LIVER AND BACON WITH OR WITHOUT ONIONS - THE AMBROSIA OF THE GODS

[Bob Spiers]

In those days my mother's pies had pastry top and bottom but nowadays it's common to just have a pie crust on top.

That reminds my wife's steak and kidney pudding (note pudding) is only pastry lined in the basin half way down the sides, and of course as a crust. She reminds her mother always lined the whole of the basin but my wife thinks that creates too much 'stodge' of suet pastry, and less is better. Pies are just given a pastry crust as you say.

Walls sold them (at work in the late 60s I'd buy a Walls steak and kidney pie and eat it cold for lunch).

Yes I recall Walls S&K pies and although not for eating cold as they were in tins, 'Frey Bentos' S&K pies in a spherical tin with a lip-and puddings in a basin shaped tin, could be found on most Supermarket shelves. To cook them one pierced the top and used a can opener to get to the content after cooking.

As I retired before my wife and my cooking skills at the time did not go much beyond beans on toast and a cooked breakfast (which my mother had taught me to do long ago) I looked around for new ideas, and because of my love of steak and kidney I eventually decided to turn my hand to cooking a Frey Bentos S&K Pie or Pudding. Following instructions and being shown how to cook potatoes and greens and make a gravy from granules, meant I had a home cooked meal ready to serve when my wife came home.

One has to learn somewhere, and gradually cooking became one of my passions and led to me becoming the main cook of the household. This is by choice as I am not a deal of help around the home, but my wife constantly reminds Bob takes care of the cooking.

 

[Pauline]

That's strange - meat pies were common when I was growing up in Essex.

I guess we just never had them, either at home or at school. My memory is that a few months after we moved to Yorkshire we went to a local fireworks display where the advertised refreshments included 'pie and peas'. To me that conjured up a picture of people eating apple pie with garden peas, which I thought was hilarious. (But I was only 8 at the time.)

 

[peter]

'Fray Bentos' S&K pies in a spherical tin with a lip

The good news is that I have some in the cupboard as a standby. The bad news is that modern tin-openers don't work, so the pies are all past their BBE date. Not that worries me, they'll be perfectly edible, but I still don't have the right tin-opener.

 

[Susan48]

but I still don't have the right tin-opener

You must mean the lethal sort with a sharp point you pierced the top of the tin with, and then manoeuvred the opener round the top of the tin. It left a jagged edge, I remember and was quite hard work to use.

 

[At home in NZ]

Here's the Yorksire Pudding recipe I use, never had any failures.

Tim, it worked a treat but, (you knew there would be a but) far too much mixture for the two of us. I'll halve the ingredients next time. Thanks very much for the recipe.

 

[Bob Spiers]

You must mean the lethal sort with a sharp point you pierced the top of the tin with, and then manoeuvred the opener round the top of the tin. It left a jagged edge, I remember and was quite hard work to use.

Yes remember them well and all we ever used at one time and also remember cut fingers snagged on the jagged edges.

I think we are on our 3rd hand cranked tin opener -not counting the electric one bought and soon abandoned as next door to useless - and the 2 others that failed when the turn mechanism that comes into contact with a lid, just broke away. I chose in the end a 'super-dooper'- sturdy one which has worked fine so far, but has not been tried on a Frey Bentos tin. If anything will challenge a tin opener, that will.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Tim, it worked a treat but, (you knew there would be a but) far too much mixture for the two of us. I'll halve the ingredients next time. Thanks very much for the recipe.

About to do the same and on my wife's advice reading the recipe I printed out (based on Tims post) will halve the quantities. Like you there are just two of us.

 

[Tim]

Tim, it worked a treat but, (you knew there would be a but) far too much mixture for the two of us. I'll halve the ingredients next time. Thanks very much for the recipe.

Yes, sorry, I should have said that makes enough for 4 people. Yes halving it works well. The full recipe makes 12 Yorkshire Puddings, and obviously 6 from the half recipe.

Glad it worked for you

 

[Tim]

The good news is that I have some in the cupboard as a standby. The bad news is that modern tin-openers don't work, so the pies are all past their BBE date. Not that worries me, they'll be perfectly edible, but I still don't have the right tin-opener.

