coated.  With your hands reach into the bowl and take hold of a cube of butter and flour and press flat between thumb and index finger.  Continue in this fashion till all the cubes have been flattened.  They will naturally break up into smaller pieces but you will want to scout out the larger pieces and make sure they are broken finer.  At this point the larger the flakes of butter coated in flour are the flakier the pastry will be.  If the flakes are fine and crumb-like the pastry will be firmer, more like a shortbread.  Once the flakes are as you want them add ice cold water and with a cold fork rapidly incorporate it with as few strokes as possible.  Gather up everything into a ball and wrap it in plastic.  Refrigerate for at least a half hour.   This will give the gluten a little time to relax and will let the butter firm up.  The dough will then be ready to work with.

Mr. Vickery’s pie, which he attributes to his grandmother, seemed alluring enough but a bit frumpy.  It’s only seasoning being torn basil and the boiled leek.  For my dinner I thought I might give the whole thing a bit of a makeover and bring in some French flavors.  With that in mind, to a pound and a half of sweet pork sausage I added two eggs, herbs de province, and a stout quarter cup of cognac.  The corner market failed to produce leeks so I slowly cooked half an onion to a rich mahogany color in a slow pan with butter.  This went into the mix along with the now nutty browned butter.   On the whole it still lacked a little life and pep.  A bunch of chopped parsley was a good start, but rummaging in the pantry something better came to hand in the form of dried cherries.  I plumped these in warm water and added them in.  Finally a big handful of bread crumbs finished the mix.  I was scared the sausage would give up too much fat and make the crusts soggy, the bread crumb should soak this up before it becomes a problem.

By now the pie dough had rested and it rolled out easily.  I used two thirds of it to line the bottom of a nine inch pan then packed in the filling, mindful not to leave any large air pockets.  This was covered with a second crust, crimped down and decorated with a small braid from the scrap.   Always with pastry of this sort an egg yolk brushed on the top will yield a rich golden color.  To make the crust more appealing I generously coated the top, within the braid, with onion seeds and smoked Malden salt.  Both of these added bite and crunch to the final meal.  Before going into the oven I cut vents and added some garnish from the pastry scrap.

Along with green beans the pie made for a filling meal with lots left over for the next day.  The cherries proved a much needed addition providing a capricious sweetness wherever they appeared.  I will be tempted to add more fruit to my next attempt; definitely raisins and sultanas.  I also think pine nuts or pistachios would add a nice texture change in the next pie.

Vichary recommends the pie cold and doesn’t even suggest cutting into it the day it is made.  I don’t have that much self control.  I will say the leftovers have been great –topped with runny eggs in the morning and eaten cold from the hand while driving to errands the next day.