Rather Luscious, Slightly Healthy, Chicken & Veg Pies.... free form style....

Come Monday nights, a funny thing has happened... I’ve been finding myself cooking rather fabulous dinners. I’m not sure if it’s a way of cleansing after the weekend or it’s a way of setting myself up just right for the week. Either way, there’ve been some great snacks created from a Monday evening cook-a-thon, and this Monday was no different. Although, it was a Martha Stewart marathon of a thing. And it was accidental.

See, I’d taken a chicken breast out of the freezer (a nice, plump corn fed one) and all day had no idea what to with it. So, I browsed a few sites like www.taste.com.au and a new favourite discovery at www.cuisine.com.au as well as some real life cookbooks for inspiration.

Then I saw it... a lovely image of a luscious chicken and veg pie, shrouded in crispy buttery pastry and I knew that’s what I wanted. I knew it was what I had to have – and was going to have it no matter what. No matter about having to make the pastry myself, or having to cut up tons of vegies, or having to make a white sauce to bind it all.... and not to mention having to wash a million dishes, all while Underbelly was on!

The other problem was that none of the recipes were quite what I wanted. So in the end I had to make it all up... but it worked and I was happy (although if anyone can give me a few bullet points on the gist of Underbelly, that would be great!).

So, before I forget how it all happened, I thought I’d write it down NOW and post it.

Chicken & Vegetable 'Pot' Pies... Free Form style
(this made 12 mini/med pies)

Pastry

1 Cup Wholemeal Flour
½ Cup Plain Flour
125gm Butter – chilled, chopped
Pinch Salt
Cold water

Sift flour and salt, add to food processor. Dot butter around and whiz until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. With the motor running, slowly add chilled water until the mix comes together in a ball. It should be slightly sticky, like playdough.

Wrap dough in cling wrap, and refrigerate for 30 mins (this will prevent shrinkage when baking).
When ready to use, flatten to a disk, before removing from wrap and rolling out to desired thickness on a floured bench.

Chicken and Vegetable Filling

1 Large Chicken Breast
1 Cup Leek – chopped
1 Cup Sweet Potato – peeled and chopped
½ Cup Carrot - chopped
1 Cup Mushrooms – chopped
1 Cup Zucchini – chopped
½ Cup Frozen Corn Kernels
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Garlic – minced
½ cup White Wine
½ cup Chicken Stock
Salt, Pepper, Paprika
Olive Oil

Parboil sweet potato (about 10 mins) in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside.
Sauté leek and carrot in olive oil until soft and slightly browned. Add garlic and mustard. Sweat down for a few minutes before raising heat and adding chopped chicken. Brown together, stirring to prevent sticking.

Add stock and wine and bring to a simmer. Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook on a low simmer for a few minutes. Add corn and sweet potato as well as salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of paprika. Stir through and remove from heat.

Add white sauce (recipe below) to bring the mixture together – you may not need all the sauce, the mix should not be too wet, just nicely thickened to bind the filling together.

When combined, assemble pies.

White Sauce

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
2 Cups Milk (warmed)
Salt & Pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan, when melted, add flour and stir until well combined. Allow the flour to cook for a few minutes, lower heat and then add a splash of milk, stirring briskly to break up lumps. When thickened, slowly add more milk, stirring constantly. Continue adding milk until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble pies – cut round discs of pastry (I used a saucer) place on a greased baking sheet. Add a spoonful of chicken filling. Bring up sides, slightly overlapping the mix, crimping to make the pastry hold up. Alternatively you can also line muffin tins with the pastry, adding the filling.

Bake - in a pre-heated (220’C) oven until pastry is cooked through and filling bubbling (mine took around 35 mins). Allow to rest for a few minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to cool slightly.

Tasting Notes

• The wholemeal pastry took longer than expected and was rather heavy, but I was trying to be healthy! If you don’t want to use wholemeal flour, use 2 cups of plain white flour to the same ratio of butter.



• These can be adapted for any ingredients that you may have in the fridge. The vegies above are what I had to hand...



• You could also make one large pie, you could double the pastry mix so the pie was enclosed



• If you have leftover white sauce, it freezes well so pop it away for another use

Crock Pot Corned Beef / Silverside.... with Yummy White Sauce

Yet another masterpiece from George..... I'm going through a phase of trying out retro dishes I grew up with, but have never made. I did try trifle the other week and it was a colossal failure. I didn't even complete it before tossing it. I shall go back to letting Mum do that one... once bitten, twice shy I say!

This dish, on the other hand, was a winner! And it was so easy to make, with plenty to go around.... mum got a serving, I got a serve for dinner and plenty of leftovers for lunches! No offence to mum but her's never quite turned out this tender and tasty... I was really impressed with the impregnation of flavour - and now I won't cook this any other way. Good on George. Good on me.

And don't forget to save the stock.... it was marvy recycled into the Porcini Mushroom Risotto.

Slow Cooker Corned Silverside with Mustardy White Sauce

1 Piece Silverside / Corned Beef
3 Carrots – cut in halves
4 Potatoes – halved, unpeeled
2 Onions - small, whole, peeled (pickling)
Peppercorns – black (about 10)
Ginger - small knuckle (fresh)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
½ Cup Vinegar – I used white, with a splash of white balsamic
Warm Water

Spray inside of crock pot with non stick spray, layer carrots in the bottom. Add beef, poke in the potatoes, onions and ginger and then sprinkle peppercorns around the meat.

Mix sugar with Vinegar until dissolved. Pour over beef, and top up with warm water until meat is covered. Cover and cook.

I cooked this on low for 10 hours and it was meltingly, fall apart tender. I’d almost go as far to say it was slightly overdone, but I was at work and unable to turn it off!

Serve with vegetables and white sauce.

*** Reserve stock for the White Sauce and the Mushroom risotto (see other posts)! This must be strained though..... Line a sieve with paper towel, strain, discarding all the peppercorns and bits.

White Sauce with Mustard

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Stock/Cooking Liquid from Silverside
1 teaspoon Mustard

Melt butter until bubbling. Stir in flour and cook for a minute or two. Add mustard and stir to combine. Add milk slowly, stirring to thicken taking out the lumps as you go. Add stock slowly until the sauce reaches desired consistency and taste.

Tasting Notes:

• This was super! Yay for retro dinners!


• The meat was divinely tender – it fell apart on carving but was the tenderest corned beef I’ve had. It also had a lovely mellow flavour from slow cooking with the sweet carrots, vinegar and brown sugar.


• Next time, I may shave an hour off the cooking time.


• Most recipes say to discard the stock, but it was just so lovely and tasty that I couldn’t part with it. It worked beautifully with the porcini mushroom risotto.... and would be equally as fab with pumpkin.


• This was so easy.... 2 minutes to prepare, and lovely comfort food. Don’t peel the potatoes as they will hold their shape and remain waxy rather than watery.


• A recommended cooking this in Ginger ale - I didn't have any. Hence I added a nice chunk of fresh ginger and it worked! It was a subtle flavour and could be done without, but I liked it....