mushroom gorgonzola pie

My first savory pie and it was perfect. I literally could have ate the entire thing. Soft mushrooms, running strong gorgonzola, sauteed onions, all steaming with the hint of sage baked in a marvelous pastry. It was a lovely meal. I didn't even plan on photographing it because I really didn't want to wait to try it. But the look of the pie bird was just so funny, I made myself suffer the wait. Worth it.

I have always been plagued by the idea of a savory pie after seeing an episode of some Samantha Brown travel show, many years ago. She was in Cornwall, I think, and someone showed her how to make cornish pasties. They looked so amazing, even though they all had meat. Tradition old recipes like that from the UK have always fascinated me. They were all so glamourous, in a rustic way, reminding me of the beautiful British countryside. Food that I would want to eat if I ate meat. 

Anyways, when I saw a recipe for a savory pie that was vegetarian on that British recipe site I like, Channel 4, I believe. I knew I had to make it, it was a must. The original recipe was a bit different, one main thing, it only had a top crust but I need a double dose. That crispy shortcrust would be perfect, again. 

Last week I met up with Kamran of The Sophisticated Gourmet! I had such an amazing afternoon with him. He was in town from the East Coast, doing business, and had a few hours free so we met up. I was a bit nervous at first, just because I was meeting someone that I had only seen their photo a few times online. So I did that awkward, make eye contact with every guy that could plausibly fit his description to see if it was him. So after finally finding each other, we walked around Market Street, down the the Ferry Building (I got my first Weck jars!) the to Fog City News & Union Square. Fog City News, a magazine & chocolate shop that I had randomly stumbled upon one day. When I said, 'Oh there is some magazine shop that has good foodie mags up here' to Kamran, he went, Fog ... Something? I heard about this amazing chocolate and magazine shop that so & so told me I had to go to. My reaction was 'I have no clue what it's called, but it had chocolate & its amazing, so maybe!' and it turns out we were both thinking of the same shop! Very funny coincidence. A lovely afternoon talking with someone that actually had the same interests as me. I generally don't have much in common with people my age. No one seems to care about an amazing old piece of wood to use as a background, the wonderfulness of brown butter or can relate on always feeling the stress of putting up a new post. It really made me feel normal to be able to talk to someone who understands. Thanks for taking time out of your trip to meet up with me Kamran :) 

Gordon Ramsay's shortcrust recipe.

Filling an adaptation of a Simon Rimmer recipe.