home made cow heal pie
 

home made cow heal pie

anyone know how to make this, my gran used to make when I was little...
said the gravy would stick to me ribs....:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

eeewwwwww sorry magpie that sounds awful

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

no really it was very good. but I can't think what she put in it apart from the cow heal, when it was cooked my little brother used to suck on the cow's heal to help him with his teething:

unless this was an early form of child cruelty hm I wonder, I thought all the kids had this to eat:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Had it myself when iwas younger.Loved it,sucked sticky bones the lot.Believe me that gravy does stick to your ribs.Tripe and onion soup as well,great for those freezing winter days.Alas i've had neither since i was a teen & could'nt tell you how to make it.:(

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ah thank goodness for that Mawell silver .... thought it was my gran being mean to me: yes it did taste really good:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

tripe and onion!!! omg thats yuk!!! i feel ill now

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

a traditional lancashire dish from ww2 when rations were scarce
here's my interpretation whether it wil be exact i don't know i only made this a couple of times down south to bring in a bit of tradition to theme nights etc.
here goes.


1/2 lb cows heels cleaned and scraped
1/2 lb shin beef
1 large onion
salt and pepper

for the pastry

1/2lb plain flour
1/4lb marge
1/4lb lard
4 tbsp water



add the cows heels, beef chopped & onion to a pan of water bring to the boil and simmer for at least 3 hours

cover with the pastry and bake for 45 mins (about 180 oC)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

You can buy cow heel on the market on the black pudding stall. My mum still buys it and makes it. She prefers to use Skirt beef but any tough old cut is suitable (Don't use steak as it needs to be tough to survive teh long cooking time, it will become lovely and tender)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

i agree skirt good too as it makes a lovely rich gravy

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

think there used to be a chain of shops which sold that stuff , cowheels, tripe , oxtails etc. U C P springs to mind , for some reason seem to remember they had a restaurent/cafe in Blackpool in the 50s , but could be wrong .

http://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/hext...aspx?id=443675

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Now this sounds like my type of grub, will be givin it a try this weekend ill
try it with a couple apound ashin, washed down with a bottle or so of last years elderberrie wine. :) :)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I really love blackpudding. I spotted some here once, bought it and then found that it was sweet and had nuts in it. It looks exactly the same but is more like Xmas pud. Such a disappointment.

I don´t remember ever having cow heel pie but tripe was a favourite of mine. Tripe and trotters for tea with chips. Didn´t like it cooked though.

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I've wondered about this for years, was the tripe we ate as kids raw , straight from the cow ? or when our Mums cooked it were they cooking it a second time ? I allways remember it being on show on white marble slabs and kept semi-chilled , but did it come straight from the slaughter house to our plates without any processing , one thing we never heard of mad cow in them days
:confused: :confused:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Will make you big and strong, after all, was it not Desperate Dan who used to gain his strength from this ? :D

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Its been boiled and bleached when you buy it, you then cook it a second time (usually in Milk) with onions.

The blackpudding they have at our canteen in a morning is absolutely disgusting. I won't even try it anymore.

The 'stickiness' from cowheel comes from the gelatin in the bone and gristle. Its tasty too.. :D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

when i was a kid there was a wonderful little stall on bacup market that specialised in all these delicacies.
i'd often help my mum on a saturday on her stall
and we'd pop over for dinner
hot black puddings in winter
and tripe or a lovely slab of elder with lashings of salt and vinegar in the summer

it's a shame that these local delicacies are getting harder and harder to come by these days i suppose the younger generations would much prefer a macdonalds to good honest local food.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

we are lucky to still have a stall like that on Accy Market. theres on in Blackburn market as well.

It made me laugh the weekend that the Food Festival was on at the town hall, in there BPs were £2.50 a lb and higher, round the corner on Bobs stall they were half that price :D likewise when teh 'continental market comes to town. Prices far higher than whats just round teh corner on teh normal market yet people still buy.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

now black puddings i do like especially with mustard!!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

i used to like the black puds you bought at the market ,cooked in a old boiler...but cow heal yuk....

