Chicken and Leek Pie

Simple and delicious - what more could you ask for? 

My monthly recipe using Mediterranean Delicacies Phyllo Pastry saw me coming up with a tasty, affordable and lighter version of the traditional chicken and leek pie. I just love the contrast of the light and crispy phyllo against the rich and creamy filling.

Mushroom and Steak Braai Pie

For the last few months I've been working with the marvellous people at MushroomSA to come up with delicious recipes that revolve around a concept called 'Blendability', basically blending chopped mushrooms with meat to up the nutrition and taste and decrease the calories. It's a cool concept that works to lessen cost, calorie intake and your carbon footprint whilst upping the vitamin and mineral content of your food. 

Mushrooms are a fantastic super food and have an amazing ability to make food taste better; they deepen and enrich the flavour, and I am most certainly a fan.

Beef and ale pot pies

Beef. Ale. Pie. Three very good words and when you put them together you can’t help but create magic. These are just that. Enough said.

Beef and ale pot pies

Ingredients: (makes 6 small or 1 large)

3 tbsp olive oil

500g beef shin meat (net weight after bones removed and sinew and fat trimmed)

Salt and pepper

1 sweet potato

4 carrots

3 stalks celery

1 onion

750ml ale/milk stout

1 handful fresh rosemary

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 beef stock pot/cube/liquid sachet

50g tomato paste

2 tbsp flour

Pastry:

150g butter

pinch salt

300g flour

120ml cold water

1 egg, whisked with a little water for egg wash

Method:

Cut the meat and the veg into 2cm cubes.

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil on high heat, in a large, non-stick pan.

Add the beef shin, season generously with salt and pepper and fry until browned on all sides, about 5-7min.

Remove from the pan and place into a large saucepan, leaving the juices in the frying pan to fry the veg.

Now put the chopped carrots, potato, celery and onion into the pan, season with salt and pepper and fry for 5-7min until just starting to caramelize.

Add to the beef shin.

Pour a little of the ale/stout into the frying pan and ‘deglaze’: basically, you stir with a spoon to loosen any leftover caramelized beef for added flavour and pour into the saucepan with the meat and vegetables.

Add all the remaining ingredients except flour, stir, cover and put on low heat to simmer gently for 1 hour.

Mix the flour together with a little water and a little of the ale gravy and stir through the pie mixture. Cover and simmer for a further hour. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the pastry; pop the butter, flour and salt into a food processor and blitz until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the cold water and blitz until the pastry comes together to form a ball. Cover with clingfilm and pop into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180*C.

Dust a surface with flour and roll the pastry out to a thickness of about ½ centimetre.

Spoon the pie filling into 6 large ramekins/pie dishes or 1 large pie dish.

Cut circles out of the pastry to fit the pie dishes, spread the edges with a little water to help the pastry stick to the dish/dishes and press over the sides to form a tight seal. Poke a few wholes in the centre of the pies/pie.

Decorate with remaining pastry, brush with egg wash and bake for 45 minutes until golden and gorgeous.

Serve with a simple salad.