Cow Pie

Call me childish, but when I had some pastry trimmings left over from making tonight's Minced Beef & Onion Pie, the nostagia bug bit me and I decided that it should be a 'Cow Pie' in honour of Desperate Dan. My tomboy tendencies as a child made me an avid reader of 'The Dandy' and a particular fan of Dinah Mo, though I also read 'Bunty', just to prove that I've always been one to want a bit of everything!

Cow Pie

400g flour

200g butter

2 medium onions, halved and sliced

250g beef mince

150g mushrooms, chopped

beef stock cube

1 tsp cornflour

Make some pastry and set it aside while you prepare the filling. Fry the onions until soft, then add the mince and brown it. Add the mushrooms and crumble the stock cube into the pan, mixing well. Stir the cornflour into 200ml water and pour this into the pan. Bring to the boil and let the mixture bubble gently while you roll out the pastry and line a pie tin or dish. Fill the pie case, top with the pastry 'lid' and (if you're as juvenile as I am) use the trimmings to make two 'horns' and a 'tail'. Affix these with a leittle beaten egg, then glaze the pie crust and bake for 20 minutes at 200°c. I tastes really good, believe me - especially with mashed potatoes and peas, though tonight I decided to forgo the mash and just cook a vat of peas with plenty of mint from the garden.

Aunt Aggie would be proud of me...