Wayzgoose

It's St Bartholomew's day and for people who worked in the printing industry a couple of centuries ago, this meant one thing, Wayzgoose, a feast given by the employer to mark the time when work would have to be carried out by candlelight. Presumably this practice died out many years ago, the advent of electric light alone would be enough to cause it to become history. I have always liked the name however, and despite the fact that the pie that I am making today would be a completely bizarre offering to those expectant printers, I am happy to use the excuse to come up with something to share with friends, eaten with a glass of wine and of course enjoyed in candlelight.

It would be less than helpful to give exact measurements for this pie, the whole things depends on the size of pie mould you have. I think it's sufficient in this case to describe the contents of the pie and the method I used to produce it.

I began by making a batch of pastry,

Pate Brisée

250g of plain flour
150g of butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
3 teaspoons of chilled water.
Begin by placing the egg, butter, salt, sugar and 1 tablespoon of the flour in a food processor and process for half a minute to form a paste. Add the remaining flour and the water and pulse until the whole comes together to form the pastry. Remove from the processor bowl, knead a couple of times to form an even mass, wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for an hour.
This recipe produces around 460g of pastry, it's a perfect amount for lining 2 of my Bakewell tart recipe.  Click here for the recipe

Meanwhile, slice up mushrooms, I used 500g, fry in a little olive oil and butter, turning to ensure even browning. The mushrooms will release water which is fine, keep cooking until all the water is driven off and the mushrooms will begin to fry again and take on a little caramelization. Many people who, like me,  grew up being able to pick mushrooms in the fields during late summer, believe that the cultivated variety of the same mushroom lacks flavour; I find cooking them long enough so that the mushrooms take on colour produces equally delicious flavour. Add a couple of small red onions, sliced and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, along with a few strands of fresh tarragon leaves to the pan and continue cooking until the onions have become transulcent. Finally add 2 teaspoons of semolina and a tablespoon of creme fraiche and stir until mixed. Allow to cool. Slice up 150g of waxy potatoes and boil until just tender, drain and cool. Take 100g of char grilled artichokes, I use the ones that come in a jar in olive oil, drain and rinse under running water, chop roughly. When all the filling ingredients have cooled and the pastry has rested (these can easily be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge) line the pie mould with the pastry, keeping enough pastry for the lid and decoration, fill the pie in whatever way you like and cover with the lid.
Cook the pie. having glazed the top with beaten egg, in a moderate oven 180 for 45 to 55 minutes.