Well, in yesterday’s post, you’ve all seen how I made the pie pastry. The next step is to make the filling. These were the ingredients that I used…
…finely-chopped garlic and Bombay onion, thinly-sliced canned mushrooms and minced meat marinated generously with smoked barbecue sauce and pepper. Like I’ve said before, it is entirely up to you to create your own filling…and this is usually what I would have in my shepherd pie but with minced beef, of course.
There was only pork and chicken in the freezer and my missus had got the seller at the market to cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, so it would be quite a chore to debone that to get the meat. In the end, I opted to use the former.
Heat up a bit of oil in the wok, fry the garlic and onion till light brown, throw in the meat and stir till cooked and lastly, add the mushrooms. I did not add any water but if you have any gravy/sauce, you may have to add a bit of cornflour dissolved in water to thicken it. Otherwise, when you bake the pies, you may get it boiling out of the air holes/gaps like a volcano! LOL!!!
Having got the filling done, it was time to make the pies. I used a piece of aluminium foil to line the top of the table. Otherwise, you may have to dust it with flour…and as I always have the fan on full blast, it may fly all over the kitchen. Besides, your table top may be somewhat oily when you’re done…
Roll the pastry to make the pie base and put that in the foil pie mould, trim off the edges…and then put in the filling…
Next roll some more pastry to make the pie cover and again, you’ll have to trim off the edges…
You may seal the pie using the press and turn method – the way they make curry puffs but I’m not good at that and they end up looking quite horrible. Thus, I used a chopstick to press down the edges together…
Poke air holes in the cover using a fork or cut air vents with a knife…for the hot air to escape during baking…
You may want to decorate your pies in any way you see fit. Now that Christmas is over, I opted for the hearts or four-leaf clovers for good luck – like what Elin did when she made her flaky pastry chicken pies recently ! LOL!!! Break an egg and beat it and brush the surface of the pie with it using a brush. Now, where is that darn brush again? Sometimes, looking for something in the house is like going on a treasure hunt!
Put the pies in the oven to bake. I did not heat up the oven first…but it would be better to turn on the bottom part first and after 10-15 minutes, turn on the top part as well. As for the heat, I set it at 200-250 degrees…but I put the rack lower down in the oven.
The last time, it was higher up and the edges got a bit burnt very quickly. I did not time it…but kept an eye on it periodically all the while until the pies had turn into a nice golden colour and I could smell the fragrance from afar…
Then the pies are done and ready to be served piping hot…
I tried one…
…and needless to say, it tasted great! Yum!!! Yum!!! Wanna have one? Hehehehehe!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 