Tag: pie

Slow Cooker Sunday – Chicken and Mushroom Pie (13 May 2012)

Chicken Pot PieMy offering for Slow Cooker Sunday, where we come together and share our recipes, this week is a traditional Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie with a twist. I saw a photo of one online with a pastry perched on top and I was intrigued. As you know pastry really is a ‘no go’ in a slow cooker. In the end, I cobbled together a couple of recipes with very pleasing results and it was incredibly easy. I may try a Steak and Ale pie next.

Serves 4
Cooking Time: 6-8 hours
Temp: Low

Ingredients

500g of skinless boneless chicken thighs, cubed
2 large carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
2 TBSP butter
1 medium onion
125g of button mushrooms, halved
2 heaped TBSP of plain flour
400 ml chicken stock
Salt and Pepper

Couple of pinches of dried Thyme
1 bay leaf

140g frozen peas

Ready Rolled Puff Pastry

Method

  1. Bring a sauce pan of water to a boil. Boil the chicken, carrots and celery for 10 minutes. Drain and place in the slow cooker.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften. Sprinkle with flour and mix well for about a minute.
  3. Gradually add the stock over a medium heat, it should thicken, season with salt and pepper. Add the Thyme and Bay Leaf. Pour over the chicken mixture in the slow cooker, mix well, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
  4. 30 minutes before serving, stir in the frozen peas.
  5. To make the pastry topping, preheat the oven to 200 degrees, unroll the sheet of pastry and find something 10cm in diameter to cut circles. I used one of my daughter’s toy pans from her play kitchen. Place on a baking tray and cook for ten minutes.

Place a large serving of the chicken mixture in a bowl and top with the pastry.

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For more of our favourite slow cooker recipes click here.

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Recipe: Shepherd’s Pie

As you all know I’m not brilliant in the kitchen but there are two things I’m pretty good at cooking; Slow Cooker Lamb Curry and Shepherd’s Pie.  I know you purists will be screaming ‘it’s not a Shepherd’s Pie it’s a Cottage Pie’ as it is made with beef.   Luckily, I can’t hear you!

The key to the success of this Shepherd’s pie recipe is in the layering and my special ingredient, Heinz Tomato Ketchup.  It’s fairly easy to make, but I do find I end up using every pot in the house.  As I’m lazy, I tend to use my food processor for all the mashing  but you could do it with a manual masher and you’ll save on the washing up as well.

Ingredients

6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large TBSP of butter

1 Onion finely chopped

60 g of Cheddar cheese grated

Salt and pepper to taste

4-6 large carrots, chopped

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

455 g of ground beef

2 TBSP of flour

2 TBSP of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, (the secret ingredient), I tend to free pour and eye-ball it.

180 ml of beef broth

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
  2. Boil the potatoes for approximately 20-30 min until you can piece them with a fork easily.  Drain and set aside ready for mashing.  I tend to leave them in the colander with a towel over them to absorb excess moisture.
  3. At the same time, steam or boil the carrots for approx 20 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
  4. While everything is boiling you can start on cooking the mince.  Put the oil in a frying pan and add ¾ of the onion.  Cook for approx 3 min or until clear.  Add the mince and cook until brown.  If you’ve used cheap and nasty mince drain off some of the excess fat.  Sprinkle the flour over the mince and stir well for about a minute.  Add the ketchup and beef broth, mix well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Transfer mince to an oven proof dish.  Now mash the carrots and spread a layer on top of the beef.  Mash the potatoes, with the butter, ½ of the cheese and the remaining onion and spread on top of mashed carrots and top with the remaining cheese.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  I tend to serve it with frozen peas.  I do cook them first!  Or you could serve it with baked beans

Dee-licious Fish Pie

I don’t normally post recipes as I can’t cook but this one was delicious. The key is using SMOKED haddock. I would have used my own photo but it didn’t stick around long enough.

Photo Credit

Ingredients

2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of flour
1 pint of milk
1 lb of SMOKED haddock: Skinned and cubed
4 oz frozen peas
1 small can of sweet corn
2 eggs, hardboiled and chopped
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled, diced, and cooked
1 tsp of dried parsley
2 oz cheese, grated

Method

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add the flour, make a roux, and stir for a minute or two. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until it thickens.
2. Add the fish, peas, sweet corn, eggs, and parsley, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Place in an ovenproof casserole dish
4. Mash the potatoes with a bit of butter and milk and spoon onto the fish mixture
5. Sprinkle over the cheese and place in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 180 degrees.
6. Serve with some baked beans or crusty bread

Extra tip: add ½ tsp of grated lemon rind and a tsp of toasted cumin seeds to filling sauce and if you don’t like sweetcorn you can use fried mushrooms.  Thanks @hizzary.