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

no no. nowadays you buy them like this you must keep the jelly
(i used to buy mine direct from the slaughterhouse and used to clean them myself)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

go on then let's hear it!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Shouldn't you be driving a bus or something? :D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

naaah i get days off now!:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I love Black pudding but i think i might be sick if i came accross tripe on my plate! but then for all i know i could have already had it as i only found out not so long ago that i have eaten rabbit stew/pie when i was younger now that seems a bit blagh now.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

just seen rick stein showing a tripe and veal heal stew, a 'traditional southern french dish :D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

that's one thing i really like about rick he does know how to keep it traditional


RIP chalky

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Oh do tell us .Willow:D

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Well it wasn't all that funny. :o

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

come on willow were waiting!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

****** she's done it to me again lol.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

going to get the stuff for my cow heal pie in the morning, so I will let you know how it goes: ( if I am still alive I will be there on Saturday night)

The other thing I used to have was Sad Cakes a bit like Chorley cakes I think...

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

sad cake a lot different to chorley cake as main flavours are nuts and coconut

(called a sad cake cos it rises and then falls leaving it a little sad looking)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I liked your explaination on how bad the cow heal pie turned out at the meet magpie :D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

hm not very good... however I will try again ( I have a few more gaps to fill in the hallway)

then again I could always try a CRAB-PIE hm yum yum I will have a think on that any ideas :-) ...

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Amazing how talk of food brings back the memories ... Oxtail soup, ham shank and peas, and steak and kidney pudding UBI SUNT!! Food is part ... and a very important part ... of any culture. The strongest sub-cultures in Canada are the ones that have "ethnic" foods: the Quebecois ,the Newfies with seal flipper pie (Don't try it, it's an aquired taste). Can't get black puddings, but there is Bloudin, a sort of Black Pudding from Quebec.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Maybe all of you should start to learn the English language & how to spell, before you try dangerous things like cooking with knives and flames?

or, try this, you might understand it better ...

maibe awll of u shud start to lurn the english langwage & how to spell,b4 u tri dangerouse things liyk cooking with knifes and flayms?

:confused:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself and think about what the point of your post is before you come on a forum and insult people

also, please dont drag up old dead posts

and if you havent got anything nice to say, dont bother

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Well, I'm not being funny, but to say you only have one post to your name, you aren't going to endear yourself to anyone if you come on here and the first thing you do is criticise the spelling.

And all of us should learn the English Language??
I would respectfully suggest that you need to learn some manners.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

i might get paul to take me to burnley, this threads made me want boiled black pudding!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

This is a thread that is almost without precedent - It contains the word 'pie' and is posted by a ---pie. However, it is made from a cow's hEEl. - another mis-spelling!!!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Didn't realise it actually existed -thought it was just something Desperate Dan used to eat...!:D
Lovely article in a magazine I get about using all the bits of animals that usually get thrown away. Accy, of course, is famous for the tripe stalls on the market. I saw it on Rick Stein's Food Hero's so it must be true -'fraid they wouldn't do much trade if they had to rely on me!

Just been down to get mag., had to share the following recipe:
MISSISSIPPI CRUSTED PIG'S EARS
First singe off any hairs - then wash thoroughly in warm water -BEWARE pig's suffer from ear-wax (eugh!)
Simmer for 2 and a half hours before pressing for a further 2 hours.
Coat in mustard, molten butter and breadcrumbs and roast in the oven until brown and crispy. (About 20 mins)
Apparently they taste somewhere between bacon and pork and have both a silky and crisp texture.
Anyone fancy trying them ....I had an omelette for lunch -much easier to make!;)

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as delicious as that sounds i think i'll pass....

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

OK -failing that you could always look up the following cookbook in Accy library -as recommended in the Magazine article:
"Testicles: Balls in Cooking and Culture" by Blandine Vié - a curious Gallic combination of philosophy, history and humour that aims to "honour them and rehabilitate them into their rightful place at table".:D;):D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I see this is your first post on The Accrington Web Site, I do pray it will be your last numpty

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Although i could think of a few people whos balls i'd like served on a plate, i'll pass on that one aswell ;)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I still cook Black puddings the way my mum used to- boil them in in a pan as you buy them- with their skins on until they swell. Frying them kills the flavor IMO.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Ham shank and peas- i would love the recipe for this as my mum used to cook this for us every week. Also a recipe for sage and onion stuffing which i vaguely remember but never get the same taste to. I remember the oven came into the recipe after but have tried to get the same taste but never achieved it.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Made me hungry too......but my problem is......I.m so poor I have to regurgitate breakfast to eat my tea.......:help:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Thanks Tex, you've just reminded me to take an haggis out of the freezer I'm having one for diner:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

