Thursday 31 January 2013

Chicken, mushroom and thyme pies

Even the word pie is comforting, this is a great meal on the run because it can be on the table in half an hour, it is also well received in mini version for lunch.
I think the idea behind Gran's recipe was to make it faster by cooking the chicken and making the sauce all in one pan, making it a great one-pan wonder for the busy people of the world. I concede that although home-made pastry is amazing with its rich buttery fluffyness, it is not the fastest way to get tea on the table, So I bought the ready to roll stuff from the supermarket and don't feel guilty at all (mainly because I have pie to make me feel better).
This recipe always makes me think of the Cromwell gorge in the summertime when the thyme flowers are blooming and the valley is swathed in a rich purple carpet of flowers that keep the bees happy for weeks.

INGREDIENTS
:
  • 3 rashers streaky bacon (cut or scissored into 2.5cm strips)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic chopped finely or crushed
  • 125g mushrooms (sliced)
  • 250g chicken thighs cut into 2cm pieces
  • 25g plain flour
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 15g butter
  • 375g puff pastry
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • 1 Tblsp sesame seeds
METHOD:
 Preheat your oven to 200°C. In a heavy-based frying pan (I prefer cast iron but whatever you have is fine), fry the bacon and garlic in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.

Toss the chicken in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag). Put the butter in the bacon-and-mushroom pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir that up while cooking the chicken until it begins to brown slightly. Pour in the hot stock and stir to create a gravy. Simmer that for about 5 minutes, it will thicken.

Now you can choose how you make these pies into pies; you can take a large muffin pan and have bases and lids or you can take large ramekins or pie pots (most kiwis wouldn't own a pie pot, gran said they were very English!?) and just have lids. I tend to make muffin tray ones for lunches and just lids if I am serving directly for dinner.

In a muffin pan cut out your circles larger than the pan holes and place in (make sure you grease your muffin tin well or line with muffin papers). Divide your mixture between the cases. Make lids for each and place on top and press down the edges to seal. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

In pie pots make pastry rim (a 1cm strip around the top of the pot), use water to make it stick to the side if needed. Divide the mixture between the pots. Make the circles for lids larger than the pots, pop them on and seal them around the edges . Sprinkle the tops with the sesame seeds.

Cook the pies for about 15-20 minutes turning them around halfway through cooking. Once cooked, they should have puffed up magnificently.

TIPS:
  •  As you can see in my picture you can just pop the lids on the muffin sized ones without sealing but I think I lost a bit of gravy that bubbled out doing it this way

Saturday 19 January 2013

Banana and cinnamon muffins



For these muffins you will need two large overripe bananas, which is why you should never throw away your bruised or blackened bananas, just pop them into the freezer as they are (skin on) to have when you feel the need for this recipe or any other that requires bananas. They look quite gross once defrosted but the flavour is as good as ever!
These muffins are quick to make and yummy yummy yummy!! Great for smoko or to fill a gap in the farmers lunch box

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 c self raising flour
  • 1/3 c plain flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 c mashed banana
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 c vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon extra (for topping)
  • 125g cream cheese (softened)
  • 1/4 c icing sugar
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius (fan bake). grease a muffin tin or fill with cases, you will need 12 spaces about 1/3c in size. Sift flours, cinnamon, soda and sugar into a bowl. stir in the mashed bananas. in another bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk and oil. Then add this to your flour/banana mixture.
Divide the mixture among your pan holes and then bake for 20 minutes. Stand your muffins for 5 minutes int he tin before taking out and putting on a wire rack to cool.
To make the cream cheese icing combine the cream cheese and icing sugar and stir until smooth. Spread your icing onto the muffins once cold and then top with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon to finish

TIPS:
  • Buttermilk is the best but if you don't have any to hand then normal milk is fine.

Thursday 17 January 2013

What's old is new again and vintage is the new modern


These are too cute for trinkets!!
Traditional children's toys and room decorations are all back in fashion and make the perfect gift for the special child in your life. The Sleepy Owl has a great range of vibrant, colourful gifts for children for you to choose from. This vintage range epitomises tradition with a sophisticated chic that will never go out of style. These sets of stackable suitcases are so sweet, the perfect way to personalise a space, while providing a practical and stylish storage place for a little person's little treasures. The Sleepy Owl range is well worth a browse, because their collection is sure to be loved by parents and children alike.

RRP $35

Find The Sleepy Owl on Facebook simply search their name or email them at thesleepyowl@xtra.co.