Home-made Pies

Can you imagine making 24 pies in less than an hour? Well, with my latest gadget you can do just that! Chicken, beef, cherry, apple, savoury, sweet (and it even makes muffins!) anything you can dream of.

My mother and I made an evening of it and made both chicken and wild game pies. Her recipes are from when I was still a child and we had to fold the pies by hand, making the little edges on the pastry with a fork so they would stick. My mother is one of those brilliant cooks that can just throw anything together and it would taste sublime and as she made the fillings the night before, I provide her recipe.

For the Game pies
(you can use leftover brisket or beef as well)

• 4 cups meat cooked and shredded

• 2 medium potatoes cooked, crushed & mashed

• 1 onion

• 1/8 tsp ground cloves 

• 1/4 tsp paprika

• 1 big garlic clove chopped finely

• Salt & pepper to taste

• 1 packet ready-to-heat gravy

1. Fry the onion and garlic until translucent.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until thick (if the mixture is not thick enough, add some brown onion gravy granules and cook further, if it is too thick add more gravy).
3. Let cool.

For the chicken pies

• 4 cups chicken cooked and shredded

• 1 medium potato, crushed and mashed

• 1 cup peas

• 2 cups mushrooms

• 1 cup onion 

• 1 big garlic 

• 1 cup green pepper

• 1 tsp chicken stock powder

• 2 packets ready-to-heat mushroom sauce

1. Fry the onion, green pepper, garlic and mushroom until cooked.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until thick and creamy.
3. Let cool.

To make the pies:

• 2 packets puff pasty (for the top)
• 2-3 packets shortcrust pastry for the bottom
• 1 Breville Pie Maker
• 24 foil pie holders

1. Heat the Pie Maker machine. Spray with Spray and Cook.

2. Roll out the pastry and cut big and small rings with the cutters provided.

3. Place the big circle at the bottom and press it into the hole with the press provided.

4. Fill the pies with enough filling that it makes a dome on top (if the pastry on top does not touch the ceiling of the Pie Maker it does not cook it properly).

5. Place the smaller circle on top and close the Pie Maker. Wait 8-10 minutes for beautiful golden brown pies.

Wait before you try the first one as the pie filling is extremely hot!

I let them cool, place a red sticker at the bottom of the meat pies and a yellow sticker at the bottom of the chicken pies (my Mother's great idea as all the pies look alike) and place each in an individual freezer bag and popped them into the freezer. Ready to enjoy whenever.

What should I use as a filling next? Any suggestions?