As a child I was regularly served up tripe and chips for tea, and other meals included black pudding. It put me off for life and I haven't had any since!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Black pudding Tripe and chips Michael, thats the stuff to put hairs on the chest:mosher:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Don't mind a slice of black pudding myself in a fry up. The best i've ever had was when staying with a friend in Belfast -An Ulster Fry -they called it, that had a white as well as a black pudding and loads of other stuff too -a real cholesterol bomb but very tasty!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Well, in case you ever do get your hands on them:
Remove the external white membrane and you will find they are peachy-pink and have the texture of a fine paté when uncooked. The article advises slicing and frying in butter! ;) Yummy?

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

On holiday in Kenya, I asked in a restaurant for 'elephant's balls on toast'. ****** me - they had run out of bread.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

when i rented a bedsit many years ago the landlady either took pitty on me or took a shine to me and used to bring me breakfast in the morning in a plastic bag usually considting of a few rashers of bacon,eggs,sausage and black pudding which i would cook myself.

occasionally she would waltz accross with either cowheel or tripe as an extra treat .So as not to offend and keep the good stuff coming i used to pretend i was saving it for later and dispose of it when i went out on my travels.No matter how much i tried to eat it just looking at it put me off lol

Even my grandpa use to try giving it to me when i was a kid assuring me it was good for me but once a fussy eater always a fussy eater lol

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Shortly after we met my (future) wife invited me to dinner with her family. Her mother had cooked a special meal of tripe as she said I was so thin, I needed feeding up.
As I needed feeding up, she gave me an extra large portion! I'd never had it and didn't like the looks of it( I hated fat and this looked similar to raw fat ). They all sat waiting for me to approve- I cut off a small piece, put it in my mouth and was immediately sick all over the table!
Not a good first impression and I've never touched it since.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

boiled black puddings from a stall on burnley market are the best, they're only 70p :)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I remember my Grandad used to love tripe cold with salt, pepper and vinegar.

I can't stand it.

Here in italy they cut it into thin strips and cook it in a sort of Minestrone soup -it's still disgusting!

One thing I did love - which mum used to get on the market, was Broth -she used to get the ready made mix and add Ham shank and then dumplings. Delicious -great on a cold winter's day.:p

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I sometimes make my own stuffing......it is easy.
A couple of slices of bread.......made into breadcrumbs(stale bread is best)
A chopped shallot sweated in a little chicken stock until soft, a couple of pinches of dried sage(more if you use fresh sage...dried sage has a more intense flavour, that's why you need less) a pinch of dried parsley(optional)
a little salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Add some chicken stock to make a sloppy paste(or I use the juice from a pork joint......put the mix into an oven proof dish and cook in the oven at the bottom for 20 minutes...if the stuffing looks like it is drying out, add a little more stock.
I like my stuffing to be soft....I hate those golf balls of stuffing.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Or you could just buy a packet of Paxo! :)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

my grandad makes chestnut stuffing that we fight over at christmas, its thick and chewy :D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

As for Cow Heel pie....my recollection of this is that the steak filling is cooked with a cow heel, you fish out the cow heel once the steak pie filling is cooked.......the cow heel makes the gravy 'set' when it is cold and when it is warm the gravy is just thick.

I haven't ever made it, but I can recall my Grandma making it......and it did stick to your ribs.

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Not keen on chestnut stuffing.....or lemon and thyme stuffing.......I just like boring old sage and onion.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

We can't get Paxo here Margaret and your recipe is how I make it (like my Grandmother used to make it) and is a million times better. For Xmas i add sausage meat and chestnuts! It's great with chicken, turkey or capon alongside Devils on Horseback and other "trimmings".:)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

stuffing wrapped in bacon mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Ham hock(or shank) and peas.
Rinse the shank in running water...or put the shank into a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Once the shank has come to the boil tip the water off and replace it with fresh water.......this will prevent the shank from being overly salty.
Cook the shank in the fresh water until it is properly cooked.(you can cut the meat up at this point, or leave it until it falls apart)
The peas need to be soaked at least overnight. Put the soaked peas into the pan with the shank(don't ask me how many peas....I never measure anything, I just go by rack of eye.......you can only have too many peas if they overflow the pan:).
I add to my pan a finely diced carrot, a small chopped onion and a finely chopped potato, and if liked(which I do) a handful of pearl barley.

