Ingredients:

For Hot Water Crust:

1 C lard
1 1/4 C boiling water
5 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Beaten egg for glaze

For Filling:

1 lb ground, seasoned pork
1 lb cubed pork
3 oz. bacon, ground
1/4 lb. chopped onion
6 tbls. good, dry, hard cider
1/2 tbls. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 lb. Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 tbls. fresh, chopped sage


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the lard into bits and melt it in the boiling water. Pour it into a large bowl containing the flour and salt and work the warm paste into a ball. You will need to roll three-quarters of the dough out for the bottom and sides of the pie and the final quarter for the top.

Build the crust by placing the pan inside the circle of dough you have rolled out and molding the walls around the pan. Then, to help the crust hold it's shape, wrap a sheet of waxed paper around the pie crust walls and tie string around it, one piece 1 inch or so from the bottom and one piece 1 inch or so from the top.

Remove the pan and fill the crust with the filling ingredients which you have mixed together in the bowl with your fingers. Press the filling in so that it is packed tightly right to the top of the crust, then cover with the top circle of dough and crimp the edges together. Brush all over with beaten egg and cut a hole in the top to allow steam to escape.

Place in oven for 30 minutes to firm up crust and let it begin to color, then turn the heat down to 325 degrees and leave for about 2 hours for the meat to cook through. Keep checking the top of pie and protect it with a sheet of waxed paper if it begins to brown too much, too quickly. Remove the pie from the oven and remove the waxed paper and string. Brush the sides of the pie with beaten egg and return to oven to color for 10 minutes. This pork pie is time-consuming to prepare but worth the effort. You can also use scraps of leftover crust dough to fashion small shapes to decorate the top of the crust if desired, fastening them with the egg wash. This is a gorgeous and delicious dish that my grandmother always fixed at Christmastime. My mother and now my sister and I have continued the tradition to the present day!