Gazing at the stars…in more ways than one.
(This picture of STARGAZY PIE was borrowed from the Internet…thanks to whoever took it.)
The subject of pie inevitably comes up no matter where I go it seems. “Pie” follows me everywhere, as if I’m wearing a perfume of cinnamon and apples that hangs on me the way a scent stays in the kitchen long after a pie is done baking.
Take, for example, the palm reading I just had done on King’s Road in London. The woman, Diana (and I don’t mean Princess) studied the lines in my hand with her magnifying glass and asked me if I’m a writer. “Yes, I am,” I replied, impressed with her first of many correct intuitions.
“Are you also a teacher?” she asked.
I hestitated a moment and then ventured, “Well, I do teach people how to make pie,” quickly adding, “American-style pies, like apple pie.”
Her eyes lit up, she looked directly at me and smiled. “You should go to Books for Cooks in Notting Hill,” she said. It’s got the biggest and best cookbook collection in London, if not all of England. You could find many pie books there.”
“I’ll be sure to check it out,” I said, anxious for her to get back to my reading so she could tell me about the rest of my life.
“You could make pie cards, postcards, and send them to people,” she continued.
“Uh huh,” I nodded. Now let’s get on with it. What do you see in my lifeline?
“I see that you’re impatient. And instead of delegating you would rather do all the work yourself.”
Ouch.
“I see international travel in your future, over long distances,” she continued, peering at the lines on my palm. Not that there was much clairvoyance to her statement seeing as I was already 5,000 miles from home. “You could write about pies around the world.”
That got my attention. I hadn’t told her about my blog. “I already am,” I told her, amazed that she had hit on exactly what I love doing. How did she know that? Did she detect cinnamon under my nails and computer keyboard indentations on my fingertips?
Maybe we seek out psychics to affirm what we already know as our truth. I don’t know if writing about pie is my destiny, but it’s what makes me happy. It’s one of the few things, work-wise, that I am passionate about these days. Will I ever make a living at this? I’d love it if that happened — god knows, I need to earn money. Food, rent, health insurance, and international travel are not cheap. But even if I don’t get some huge audience on my blog (to eventually earn ad dollars) or publish some money-making bestseller (I do have a book of my pie essays in the works), it was somehow reassuring to hear that writing — be it about pie, about the world, or a combination of both — is in the (Tarot) cards for me.
“Write the name of your blog down for me before you leave,” she said. “I’d love to see it.”
She finished the session convincing me my future looks bright, and as I scribbled my blog URL on the back of my business card she asked, “Do you know about Stargazy Pie?” I shook my head no. “It’s a pie that’s a specialty of Cornwall. The fish are lined up with their heads sticking out from under the crust, looking up at the stars.”
The image of the poor little dead fish looking longingly at the sky with lifeless eyes made me a little sad. But I was so intrigued I looked it up online as soon as I got back to the apartment. I found a Stargazy Pie recipe by London chef Mark Hix that sounded rather delicious, and easy. (Recipe is also below.)
I don’t know if the rest will come true from my reading — a new place to live, a trip to Bali, a windfall of cash, etc. — but I definitely see a new pie in my future.
STARGAZY PIE
Serves: 4 Prep: 25 min Cook: 1 hr
Ingredients25g Butter1 onion, finely chopped3 rashers rindless streaky bacon, chopped into rough 5mm dice1/2 tbsp Flour, plus more for dusting3 tbsp dry white wine250ml fish stock, (or a corner of a good-quality fish stock cube dissolved in 250ml hot water)300ml double cream2 tbsp chopped Parsley2 hard-boiled Eggs, shelled and chopped6 pilchards, herrings, or small mackerel, filleted, any residual bones removed and heads reserved200g Puff pastry, rolled out to a thickness of about 3mm1 egg, beaten
1. Heat the butter in a medium pan and gently cook the onion and bacon until soft. Add the flour and stir well, then slowly add the wine and fish stock, stirring well to prevent lumps forming. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add the cream, bring back to the boil and simmer until reduced by half and thickened. Remove from the heat; add the parsley and chopped egg, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.
4. Cut the fillets of fish in half and lay them in a shallow pie or flan dish, then lightly season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour the sauce over the fish. Lay the pastry over the dish and trim it to size. Make 6 small slits in the pastry and push the reserved fish heads through them. Brush the top with the beaten egg. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is golden and risen.
6. Serve with greens in autumn and winter, or with a selection of spring vegetables.
To read more about Mark Hix and see more of his recipes, including a Beef Shin, Porter and Oyster Pie (huh?!) click here.