Let all these ingredients simmer gently, stirring from time to time(stops the peas sticking to the bottom and burning...would ruin the taste).
It is ready to eat when all the peas have fallen(gone soft, and the meat has fallen into shreds). I could just eat a basinful of that right now.
This recipe can also be made with bacon ribs. And you can add dumplings for a bit of extra flavour.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I mix my home made stuffing with good quality sausage meat in equal quantities and make something like sausage rolls...using puff pastry.

When I worked at the hospital, my staff used to ask me to make them for our Christmas feast.......and they never lasted very long.
I am a fair cook, but I only ever make plain stick to the ribs grub.
I do make a mean Sherry trifle(no jelly...that is for children...and I make my own vanilla custard with eggs milk and cream)) and a very passable apricot and kiwi fruit cheesecake.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

That's why there's holes in honeycomb trip mobertol, so you can put vinegar in each hole:D:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

There is very little food I don't like really Trip, Trotters, Black Pudding Haggis (had a spugs special for lunch yesterday:D) the only thing I have never fancied is elder(thinks that's how its spelt) seen it on the Trip stall, but never been tempted, many a time I've got some trip at lunchtime and asked for it to be cut up and sat there at work eating it for lunch:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

My father loved Elder......he used to have it with toast, not on toast, but he would have a bite of toast and then cut a bit of elder off and put it in his mouth........he tried to get us to eat it, but we never did. Tripe......ewwww, horrible stuff. Tastes like watery snot.
I'd rather eat my own eyeballs.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

That confirms my opinion - Jaysay talks a load of tripe, It just trips off his tongue. Please do not take this as a signal to start posting about tongue. Once my dad was offered tongue in a restaurant. He declined it - "Tongue? I could not eat anything that came out of an animal's mouth. I'll have an egg please."

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

:s_cry::s_cry:There was me thinking you were a friend of mine Bob:D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Well John, you know that they say friends make the worst enemies because they know where the punch hurts the most.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

My weak spots mi wallet Margaret:rolleyes:

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I knew I could get away with it with you. I wouldn't try it out on either of the Margarets.
I did think of bringing the word 'brains' into it but decided to limit myself. I didn't want to say anything offal about you. bee

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Now you're talking -I don't actually have a sweet tooth -cheese is my downfall- but I can't resist a proper Sherry Trifle, yours sounds very much like the one my Grandmother used to make for special occasions!:p

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

What a very rude person you are! I've really enjoyed reading this thread though, and I can remember my grandma making cow heel pie, I've made it once under her supervision when my children who are all now very grown up were small, it involves cooking the cow heel with braised steak and then removing it before serving, makes a really thick gravy. Also Margaret Pilkington has mentioned some old recipes, she's said before that we may be of a similar age and I would say we most definitely are. I'm currently in the process of writing down all the old recipes I've got for my children and grandchildren because I don't want them to get lost. When my daughter left home eleven years ago I gave her my "Grannie Annie's book of delicious home made recipes", consisting basically of all the food she'd eaten whilst growing upand how to cook it - she still has it but it's now extremely tatty!

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Today I have made a roast of Belly Pork....the crackling was crisp and golden.
I took the meat out to rest mid afternoon and the juices just ozzed out...... they set into a golden brown jelly.......I have saved this for my toast in the morning.......it will be lovely. I made my home made stuffing, and because I had some chives that were looking just a bit sad...I snipped them and put them in my stuffing too.

I don't really work from recipes, all the cooking I learned was by watching my Grandma.
They are all good plain 'stick to you ribs' foods.

