by Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking. See facebook.com/bakermike001

WHO doesn’t like a good pie at this time of year?

It reminds me of food we ate out of necessity when people were grateful for what they were given.

Sadly corned beef has lost its popularity over the years, but saying that I bet a lot of you have a tin or two in your kitchen cupboards from the ‘loo roll panic buying’ heights of last year.

Let’s be honest, today who eats tinned meat?

We would often have tinned ham or salmon when visiting our grandparents for Sunday tea, with a cold salad.

Back in the 70s mum would often rustle-up a corned beef pie for a midweek tea, filled with lots of potatoes and carrots.

I went to open a can of corned beef the other day and was shocked with the challenge I faced. No wonder the sell-by date was 2025, it takes that long to open those odd-shaped retro tins! Why do they do this to us? If any Government official reads this, could we have a referendum on this subject?

My life has been turned upside down because of this, I’ve had many sleepless nights trying to come-up with a new-fangled idea for the perfect tin opener. I’m in a corned beef nightmare, am I the only one who feels this strongly?

But it would be wrong of me to dismiss corned beef with such a sneer.

The loveliest thing about corned beef is the ritual of snapping-off the key from the tin, then struggling to peel back the silver metal strip to reveal the moist meat beneath – knowing you are just one slip away from losing a finger!

Tins of Argentinian corned beef were responsible for several outbreaks of typhoid. The most severe of these hospitalised over 500 people in Aberdeen in the 1960s.

All this may explain a few things if you break the key off and use a large carving knife. What other food comes with such a sense of tension and excitement? And possibly follows with a ritual attendance at Airedale Hospital A&E.

So think on and check out your personal injury insurance policy as most will be invalidated if they find out you have opened a tin of corned beef that day!

My theory on the subject of the tin is it’s shaped like that so when you clean them out you can use them for perfect Yorkshire pudding tins. Try them – they work a treat.

Corned beef needs true recognition – where would those poor South American farmers be without it!

RECIPE

CORNED BEEF SLAB PIE

Ingredients:

450g / 1 lb shortcrust pastry, homemade or ready-made

350g can of of corned beef

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 celery sticks diced, optional extra

1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce or mustard power, Marmite

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. In a large pan, boil the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery for around 6 minutes till fork tender with a little salt, drain and set to one side.

2. Carefully remove the corned beef from the tin, breaking it up with a fork.

3. Add the contents from the pan into a large mixing bowl, season well adding one of your preferred options.

4. Using a fork, coarsely mix everything together well and then pile the filling into a small lipped roasting tin, levelling out flat.

5. Dampen the edges of the pie dish with a little water and roll out the pastry lid to slightly overhang.

6. Trim off the excess pastry with a knife, and neatly crimp the edges with a fork, poking a few holes in the lid.

7. Allow the pie to stand for 20 minutes, then glaze with egg or milk and bake for 35-40 minutes at 190C / Gas Mark 5 till golden dark crust.