Charlotte Pike

Award-winning cookery writer, teacher and chef

Introducing Pandemic Pantry Podcast

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The last few weeks have seen all of our lives changed to some extent. It’s been a very strange time for me. My diary was fully booked and 2020 started out very busy, and then we all found ourselves in lockdown. Professionally speaking, I’ve had to make some changes to what I do, and I’ll be sharing some updates in my newsletter soon.

A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from Jules Waddell, who I met at a food festival a couple of years ago. We were both speaking on a panel about our careers in food. Jules is a former BBC Radio 4 radio journalist and now the founder of Moorish humous. She asked if I’d like to work with her on a podcast idea she had, and the rest is history. 

We’ve had an absolute ball recording so far, and have tried to share positive stories from what’s happening in the world of food and drink at the moment, as well as discussing the challenges. We want to bring you stories and conversations about what is happening right across the world of food and drink, as there are some wonderful things happening, as well as opportunities to reshape and innovate. 

We’ve spoken to well known faces, from TV chefs and bestselling authors to restaurateurs, flour millers, farmers, cheesemakers, sourdough bakers and kitchen gardeners, all of whom share their experiences, advice and a peek into how their lives have changed on a personal level. It’s been fascinating for us and we hope you’ll enjoy listening.

We’ve also built a website for you, with lots of information on independent suppliers offering home delivery and when the supermarkets are open. We hope you’ll enjoy listening and find this a useful resource, too. You can find Pandemic Pantry podcast on all the usual channels, and should you wish to subscribe or review, this can be down on Apple Podcasts.

Do, please let us know your thoughts and send your questions in for me on our social media channels @pandemicpantry. 

Thanks so much for your support and messages, and stay safe,

Charlotte

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Beef and Red Wine Pie

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I made this delicious pie some time ago and promised you the recipe, and here it is. It works really nicely with venison, too. Some of you have been asking for a beef pie recipe for a while, and I think I’ve really cracked it with this one. You can use most cuts of beef if you don’t have chuck steak. Just make sure it’s nicely trimmed. I’ve also included enough pastry to make a bottom and a top. I know this is controversial, but I usually just add a top to my pies (I know, that means it’s technically a casserole with a pastry, not a pie), but that’s how I like it. So you can halve the quantity of the pastry recipe if you like. Any excess will freeze well though. I like to roll it and then freeze it in a sheet. 

Beef & Red Wine Pie
Serves 6
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1114 calories
76 g
219 g
64 g
49 g
29 g
487 g
548 g
6 g
2 g
32 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
487g
Servings
6
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1114
Calories from Fat 574
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 64g
99%
Saturated Fat 29g
146%
Trans Fat 2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5g
Monounsaturated Fat 27g
Cholesterol 219mg
73%
Sodium 548mg
23%
Total Carbohydrates 76g
25%
Dietary Fiber 4g
15%
Sugars 6g
Protein 49g
Vitamin A
97%
Vitamin C
7%
Calcium
7%
Iron
29%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 tablespoons olive oil, for frying
  2. 700g diced chuck steak
  3. 20g plain flour, seasoned
  4. 200g smoked bacon, sliced thinly
  5. 25g butter
  6. 2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  7. 3 small carrots, peeled and finely diced
  8. 250ml red wine
  9. 400ml beef stock
  10. 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves roughly chopped
  11. 1 bay leaf
  12. 1 tbsp muscovado sugar
  13. 1-2 tsp Aspall Red Wine Vinegar
  14. For the pastry
  15. 500g plain flour
  16. 125g butter
  17. 125g lard
  18. Pinch salt
  19. Cold water
  20. One large egg, beaten
Instructions
  1. Method
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 150C/Gas Mark 3. Place the beef in a bowl, add the flour and season well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or casserole dish and add the beef to the pan. Fry over a high heat until brown. Add the bacon and continue to cook.
  3. Turn down the heat and add the butter, onions and carrots and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the wine, stock, thyme, bay, sugar and vinegar. Stir well, bring to the boil.
  4. Tranfer the filling to an ovenproof casserole dish. Cover and place in the oven for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove and allow to cool.
  5. Now, make the pastry. Rub the fats into the flour in a large bowl to make breadcrumbs. This can be done very quickly in a food processor. Blend with enough cold water (around 4-6 tablespoons) to make a firm dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. On a floured surface roll out half the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Spoon in the cold pie filling into a pie dish and cover with pastry. Trim the edges and decorate if you wish. Cut a hole in the centre, brush with beaten egg and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is a rich, golden brown.
  7. Serve with wilted greens, and potatoes, if you like.
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calories
1114
fat
64g
protein
49g
carbs
76g
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Charlotte Pike https://www.charlottepike.co.uk/

Where to shop? My top Irish Food & Drink Producers

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Those of you know me, know that I have a deep and longstanding affection for Ireland. So much so, that I’m often asked in Irish interviews if I have Irish family. It started when I went to Ballymaloe Cookery School in East Cork to undertake their very special 12-week Certificate Course, which I’d recommend highly. Since then, I’ve been welcomed back to Ireland with open arms at events, TV programmes and just on my holidays. It feels like coming home.

