Friday 26 April 2013

Chicken Mushroom Pie and Shepherd's Pie

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog. Not to give excuses but these are valid ones. First, I'm without a maid since the last one quit and went home. So I've been a model housewife, doing everything myself. Secondly, I'm into baking and perfecting my pie recipes. Plus there were quite a number of orders for my pies from my neighbours and the mosque's community. So this entry will be on pies. For the chicken mushroom pie, there are 3 components to assemble; namely the pastry, the puff pastry and the filling. I cheat by using store bought puff pastry. Convenient and easily available.


Mini Chicken Mushroom Pies


Ingredients

Pastry
1/2 kg of all purpose flour
180 gm butter/margarine
70 ml cold water

Method

1. Cut the cold butter into the flour until it becomes small granules
2. Add in the water little by little until the mixture binds together. Be careful not to overwork the dough as it will toughen up.
3.Wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge or in a cool place for at least 1/2 an hour.

Note: If using unsalted butter, add in a teaspoon of salt. But I prefer to use the salted butter.

Filling

Ingredients
1 kg chicken meat (cubed)
80 gm carrot
40 gm celery
130 gm big onion
1 tblsp ground black pepper
100 gm mushroom
2 tblsp all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil

Method

1.Cubed the chicken and coat it in the flour. Do not let lumps happen.
2. Heat the oil and fry the chicken
3. Cut the vegetables into cubes and chop up the mushrooms into decent sizes
4. When chicken is slightly browned, add in the carrot,celery, onion. Pour in the milk
5 Let the mixture simmer for a while. Add in the mushroom and black pepper.
6.When the mixture thickens, turn off the heat. Let it cool before filling in the pastry

The assemble
1. Roll out the pastry thinly. This will have a crunch and beats having to eat a mouthful of dough.
2. Cut it according to the size. I use the 7 cm diameter mini aluminium round tray.
3. Put in the filling. I usually estimate  the amount I put in.
4. Cut the puff pastry and cover the filled tray. Tuck in the edges making sure that no filling is seen.
5. Poke a few holes with a tooth pick so that the steam can come out.
6. Bake at 220 o C for 25 mins or until the top browns out. What I normally do is to turn on the oven, bottom only for 10 mins and changed it to top and bottom for the last 15 mins.

Note: These pies can also be frozen and reheat for another day. I've tried freezing it for 1 month and they still taste good. If meant to be frozen, bake it slightly under that is for 20 mins or so




Shepherd's  Pie

This is the mini version of it thus it will need some pastry to hold it together. Again the pie comes in 3 components namely; the filling, the pastry and the mashed potatoes. For the minced beef, I use the beef from New Zealand or Australia because it taste less gamey

Ingredients

 The filling

1 kg minced beef
35 gm yellow/green/red pepper
80 gm carrot
40 gm celery
130 gm big onions
1 tblsp ground black pepper
1/2 tblsp chopped ginger
some grated cheese ( optional)  I use mozzarella
2 tblsp oil


Method
1. Heat the oil and add in the minced beef. Fry it until it turns colour
2. Add in the vegetables, the chopped ginger and the pepper
3. When mixture is cooked, put it aside.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients 

160 gm potatoes
50 gm butter
1 egg

Method

1. Boil potatoes until cooked and easily mashed
2. Add in the butter and the egg

For pastry used the ingredients for the chicken mushroom pie pastry

The Assemble

1. Roll out the pastry thinly. Cut and arrange it in the mini trays. Again I use the 7 cm round aluminium trays
2. Put in the filling and cover the whole thing with the mashed potatoes. I use a flat rice spoon for this so that it's easier to cover the whole pie.
3 Sprinkle a few flakes of grated cheese on top, but this is optional. This will give the pie a beautiful burned look. It does look better with the cheese.
4. Bake in a 220 o C for 25 mins. Again if its for freezing, under cook it a bit.