Daffodils and pies

Celebrating the late arrival of the daffodils with a nice hearty pie.

The daffodils took their time this year, but when they came, it really was time for a celebration. These golden trumpets came from the allotment. And aren’t they marvellous:

To celebrate this, and something that apparently recently happened to Wales in the rugby, I cooked this daffodil pie for a Welsh friend who was coming round:

Obviously it’s a beef pie garnished with a daffodil pastry flower, rather than anything really involving daffodils, which are poisonous.

The beef stewed in the oven with bacon, mushrooms, red onions, carrots, red wine and a sprinkling of crushed chillis for seven hours. When it came out it was so tender it didn’t just melt in your mouth, it made the rest of your body melt with joy as well.

And just to make clear that it really is a daffodil, I mixed the egg yolk that I brushed over the rest of the pie with a drop of yellow food colouring when I came to brush the flower.

And this is what it looked like when it was finally ready for eating:

Not quite as pretty as nature can manage, but oh, that beef pie was a good way to celebrate the late arrival of those daffodils.