One of the things I love most about Ireland is the quality of the food. There is so much food, natural food available in Ireland, I always stock up when I’m visiting. And so I’m really keen to share 17 brilliant Irish food and drink producers who you should know about, and whom I hope some of you may be able to support by buying their excellent produce if at all possible. I’ve visited almost all of them personally and purchased and enjoyed their products many times. It’s a difficult time for us all, but I firmly believe that if we can spend our money with the small businesses we want to support right now, we will all end up in a better place when we are through this difficult period.

This beautiful hand rolled butter is simply some of the best farmhouse butter you’ll ever try. It’s made in Dromara, Co. Down by husband and wife team Allison and Will, who produce every roll by hand. They’ve won loads of awards and supply some of the best restaurants in the business. It’s available to buy online and in a number of retailers in Great Britain, too.

Ballymaloe Foods are hugely popular in Ireland, most famous for their absolutely delicious tomato relish, which is really worth trying if you haven’t already. Whilst tremendously successful, this is still a wonderful family business, based in East Cork, with all products made by hand in their unit at Little Island. They also produce a lovely range of dressings, vinaigrettes, meat glazes and pasta sauces, and sell through Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado in G.B.

One of the finest butchers in ROI, run by the brilliantly inspiring Pat Whelan. Operating a small chain of butchers and counters across the Republic, James Whelan Butchers sell some of the highest quality meat and animal fats you’ll find. Their beef dripping won the Supreme Champion Award at the Great Taste Awards in 2015. They offer a good online delivery service, but for GB, the minimum order is £200 and 10 EURO delivery. Worth it to stock up the freezer.

Gubbeen has been operating near Schull, Co. Cork for over 30 years and is still run by the Ferguson family. They make superb cheeses, sold widely across Ireland and GB (they are always stocked at Neal’s Yard Dairy) and charcuterie.

Brendan and Kerry Sloan brew some fantastic beers near the Mourne Mountains, and also have a fantastic visitor centre for tastings in Castlewellan. They produce a really lovely range of beers in a wide range of styles. Try their special award-winning stout, Kreme de la Kremlin. Look out for their beers in bars, restaurants and supermarkets.

Quite simply, the most delicious rapeseed oil I’ve ever tried. This is really special stuff, cold pressed in Limavady in Co. Londonderry. It’s so delicious, and comes in a range of flavours. It’s also the oil sold in Liberty, as part of their food range. Widely sold online and in supermarkets.

This apple-based syrup is an incredibly delicious organic Irish apple syrup. Made in Kilkenny, it’s a wonderful, rich syrup that has so many uses in sweet and savoury cooking. I use it with fruit and yoghurt, or pancakes, but the uses are endless. Its flavour is wonderfully balanced and incredibly moreish.

Arun Kapil is a fellow Ballymaloe graduate who produces a wide range of delicious top-quality spice blends and Indian sauces. Based in Midleton, Co. Cork, they sell widely in supermarkets in the UK and across Ireland as well as online sales on their website.

Bakers of delicious biscuits, this Waterford-based producer of biscuits and confectionery is worth keeping an eye out for. Their beautifully packaged products make attractive and delicious gifts, and they are sold widely in the UK and Ireland.

One of my very, very favourite cheeses. This washed rind soft cheese is made on the Beara peninsula in South West Ireland. I was lucky enough to visit this amazing spot a few years ago, and see the delicious cheese being made. It is the longest established Irish farmhouse cheese, and is widely available across Ireland and in great cheesemongers in the UK.

St Tola Irish goat’s cheese is just so good. They produce a range of cheeses, including a crottin and a variety of logs. My favourite is the ashed log.

Again, widely available in Ireland and further afield.

This traditional stone mill in Co. Cork. Produces the mose delicious oatmeal and course flour I’ve ever had. It’s quite hard to get hold of, but SUCH a treat. I cannot leave Ireland without a stash.

This dried seaweed is so brilliant, and fills me with happy memories of Ireland and my time at Ballymaloe. Carageen moss pudding is just so delicious and a completely essential feature on the legendary Ballymaloe sweet trolley. It’s widely sold in shops and online and is super light to bring back in a suitcase.

The Hannan family are legendary meat producers in Northern Ireland, and their Meat Merchant shop in Moira is a popular destination for visitors looking to stock up the freezer. They’re best known for their Glenarm beef, and also their pork and lamb products – many of which are aged in their amazing Himalayan salt chamber. You’ll find their meat on top restaurant menus across the UK and Ireland, and you can buy meat either direct or from Fortnum & Mason.

This family-run small-scale pig farm and charcuterie producer near Limavady produces some seriously sensational charcuterie, which is available to buy in NI and online with free delivery. I love the chorizo and the fennel salami. Alastair Crown is one of the nicest men you’ll meet and he offers a delicious-sounding hog roast service for parties in NI.

This multi-award winning butter made from the very special PGI Armagh bramley apples is absolutely delicious and a very useful ingredient with many sweet and savoury uses. It lasts well and is available in a number of stockists in the UK (mainly in northern England and Scotland), as well as widely across Ireland.

Made on the Clandeboye Estate in NI, this yoghurt is seriously delicious, so do look out for it. There are lots of great Irish yoghurt producers you should know about, too. Glenilen and Glenisk sell their yoghurt very widely. Killowen produce a lovely blackcurrant yoghurt I love, too.