Pie From Scratch

We spent last weekend in London with our American guests, and dinner Friday night was a treat: St John. We had been there once before... and hope to go a few more times. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants. St John showed up in a previous blog, too.

The food on our previous visit was a notch better but I think that really comes down to food choices. This place is so diverse and ever-changing that you could go once a week and have a different experience every time you went. I could have gotten the bone marrow and parsley again, but I tried something different.

We started with some raw oysters... I mention that in hopes that I get another public service announcement posted into the comment section, like I did here. We followed that with a round of starters:

• Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad (a favorite!) (Cristen)
  
• Snails and Oakleaf (fried snails and greens) (R and Pez)
  
• Octopus, Potato, and Green Sauce (Keptman)
  

For mains -- Pez and I split a pie:

• Pheasant & Trotter Pie, for two (Pez and me)
  
• Skate, Courgettes (zucchini), & Saffron (R)
  
• Roast Beef, Beetroot, & Horseradish (Cristen)
  
• Side to share: New Potatoes and Sprout Tops

Then for dessert, with dessert wines to match:

• Chocolate Cake and Creme Fraiche (Pez)
  
• Honey Roast Figs and Toasted Brioche (Cristen)
  
• Malt Custard & Shortbread (Keptman)
  
• Caramel Ice Cream (R)
  

So about that pie: Pheasant and trotter. Trotter here means the foot of a pig. As the trotter in the pie cooks, it releases fat and gelatin that give the pie its savoury richness. This was definitely the highlight of my meal. Here are some more pie shots.

Crust with fatty juices and marrow-bone-vent protruding...

The first lovin' spoonful...oh, that's nice.


Would it be cool if I licked the bowl? No?


Good pie.

If we ever get enough people (or maybe even if we don't) together in London, they do a whole roast suckling pig for groups of 8 or more. They had one waiting in the kitchen for some lucky group. Who's in for that?!?!

Cheers!

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996)