The 81st Bake: Boeuf Bourguignon Pie
Lamb Bourguignon from the Bake-Off
I happened to be watching The Great Australia Bake-Off and they were making Lamb Bourguignon Pie. What a coincidence, as I was about to make this Boeuf Bourguignon version. All those luscious Boeuf Bourguignon ingredients of mushrooms, beef, red wine and lardons to make the classic French stew covered by puff pastry. The hardest thing about it was how to spell it actually! Coincidences tend to pop up out of nowhere and can be fun and even helpful. Not like other things that pop up too often these days. For example, I picked up the phone one day and was struck by a quite aggressive man who after citing the microsoft Licence ID Number of my computer, and the date and place of purchase, proceeded to tell me that “in 20 minutes my computer would be deactivated from the Microsoft server and no-one in the whole world would be able to fix it.” !! Okay?! Such an invasion in your own home, not to mention the emails that inundate our inboxes full of “answer a simple question for a free gift” so we are tempted to click on the link or worse, “you’ve been hacked.” Nothing is sacred anymore, least of all our privacy! Be careful out there!!!!
For this bake I cooked the diced streaky bacon and set this aside. I then cut the meat up into cubes and browned in a frying pan with olive oil, then (more…)
This is a staple of any New Zealand cuisine. It is good for a meal or for a picnic or to take to someone’s place to share. With all the tragedy and uncertainty around these days, with people suffering from depression and them and their families suffering the sometimes devastating consequences of this, we need to look after each other. A friend recently posted on Facebook ” It is easier together, It is easier TOGETHER. If you are doing this life heavy, don’t do it in secret. Tell me. Tell someone. We can do it together.” It’s so important to look out for each other, especially those that are doing it tough, or may be feeling vulnerable and alone. I recently experienced an intervention when I felt someone wasn’t safe. Sometimes we have to put ourselves out there, intervene, even if we risk interfering. Take them a bacon and egg pie, sit down and have chat. Here’s the recipe: 
A savoury bake it is. After the last burst of hot sweet rectangular sugaryness, I think a game meat pie sounds like just the ticket. I went to my local fresh collective and in the game meat department, only found venison, so bought that. To substitute the required 800g of mixed game meat I bought rump steak, woops, meant to buy chuck steak but never mind. High end cuts for a slow cooked pie, it’s only my bank account that will suffer!