When I published my post on my Christmas chicken pies recently, somebody asked me whether I would be willing to share my recipe…
*recycled pic
…to which I replied that I most certainly would.
Well, first, you will have to make the pie pastry – I think this type is called shortcrust pastry – for which you will need flour and butter in a 2:1 ratio. So if you buy one block of butter which is usually 250 gms, you will need half a kg of flour. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl…
…and cut the butter into little cubes and rub it into the flour with your fingers. Remember! Your fingers only, not your palm! I think they call this the rubbing method…
In the end, you will get something like this. I wouldn’t know but usually people describe this as being “like breadcrumbs”.
Make a “well” in the middle and pour in some ice cold water in which you have dissolved a pinch of salt…
Then knead it all together until you get a fine smooth dough and nothing is left sticking to the side of the mixing bowl…
If you are using it right away, leave it in the mixing bowl, cover with a damp piece of cloth and put in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling. I did not intend to do that, so I divided it into portions and wrapped with cling wrap and put it in the fridge…as I would not be making the pies till the following day. I used 1lb of flour and 8 0z butter, and it certainly looked like I had enough pastry for 6 pies.
I’ve tried using the frozen pastries that you can buy from the supermarket before – both shortcrust and puff – but I found that though they turned out pretty nice, tastewise, they paled in comparison to my own homemade ones. In fact, I also used the same pastry for my pizza base which I prefer to the bread dough that people normally use for that.
As for the pie filling, it is really up to your imagination and creativity actually – whichever way you want it. Well, I will share with you how I did mine…in another post. So, do hang around, eh? LOL!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 