Friday, May 2, 2014

Chicken & Leek Home Made Pies

Last week was the start back to school for Term 2 and as there were only 3 school days I was still on holiday mode when it came to my "Menu Planning".  That being said, the Menu Board wasn't filled out at all and we had been having eggs on toast, toasted sandwiches, nachos and more casual meals.  Sienna decided to fill out the menu board herself and decided we would be having "Chicken Pies" for dinner.  When I saw it and she told me we were having Chicken Pies I said "are we now" and then thought, why not.  I got out our fabulous "Chicken & Leek Pie" recipe which was given to me by a neighbour at our previous house and whipped it up.


It was basically very simple and it required store bought puff pastry, a store bought chicken, leeks, spring onions, garlic, chicken stock and cream.  I love this creamy chicken onion flavour mixture and you can make it into a pie yourself with homemade pastry but I was going for simple individual pies due to shortage of time.  I cooked up the chicken mixture first and then it's just a matter of cutting some puff pastry.  The pie maker comes with the circle cutter for both the base and the top of the pie and then it's just a matter of putting some mixture in each pie and close the lid and in 6-7 minutes you have 4 fabulous individual pies.

This chicken and leek pie recipe is AMAZING and I can't get enough of it.  The funny thing is I last made this recipe well over a year ago and I don't know why I don't make it more often.  Normally we would have had some veggies or salad with our pies however it wasn't to be on this particular Saturday night and so we just ate our pies by themselves for dinner.  Hey, I figure there are some veggies are in them already and it warmed us up.




CHICKEN & LEEK PIE

INGREDIENTS
50 gms (1 3/4 oz) Butter
2 large leeks, washed and finely sliced (I only used one leek and it was sufficient)
4 spring onions (scallions) sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
30 gms (1/4 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) chicken stock
125 ml (1/2 cup) cream
1 medium barbecued chicken chopped
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
60 ml (1/4 cup) milk (I didn't need to milk as mine was going in the pie maker however if you were putting the pie in the oven to bake I would use this).

METHOD
1.  Preheat Oven to 200 degrees (400 degrees F). 
2.  In a frying pan, melt the butter and add the leek, spring onions and garlic.  Cook over low heat for 6 mintues or until leek is soft but not browned.
3.  Sprinkle in the flour and mix well.
4.  Pour in the stock gradually and cook, stirring, until the mixture is thick and smooth.
5.  Stir in the cream and add the chopped up chicken.

The above is where I then used my puff pastry and the pie maker however the rest of the recipe is here if you would like to cook your pie (one large one) in the oven.

METHOD CONTINUED FOR OVEN
1.  Put the mixture in a shallow 20cm (8 inch) pie dish and set aside to cool.
2.  Cut a circle (or rectangle - the shape of your dish) out of one of the puff pastry sheets to cover the top of the pie.
3.  Paint around the rim of the pie dish with a little milk.
4.  Put the pastry on top and seal around the edge firmly.
5.  Trim off any overhanging pastry and decorate the edge with the back of a fork.
6.  Make a few small holes on top of the pile to let out any steam and brush the top of the pie with milk.
7.  Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is brown and crispy.
8.  Serve with fresh garden salad or veggies.

5 comments:

  1. Hi - in the market for a pie maker can you tell me the brand/type you have and around how much thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi Michele, the pie maker is a Sunbeam "Pie Magic 4". The product code on the Instruction Booklet is PM4400 but it's about 4 years old now. There may be another model number but it's probably close to the same thing. Here's the link to sunbeam...I've noticed they also do a family pie as well. Prices are on the link as well. The pie maker comes with a little booklet of receipes and basically you can cook anything in them...bacon and egg pies, beef, chicken and veggies....and the 6-8 minute cooking time they come out crisp and together like a pie. mine was a birthday gift. Regards Kathy

      https://www.sunbeam.com.au/en/Appliances/Cooking/Pie-Makers/

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  2. Such fancy looking pies :) Your pie maker sounds nifty!

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  3. Chicken and vegetable pies are my favourite, and yours look delicious!

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  4. Ohh a pie maker sounds great - Chicken and leek used to be a big favourite of mine but it's been ages since I've had a pie

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