Though I can make a very passable chicken and mushroom risotto.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

That sounds delicious! I was also taught to cook by my mum and my grandma, but I do have a soft spot for Jamie Oliver!
I had a lovely lunch today at the Spread Eagle at Sawley, but I think I might be going a bit off thread here.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I should have said the juices just oozed out....this is just in case that uncouth gentleman thinks I need to learn to spell, and learn English.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I am a self taught cook -never got a look in at home as my sister was at catering college and had to practise. Was given Delia Smith's original cookery course back in the 80's and still have it -it's like a bible to me and the recipes always work. I can also remember that my mum used to have a cookery book by Margueritte Pattern(?) or a name something like that. I mainly cook Italian though having lived here for 25 yrs.

Jamie has been a great success on TV and is much appreciated by my boys as he makes cooking look dynamic and trendy -but to me he swathes everything in tuns of Olive oil -with his slugs and glugs while doing the recipes and adding it again at the end! I wonder if he's getting something from the olive oil industry as a sort of ambassador at times....He's also way over the top with the amount of herbs he uses.

I love Rick Stein (with his food hero's) and especially his fish dishes.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

ive got the jamie olivers 30 min meals and they are pretty good, although not always very family friendly so i swap annd change when i do use it, ive got delia smith how to cook' aswell as nigella lawsons 'kitchen'.... i have a few cookery books now, i like to pick them up in charity shops and car boots and ive learnt to cook from them,im a pretty good cook, if i do say so myself, i manage to keep my family well fed cooking from scratch :)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

You lot are making me hungry! Can I come for tea?

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Sure Michael -it's posh fish'n'chips tonight (homemade) chez Bertolotti followed by a spongecake with fresh cream and raspberries -my birthday tea- all welcome! Plenty of bubbly too -Italian Franciacorta not french rubbish!

(Posh means goujons of cod and giant prawns in batter with Tartare sauce -home-made also!)

I may not be able to eat much though as I've just got back from a traumatic session at the dentists...

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Not under his bridge they won't be, he'll be eating stringy goats.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

No son, he'll be eating raw grass...and tht's if he is lucky enough :)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

The cows on our farm would be glad of that, M. Life is always greener on the other side of the fence...

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yes, it's because of those pasture pies :D:D:D

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Thought they were called pats:rolleyes::rolleyes::D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

Wonderful book, the chapter on crushed nuts brought tears to my eyes:eek:

Actually, I haven't read the book; but it sounds like a hell of a good read. I think I'll check it out.:D

Here's one for those who like adventure in cooking: Flipper Pie Newfoundland Recipe | Newfoundland Recipes Cookbook: Traditional Newfoundland Meals by Newfoundland.ws

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Struggling to source the seal flippers Eric - they don't have them at the Co-op! Sounds delicious -but crushed nuts are much easier to come by!:rolleyes::D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I don't think the Co-Op will have them ... just take a club and wander out onto what's left of the pack ice and get your own.;):D

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

We moved to New Zealand and couldn't buy it. So we had to start from scratch.

Recipe:

Take one cow
Remove lower legs and discard the rest.
Boil for 1.30 hrs the whole 4 legs.
Remove hoves and skin.

Makes a hell of a mess in the kitchen so best to do it when the wife isn't around. Doesn't smell too good either so she tells me.

I have done this a couple of times now and I have more cow heel than Richard Branson.

I have a recipe for tongue but it is very similar.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

You can get sent to the antipodes for taking a loaf...never mind a cow:)

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

I have just read through this thread and really enjoyed it. My favourite meal when I lived with my parents was Beef and Cow Heel. My dad used to make it and I liked it made the day before we ate it as it was so thick and sticky then.He always used shin beef.As a few of you said 'Sticks to your ribs'. My dad used to say that too. I have eaten tripe once of twice but not over keen. I loved Christmas though as dad always bought a tongue from Chadwicks in the market hall and cooked it himself. He would boil it and then put it in a basin with a plate on top and a heavy weight on top of the plate to press the meat down. I still treat myself to a
quarter of tongue now and again but it never tastes like the home cooked did. My dad died 13 yrs ago and I have never had cow heel pie since. My other half will not entertain it. Some people do not know what is good for them.

Re: home made cow heal pie
 

OX cheek is a very tasty bit of meat slow cooked just falls apart
done with mash and peas with onions and thick gravy
this will be my Sunday dinner:):mosher:

oh if you fancy trying it you can get ox or beef cheek from Tesco from thurs to sat
one cheek will be enough for 2 meals well worth a try