Vrghr created these for a St Patrick's Day celebration with friends.

Did a bit of researching on the 'net to find a traditional Irish dish. Vrghr wanted something a bit more unusual than the more common Corned Beef & Cabbage usually served in the states on this holiday.

The original version of this dish is a simple, large pot pie of cabbage, ham, onion, and cream sauce. This version for Vrghr’s party kicks the original up for more flavor, adds some American ingredients, and splits them into individual pies. The original, traditional recipe for this pie includes broth from boiling a “joint of bacon". Wuff used the broth from pressure cooking a corned beef instead. The pressure cooker corned beef recipe came from one of this wuff's favorite creations for that dish, found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/16026268/


If you don’t have ham stock (you can buy ham stock base here: https://smile.amazon.com/Better-Tha.....dp/B00016LA8E/ or https://smile.amazon.com/Orrington-.....dp/B008XDLNFC/ ) you can go with more chicken stock. But the additions of the corned beef broth definitely bring more flavor to the final result.

For the non-Irish among the readers, be advised that “bacon” in the emerald island is a pretty loose term and only vaguely relates to the American breakfast version (also known as “streaky bacon” in that neck of the woods) or even the Canadian “back bacon” sort. The type of “bacon” used in the original recipes for these pies is actually much closer to dry-aged Country Ham (with less smoking and no maple/sugar coat). Dry-aged Country Ham would need some boiling first, since it is VERY salty and rather tough (actually close to texture of Spanish Serrano or Ibérico Jamón).

You’d be very lucky to get your paws on a joint (roast sized chunk) of this, and need to have a rather deep wallet too, with the prices these delicacies command today. You can certainly make do with the more common wet-cured market ham. But avoid the honey or sugar coated types (most spiral-sliced varieties, for example).

To really kick the flavors here, Vrghr used a combination of Pancetta, market Ham, and thick-cut Bacon. This combination, with the addition of the broth from the corned beef, created a spectacularly flavorful result.

Note – These individual pies can also be made as a single large pie. Instead of using the individual pie tins, just use a 6 quart round casserole dish, and cover it all with the puff pastry crust. The result is closer to a stew with a crust than a pie, so you likely want to serve it up in bowls.

This recipe made enough for 10 each 6 inch deep-dish “pot pie” servings.

INGREDIENTS:
~4 TBS butter
1 large RED onion, peeled and thinly sliced into half moons
2 leeks (white part only), halved and sliced very thin
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 head of green cabbage, cut into wedges, cored, and thinly chopped
~5 TBS all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1.5 C hot chicken stock (use all Chicken stock if not using ham or corned beef broth)
~2 C broth from PC Corned Beef (or sub Ham Stock)
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 heaping tsp English mustard (1 tsp regular Yellow Mustard + 1 tsp Grey Poupon)
1 pint Heavy or whipping cream
*900g (~2 lbs) bacon joint (use 2 lbs Ham, cut into ½ inch cubes)
(*Vrghr used 1.5 lb Ham + ½ lb Pancetta cubes + 6 Strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1 inch hunks )
2 packages Puff Pastry dough
1 large egg yolk, beaten w/1 TBS milk or water, to egg wash the top

10 ea 6 inch pie tins

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

(Do this ONLY if using Country Ham! Remove the bacon from any packaging and place in a pot of cold water over heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 40 minutes or until warmed through and tender. Remove from the water, place on a plate and set aside. When cool enough to handle, cut into bite-sized cubes. Save 350ml (~1.5C) of the bacon (ham) stock)

Chop the American thick bacon into ½ inch hunks. Fry in a large skillet over medium heat. When the bacon is about half-way done, add the cubed Pancetta (if using) to the skillet. Continue frying until the Pancetta is cooked and slightly crispy at the edges and the bacon just starts to crisp around the edges and most of the fat renders out. Remove bacon and Pancetta with a slotted spot to a plate with a paper towel to drain. Retain the fat.

Melt ~2 TBS of the butter in a skillet, add the sliced leeks, diced onion and chopped carrots. Fry slowly for about 15 minutes or until the carrots are softened and the onions/leeks are slightly browned. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

In a VERY LARGE sauce pan or stock pot with a heavy base, melt the remaining 3-4 TBS of butter. Add the reserved drippings from the bacon and Pancetta to the pot. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two, whisking to combine, until the raw flavor is gone

Gradually add the stock (both chicken and corned beef or ham stock) whisking briskly until it thickens. If it goes a little lumpy, don’t worry; just whisk vigorously until it becomes smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3–4 minutes. Season with black pepper and whisk in the mustard

Add the cabbage, the fried leeks, onions, and carrots, and the boiled ham (*ham, and fried Pancetta and bacon) to the sauce and stir well. Allow to cook until the cabbage is tender, but not completely limp and mushy. Add in the cream and stir thoroughly, allowing to cook for a further minute or two

Turn off heat and prepare the pastry tops. The puff pastry should be cool, but not frozen. On a flowered work surface, roll the pastry out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the puff pastry into circles about 1 inch larger in diameter for the top of the disposable pie tins. Using a finger or pastry brush, moisten the edges that will contact the tins with a bit of water

Ladle the filling into each pie tin. Form the Puff Pastry around the top, curling the edge over to secure it to the tin. Brush the top with the egg wash. If desired, cut out a shamrock from extra pastry dough and add to the lid, then coat it with egg wash also

Place the tins on a sheet pan lined with foil (They WILL bubble over! The foil makes clean up much easier.) Bake in the oven for ~35-45 minutes, until the pastry is golden. You may need to shift/rotate the sheet pans to brown evenly

Allow to cool a bit (~10 minutes) before eating, as the filling is molten-hot at this point.

!DEVOUR!