I use a normal tin opener to open the Fray Bentos tins

And Peter, I do believe this is the first time ever that you've used an emoticon!!

 

[Bryman]

The good news is that I have some in the cupboard as a standby. The bad news is that modern tin-openers don't work, so the pies are all past their BBE date. Not that worries me, they'll be perfectly edible, but I still don't have the right tin-opener.

I remember these flattened round pie tins/cans from when I was a child and have even seen them recently in our local supermarket here in NZ. I don't have one to trial at home but wondered why 'modern' cutting wheel can openers don't work on them. I seem to remember that the type of can opener that we used to use successfully had a static sharp blade rather than a cutting wheel. Looking on the internet, I found something similar made by Judge. Perhaps that is worth giving a try?

 

[Bob Spiers]

Yes, sorry, I should have said that makes enough for 4 people. Yes halving it works well. The full recipe makes 12 Yorkshire Puddings, and obviously 6 from the half recipe.

Glad it worked for you

And for me Tim and the proof of the (Tim) pudding should have been shown below but the server advised the image was too big to process. (Tried to resize but same response - will think on it and see if can find a way round). Anyway very pleased with the result and used half the quantity and semi-skimmed milk (all we ever use). But a great toad in the hole so thanks Tim and even my wife was impressed with the result. Will forever be known as Tim's Toad and earns an emoticon from me.

 

[Bob Spiers]

A second picture taken from another angle by my wife, and this one when resized was accepted. (Note glass dish and enough for two, in fact we saved a sausage and a piece of the batter for a snack later.

 

[At home in NZ]

Will forever be known as Tim's Toad

Love the name, very apt. Looks as good as mine did, well done Bob.

 

[peter]

I found something similar made by Judge. Perhaps that is worth giving a try?

That was the last type I tried - tin intact, opener broken.

 

[At home in NZ]

That was the last type I tried - tin intact, opener broken.

Found by Googling 'how to open Fray Bentos':
'Fray Bentos is redesigning its classic pie tins after more than half a century. Why, you ask? Because young people cannot open them'.
I won't state the obvious........

There are YouTube guides here and here

 

[peter]

Good to know that younger people also have the same problem. The newspaper article was over three years ago - it just shows how long I've had the tins in my cupboard. Has anyone tried the new tins (assuming the change happened), and are they easier to open?

There are other tins that are more difficult to open than they used to be - the ones that used to come with keys. They're awkward shapes with tight corners that snooker modern tin openers.

 

[Bob Spiers]

That was the last type I tried - tin intact, opener broken.

Yes my others were of the same type. No sure what my latest opener is (no identifiable trade mark and not sure where bought) but checking Amazon any number of the 'choice' Manual Can openers shown seem almost identical. So far my latest opener has not faltered on any can opening task, but there again not yet presented with a Frey Bentos tin. (Knowing me that could happen quite soon).

 

[Tim]

Good to know that younger people also have the same problem. The newspaper article was over three years ago - it just shows how long I've had the tins in my cupboard. Has anyone tried the new tins (assuming the change happened), and are they easier to open?

Have you got a picture of your tins Peter? I can take a picture of mine also

 

[peter]

These may not be the oldest I have but they are both a few months past their BBE date, so probably bought about 3 years ago.

 

[Bob Spiers]

There are YouTube guides here

Watching the first of your YouTube links -and more importantly drawing my wife's attention to it she commented -"didn't you have to do that when I last tried opening a Frey Bentos S&K pie tin"? I can't say I did but it was a while ago when she was in charge of cooking, although I sort of remembered we once had a can opener like the one used in the clip. She reminded me by saying... "I tried opening the lid and failed so called you and you did no better. However you then tried lifting the tin and heard the cutter wheel 'bite', so you continued just as the man did in the clip and the lid came off at the end".

My wife's memory is usually pretty poor, but has good recall of things in the past. So if she says I did open a FB tin by lifting the tin, then so be it. (I just forgot to make a YouTube clip of so doing). I also forgot to recall we once had the same type opener as shown in the clip - nor for that matter why that too got abandoned.

As and when I try opening a FB S&K pie tin with our current opener, be sure I will remember to lift the tin - unless of course it works with the tin flat on the kitchen counter. There must be one somewhere that does!