Meat plate pie - wtf?!

[lechatnoir]

It's DH's birthday this week and I asked what he'd like for supper and he jokingly asked for this then saw my puzzled look and said 'oh don't worry steak and chips will be fine'. I'd love to surprise him with one but literally no idea what an authentic plate pie is (do you cook a pie on a plate is it literally mince and onion ) Not sure how much these vary region by region but he is from Wigan! No in-laws around to ask sadly.
Please help a southerner in need.

ilovemanchester.com/manchesterchef-recipes-plate-pie-simon-wood

This should give you an idea

I seem to recall you’ll need to blind bake the bottom before you put the filling in. You don’t have to use tinned meat. You can use fresh meat if you’ve cooked it in gravy. Not mince though, chunks.

My Grandmother used to make these when we were going to the coast for the day!
Shortcrust pastry top and bottom, filled with a thick mince and onion filling.
They travelled well as they remained on the plate, and the slices were easy to eat as the cold mince was quite solid.

There was a Diana Henry pie recipe feature in Daily Telegraph Magazine, Nov 12th, included Mince and Onion plate pie.
May be behind paywall but if you clear history should be available. Or get PressReader via your library.

Thanks all feeling a bit less over the whole plate pie thing now! Will let you know how it turns out

You can use steak pieces or mince. In Belfast we have shortcrust pastry top and bottom. Blind baked. It's baked on the plate. Topped with pastry. Lid. Crimped. The filling is thick and a bit moist but not runny enough to run out all over the place. The secret is keeping the filling thick enough that it's not runny or dry.

Making pastry possibly takes practice if you've never made it before. You crumble the cold butter and flour (half fat to plain flour) together almost like your rubbing your fingers together, lifting your hands as you do it. Once it's like fine breadcrumbs, you add just enough liquid to bring it together into a ball and put it straight in the fridge. After an hour or so, split it, grease the plate and roll out the bottom in minimal moves. I think you pierce it with a fork. Top with greaseproof and baking beans (or something to stop it rising). I have it fully written out if it's helpful but I'm not sure if there's regional variance. I always made the pastry and my friend made the filling. You can make the filling the day before as doing it all in one day is quite the task.

Google 'pie tin' and you will see the dish is like a Victoria sponge baking tin but it has sloping sides. This greatly aids getting the pie out of the tin.
I make family size pies regularly. Prepare the filling well in advance, it needs to be cold before making the pie. Preparing it the day before is ideal.
For stewed beef, it will need several hours cooking so that it's tender. I fry onions, then brown the meat, and stock and thicken with a paste of bisto and flour. Or whatever way you make your gravy is fine. I sometimes add carrots, mushrooms and peas during the last half hour.
When the filling is cold, it thickens up quite a bit but when the pie is cooking, the gravy becomes thinner again. Never put raw mushrooms in the pie as they give out a lot of water during cooking and the gravy will be watery. The gravy needs to be the thickness you like before you cool it down.

To make the pie
Grease the pie dish lightly.

Line the dish with shortcrust pastry, add the filling and wet the edge of the pastry with water. Place pastry lid on top.
Crimp the pastry well to seal. Brush the lid with egg wash (beaten egg and water).
Make a small slit in the centre of the lid.
Bake for an hour, preheated oven, 170°C fan. When done, the pie should easily slide out of the pie dish.

Could it be a euphemism for something sexual?

A friend of mine was chatting to a man and his friend in a pub and she was invited to come over at the weekend for a 'spit roast,' but when she asked if there was an vegan alternative as she didn't eat meat anymore, they roared with laughter. However, they didn't think it was quite so funny when she told them that she thought she'd have a lot more fun staying at home with her marrow!

It bloody doesn't! Never ever used tinned meat!

We used to have this when I was growing up - shortcrust pastry bottom (and top), filling is mince and onions, and then a layer of sliced (probably pre-cooked) potatoes.

Bloody lovely.

Ummm a spitroast in this context is - please stop reading if you're delicate.

From left to right - man, woman, man. Both males are "inserted". That's the most polite way I can explain it.

Those of you that blind bake the bottom of the pie - doesn't it make it difficult to stick the lid on?

The bottom of the pie doesn't need blind baking

I've never done it but some people have mentioned it.

No it doesn't. Tin of stewed steak for god's sake.

What the fuck. This is where a "plate meat pie" took you?

It's a pie cooked on a Pyrex plate - it's shortcrust pastry on the bottom a filling of either minced beef and onion or steak and kidney in gravy then another layer of pastry, use left over pastry to decorate on top. Serve with mash and peas for authenticity (not fancy stuff like broccoli!)

And yes crimp. My mum makes them (London)

My mum used to do this in a pyrex dish - I would use this or an enamel pie dish as I think a normal plate would be too shallow and difficult to do. We had: homemade shortcrust pastry on the top and bottom, tinned mince beef and onions pie filling (nicer than it sounds) and it wasn't blind baked first.

For the authentic experience you need to make it on one of these

Enamel Plate Round Pie Dish Tray Enamel Plate Mixing Serving Casserol (Plate - 24cm) amzn.eu/hGeRzoR

Jamie’s minced beef and onion pie is lovely

We used to have a mince plate pie for school dinners - lovely!

Even after a page of people explaining what a plate meat pie was you still thought you would tell us your spit roast story?

We do corned beef plate pie up north (I say ‘we’ but I mean my mother/nannas/etc as I don’t cook 😬).

They’re just baked in ordinary but slightly deeper plates.

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/261983/tourtiere-french-canadian-meat-pie/