cheese, onion and potato pies

these are the perfect comfort food for these cold, winter days.
recipe blatently stolen from the domestic goddess cookbook (which i HIGHLY recommend). it is easy to double this recipe and put half in the fridge for a really quick dinner another night in your week.

pastry:
2 large egg yolks
1 tea. salt
2 tbsp. cold water
1 2/3 c. flour
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
7 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, diced

filling:
2 large potatoes, chopped into 1x1 cubes
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
4-5 ozs. sharp cheddar grated
2 tbsp. grated parmesan
1/4 c. red leicester cheese, grated (you can substitute this with other british cheeses, if necessary)
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
4 tbsp. creme fraiche- to bind
salt and pepper

2 4-cup popover pans (i used big muffin pans, and that worked fine. so would deep ramikins)

for the pastry:
mix the dry ingredients together. add the egg yolks, vegetable shortening, and butter and mix again. add the water to bind it all. divide into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

preheat oven to 400 now.

for the filling:
peel and dice the potatoes, put them in a saucepan with plenty of cold water and bring to a boil. boil gently for 5-10 minutes, or until the cubes are cooked but retain their shape. drain and leave to cool.
in a large boil, combine the green onions, cheeses, slightly cooled potatoes, and parsley. bind with the creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper (i like more than a little salt, fyi). take the dough out and divide one of the piles into 8 pieces, roll each one out, and cover the bottoms of the popover pans. fill with the potato mixture and do the same division and roll outs for the other disk of dough. use these for lids and press them together with the bottom dough, leaving a small hole in the top.
cook for 20 minutes- the pastry should be firm and slightly golden, but still pale. let them sit for a few minutes and maneuver them out with a knife (surprisingly easy!). damn, they are delicious. enjoy.