Rabbit and Crawfish Pie (English Stargazy Pie)

In this whimsically constructed pie, rabbit and sweet crawfish form a thick, creamy, cider-rich sauce under a biscuit-like beef suet crust.

Pastry:
3 oz beef suet (from your butcher), chilled and coarsely grated
1½ cups self-rising flour
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, frozen and coarsely grated
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs, 1 whole, 1 lightly beaten
1⁄3 cup ice cold water

Filling:
¼ cup Canola oil
2 (2½ lb) rabbits, cut into 8 pieces each
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, minced
¾ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
4 cups chicken stock
1⁄3 cup dry hard apple cider
12 oz fresh or frozen crawfish meat
7 whole crawfish, head-on
¼ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

Make the Pastry:
Pulse suet, flour, butter, salt, and whole egg in a food processor into pea-sized crumbles. Add water; pulse until pastry forms. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; chill until ready to use.

Make the Filling:
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a 6 qt Dutch oven over high. Season rabbit with salt and pepper; working in batches, cook until browned, 12-15 minutes, and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining oil, the butter, and onion to pan; cook until onion is soft, 4-6 minutes. Sprinkle in flour; cook 2 minutes. Whisk in stock and cider; boil. Reduce heat to medium and return rabbit to pan; cook, slightly covered, until tender, about 1 hour. Transfer rabbit to a bowl, and let cool; shred meat, discarding bones. Stir rabbit, the crawfish meat, cream, parsley, salt, and pepper into sauce.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Assemble and Bake the Pie:
Pour filling into a 9" pie plate. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into an 11" circle, about 1/6" thick. Brush the edges of pie plate with remaining beaten egg and lay pastry over top; crimp edges to seal. Cut seven 1" holes in the pastry about 1" from the edges; insert whole crawfish, tails first, leaving heads and claws poking out. Brush top of pastry with egg; bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings.