.... Like a recipe featuring the wonderful pickle-y products from Puckett's Pickles.
Created by Sarah Puckett at her 'pickle palace' near Easingwold in North Yorkshire using old family recipes, her products are a staple at Yorkshire Food Finder HQ.
They frequently find their way onto our table and our Supper Club guests go into raptures when we serve them alongside our signature Yorkshire cheeseboard to round off our seven-course dinners.
Thanks to Sarah giving me tips and ideas I'm a big fan of experimenting with her products, and the latest foray has led me to marrying her divine Puckalilli with home smoked Yorkshire gammon to create a pie caressed in rich crispy pastry.
The gammon came from butcher Paul Potts at his shop Food 2 Remember in Malton's Talbot Yard which I home smoked by placing the gammon on a trivet over oak wood chips, covering it tightly with a double layer of foil and cooking it on the hob for about 90 minutes.
You can, of course, buy gammon ready smoked or not smoked at all, but there's something very satisfying about doing it yourself - just make sure you open a window!
So here goes:
Smoked Yorkshire gammon and Puckalilli pies
Makes 12
750g gammon in one piece, smoked or unsmoked
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 jar Puckett's Pickles Puckalilli
150ml vegetable stock
1 large egg, beaten, to glaze
600g plain flour
300g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 large egg yolks
Soak the gammon in cold water for a couple of hours to reduce the salt content. Rinse and dry. Either smoke the gammon yourself as above, or if you've bought a ready-smoked piece put it in. pan of cold water, bring to the boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 90 minutes until tender. Cool.
For the pastry, put the flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix together the egg yolks and 75ml of ice cold water and add to the flour mixture. Pulse again until it comes together, tip onto a floured surface and shape into a round flat disc. Wrap in clingfilm and chill until needed.
Once the gammon is cool, shred using two forks or your fingers, ditching any skin or fat. Tip the meat into a bowl and mix with the chopped parsley and enough of the vegetable stock to add juiciness. Set aside.
Heat your oven to 220C/Gas 7. Brush the insides of two large 6-hole muffin tins with Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil and line the holes with baking parchment.
Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and using a pastry cutter stamp out 12 circles big enough to fill the holes so that the pastry comes up above the edges. Put the gammon mixture into the holes, pressing down to pack in the meat. Top with a good dollop of Puckalilli.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out 12 circles for the lids. Brush the edge of the filled pies with beaten egg and press on the lids sealing the edges. Brush the pie tops with the remaining beaten egg.
Cook the pies for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a little while then serve warm or at room temperature.