Asian Style Beef Pie

The weather forgot to be winter for a week, but the cold is back with a vengeance.
So another little tummy warmer for the family dinner or smart enough for entertaining casually.
This is not strictly a pie nor Asian except for the Thai spices. The flavours are subtle and the pie is quite rich, with the addition of the pureed sweet potato. You could always use pastry or another variety of potato as an alternative.
It can be totally made with the inclusion of the topping and sit waiting to pop into the oven to warm through half an hour before serving. Delicious and easy.

1 kilo beef chuck cubed
Rylstone olive oil
2 onions chopped finely
2 carrots sliced and quartered
2 cloves garlic crushed
1tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
3 teaspoons palm sugar
1 large red chilli or 2 small very finely chopped.
750 ml beef stock
2 shallots

2 large sweet potato or 500 gram
large knob butter
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons crushed ginger
large knob butter
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons crushed ginger
3 tablespoons toasted chopped pecans ( optional )

 Drizzle beef with oil and brown in a casserole dish in two or three batches over a med heat.
Add the carrots onions and garlic and fry gently for a couple of minutes stirring it through the beef.
Add the stock, soy sauce, fish sauce,  palm sugar and chilli and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for one and half hours. Add chopped spring onions just before serving.
Steam sweet potato and mix through butter and milk with the crushed ginger. Add the pecans last if using.
Divide the mixture into four ovenproof ramekins and top with the sweet potato and warm in a moderate oven for about half an hour.
Serve with steamed Asian greens.

Spinach and Feta Pie

I have just spent another day touring Greenacre and sampling the delights of Middle eastern food.

I enjoyed some little pastries called borek, which is really the generic term for Turkish pastries that come in a variety of shapes from triangles, semicircles, cigars and squares. They are filled with cheese, herbs and greens and are made from phyllo, short crust, puff or the Turkish version of phyllo, yufka.

They are found all over the Mediterranean sea board countries and are called brik, boregi, empanada, pittas, pastillas and spanakopitta depending on their origin. All are delicious as a meal in themselves or as finger food for entertaining.
The day of food tasting reminded me of my travels to Greece and Turkey in my younger years. These yummy little parcels we ate all the time as they were so cheap and of course we had very little money.
We would hang outside the pastry shops and wait until they came out of the ovens and pounce on them devouring them in minutes.
I make this spinach and feta pie a lot, probably because it reminds me of those carefree days in the Greek Islands, when time stood still and we didn't have a thing to worry about !

My version is a large pie to feed the crowd as a meal. You can make the same recipe in small triangles or cigars shapes for party food. It is a bit of a fiddle but worth the effort. After you have made this a few times,you may find you like more of one cheese than the other, or a little more chives. I am sure mine is different every time I make it. Remove your phyllo pastry from freezer to fridge overnight to thaw.

250 grams feta cheese
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
80 grams ricotta cheese
1 egg 
4 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
500 grams spinach frozen or a bunch of fresh spinach
2 tablespoons  chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
pinch of nutmeg
10 sheets phyllo pastry
6 tablespoons melted butter

If using fresh spinach, chop and discard stems,  steam  until wilted and drain very well, squeeze excess water out. The same applies to frozen, after cooking the excess water must be squeezed out or your pie will be watery.
Mash the cheeses together and mix with all the other ingredients in a large bowl.
Cover the phyllo with a slightly damp tea towel, as you work, as it will dry out and become brittle.
Brush a sheet of the pastry with melted butter, and layer into the pie dish one at a time until you have five layers..
Fill the dish with the spinach and cheese mixture. Cover with five more layers of pastry buttering each as
you go. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake in 175C oven until pastry is golden.

Chicken and Leek Pie and Happy Mothers Day

I have just read an article in the paper by Richard Glover, about mothers and all the things we say to our children and I did have a chuckle. I am sure I've said everything he wrote including, ' Eat your greens they will make you big and strong " which really means, if you don't eat your greens you will eat biscuits and go totally hyper at about 8.25pm when I want to watch my show on TV. It did make me ponder the silly things I've said to my children over the years, in relation to food. ( and lots of other subjects )
At 25, 23 and 19 years old, my children like to remind me of these sayings and just quietly,I still say them !
"DON'T open those biscuits you will eat them ! ( looking at me askance, well isn't that why you bought them ? )  DON'T finish all the meat, your brother will want some when he gets home..... (well he isn't here now so too bad ! ) DON'T open that dip I am saving it in case the girls come over for a drink ( No one comes and the dip has to be thrown out 1 month later ) DON'T eat leftover pizza for breakfast it's not good for you ( why was it good for me last night, when you were going out and didn't want to cook ?) there are so many  more and we do have a laugh, I am sure you all have a lot more funny sayings ( would love to hear them ?? )

For all those gorgeous children,who may want to cook for their Mum for a change, this is an easy dish to prepare and she will be so impressed ! Happy Mothers Day to all X


6 chicken thigh fillets
1 large leek
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 bacon rashers
Butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4  - 1/2 cup cream
Fresh thyme, salt and pepper
Ready made puff pastry or homemade
Sesame seeds for decoration if desired
1 beaten egg for the wash

Preheat oven to 180 C
Wash  and chop the leek finely. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Chop the bacon coarsely.
In a fry pan, saute the bacon first, for a minute or two, stirring constantly, add the leeks and garlic and continue stirring for another minute. remove from the pan and set aside . Add the chicken pieces and cook until white and just cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside with the bacon and leeks, same dish is fine.
Add some butter, approx a tablespoon, allow to melt and stir in the flour and mix to a paste, add the stock and blend. Return chicken, bacon, leeks and garlic mix to the pan , add the cream and seasonings and simmer gently for a minute or two. You may add more stock at this point, if you feel the mixture is too dry, or alternatively, cook it for a little longer if you feel it is too wet. This will probably be different each time you cook it depending on the size of the thighs. Allow the mixture to cool completely before assembling the pie.
Arrange the defrosted pastry on the bottom of a greased pie dish or any oven proof dish and fill it with the chicken mixture. Top the mixture with a second sheet, making sure you seal the edges. Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds,if using. Cook for 30-40 minutes until golden. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with mash and vegetables or a salad !