♪ There you'll sample Mrs. Lovett's meat pies ♪
♪ Savory and sweet pies, as you'll see ♪
♪ You who eat pies, Mrs. Lovett's meat pies ♪
♪ Conjure up the treat pies used to be ♪
- [Andrew] Hey, what's up guys?
Welcome back to Binging with Babish, where this week,
we're taking a look at the morbid meat pies made of man
from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
As you can see, I've got a nice pile of viscera here
to celebrate the Halloween season,
but it does serve a purpose.
What I have here is lamb kidney fat,
which has a rich, sweet, gamey flavor
that I think is gonna be perfect for emulating
the human elements of our pie.
So we've got about two pounds of lamb fat here
that I'm gonna cut into chunks and render out
over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally
so that it doesn't burn, until it's yielded
about two cups of liquid fat, maybe about half an hour,
which we're gonna strain through a cheesecloth
and a fine mesh sieve so as to catch any particulate.
Discard the solids and set aside.
Now we're gonna use it to make hot water crust pastry,
combining 280 grams of water and 110 grams of rendered
lamb fat in a small lidded saucepan that we're gonna bring
to a simmer over medium heat.
While that's doing its thing, I'm gonna tiny whisk together
a pinch of salt with 500 grams of all-purpose flour
before pouring the hot fat and water over top,
which I'm gonna mix together with a wooden spoon
until all the flour is hydrated.
Once no dry patches remain, I'm gonna cover it up
and let it rest until it's cool enough to handle,
about 20 minutes.
Now, the pies in the movie looks like freestanding
hot water crust pastry, which means that we need
some pretty thoroughly-developed gluten,
so I'm gonna knead this thing for about
five to seven minutes, until it's firm but not tough,
like a loving father.
Then we're placing it into a bowl and covering it,
once again letting it rest at room temperature for,
this time about an hour, during which time
we can contend with our meat.
I tried my absolute darndest to get human meat,
but the cops said no go.
But the Smithsonian describes human meat
as tasting like chuck roast, so I have a grass-fed one here.
I think that between this and our lamb fat pastry,
we should have a close approximation
of what a human pie tastes like.
So I'm breaking it down into bite-sized pieces
and trimming off any sinew or connective tissue,
sprinkling some fresh-picked thyme over top, along with
a hefty pinch of kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
and scattering some onions in there as well.
This, to me, feels like the spices and aromatics
they'd use in the 18th century London kitchen.
Now that we've got our meat filling ready,
it's time to start forming our pastry.
I'm starting with maybe a third of my dough
that I'ma roll out to an eight to 10-inch round,
about two inches wider than I want my resultant pie to be.
Then, using a bowl or a crock like this one
as a sort of mold, we're gonna shape the pie
up around the sides, pressing and forming it together
until it holds its shape.
Then we're slicing off any uneven excess,
so we have a nice flat top, to which we can
more easily adhere a pastry lid.
So go ahead and pop the pastry shell off the mold,
and now's the time to fill it with the ill-gotten entrails
of the former customers of the barbershop upstairs,
pressing as much as we possibly can in there,
because it is going to shrink during cooking.
Now we're rolling out another smaller piece of pastry,
about an inch wider than the pie,
brushing down the edges of the pie with a beaten egg,
and draping the pastry lid over top.
Now I'm gonna chop off any tattered excess
and use the rest to crimp down,
being sure to seal shut as thoroughly as possible,
so we don't spring any leaks in the oven.
Hot water crest is very forgiving, so don't be afraid
to patch any spots you feel might be weak points.
Now we're gonna cut a steam vent in the center,
so the thing doesn't explode, and optionally garnish
with what looked like some little decorative pastry leaves.
The pies in the movie didn't look super artisanal
or anything, so I'm not gonna go too crazy here.
Just gonna cut up four leaves of varying sizes
and adhere them to the top of the pie
with a little bit of egg wash.
Now this guy's headed into a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven
for anywhere from one to two hours,
until the pastry is beginning to lightly brown
and the beef registers run 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then we're thoroughly brushing down every nook and/or cranny
with a beaten egg before returning
to a slightly hotter oven, 375 or 400,
for an additional 15 to 20 minutes,
or until golden brown and burnished.
Wait 10, 15 minutes until this guy's cool enough to handle,
place him on a wire rack.
No soggy bottoms here, Paul Hollywood.
And ideally, you want to let this guy cool completely,
about two hours, but I've got a hungry Sawyer in the house,
so I thought I'd dig in early.
Now, my original plan was for this to be the base
movie version, then I was gonna make an improved
Babish version, but it was so good,
we ended up eating every bite.
So instead, I took him upstairs to practice shaving
with a straight razor
(jazzy music)