Chicken & Beef Pies 鸡肉牛肉派

Not sure why but I have been craving for savoury meat pies in the past weeks. I am not one who craves for meat! So not me leh. I caved in. I made chicken pies and beef pies over Saturday and Sunday last weekend. Why 2 days? Because I prepared too much and got a huge portion of both the chicken and beef fillings! 

I took the lazy way out for my fillings by using store bought Campbells Mushroom Soup can for the chicken pie filling and beef broth for beef pie filling.

Did chicken pies many times but it is my first having potato cubes added. Love the colour combi.

I love using creamy mushroom soup as that alone is enough to give the filling its flavour. No need for anymore seasonings!

Minced meat always go so well with button mushrooms!

I must say I was shocked with the amount of pies I made in total. I freezed them when they cooled. Pop some into the toaster or oven to heat them up and then sink your teeth into them right after. YUMMY!

Hubby is a pie lover. He was all for it when I told him I would be making pies that very weekend. My forever supporter (and guinea pig)! :P

Be forewarned. Long long post ahead!

I cooked up my own filling for the chicken and beef pie. Pie crust pastry were made using Baking Mum's recipe and Christine's Recipes.

Baking Mum used a mix, refrigerate and use recipe. Plain yoghurtadded. Yields soft crusty pie crust. I like my pie crust this way. Downside is having a slightly sticky dough that must be refrigerated for at least 30min before using. Not that easy to handle and I needed plain flour to prevent sticking.

Christine used the rubbing-in method for the pie crust. I do not like getting my fingers all messy with the cold butter and flour, but I love how I can use the dough rightaway without refrigerating it. No sticky dough to handle. No need to sprinkle flour all over too.

Seriously, ask me which crust I prefer and I can't quite answer that. Both crust had different bites. Both are good. I can only say it depends on how much time you have for making the pies. Abit more time to spare? Use Baking Mum's. Looking for easy to handle dough? Go for Christine's one.

Never give me more than 1 thing to choose from. I can never decide on one.

Chicken, Potato & Mushroom Pie

Pastry by Baking Mum
200g butter
250g plain flour
110g plain yoghurt
1 tsp sugar
1 egg yolk
A pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl except yoghurt, and mix to a crumble. Add in yoghurt and mix to a dough. Dough will be very soft so need to keep it refrigerated for at least 30 mins.

The steps for the chicken pie will be as per normal. You can either do big pie or mini pie. Just need to roll out the dough, cut the size required and place in a pie dish (or disposable aluminium cups). Poke hole on the base using a fork and place ingredients on top. Cut another piece of dough to cover the top. Poke a few more times using fork on the cover of the pie and brush with 1 beaten egg. Baked in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 min. (I bake at 180deg C for 45 min.)  

Filling

350g Chicken breast meat, fats removed and cubed

5 small Brastagi potatoes, deskinned, boiled and cubed

1/2 can of button mushroom, thinly sliced

1/2 ricebowl mixed peas

1 red onion, cubed

1/2 yellow onion, cubed

1 can of Campbells Mushroom Soup

2 tbsp olive oil, or canola oil
Pepper

1. Heat oil in pan. Add in both onions. Saute till fragrant and translucent.

2. On medium heat, add in cubed chicken meat and stir fry till well mixed and meat half cooked. Add in mixed peas and sliced button mushrooms. Mix well till chicken meat is just cooked. Add in boiled potato cubes and give it a quick mix.

3. Pour in cream of mushroom and stir well to break down the coagulated mushroom cream to thoroughly coat all ingredients with it. Add a dash of pepper (more if preferred) and stir well. Turn off heat, scoop out into bowl and set aside for later use. (You can cook the filling a day earlier, cover with clingwrap when cooled and use it the next day.)

Black Pepper Ground Beef & Button Mushroom Pie

Pastry by Christine's Recipes
160 gm plain flour / all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
90 gm chilled unsalted butter, diced
1/4 tsp lemon zest
3 Tbsp iced water
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add diced butter and stir with a knife. Rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips, lifting the flour from the bottom up on top, until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Mix in lemon zest.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the chilled water and lemon juice to flour mixture. Add the rest of the chilled water bit by bit until the mixture comes together into a ball. The dough should leave bowl clean.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead by hand until smooth. Don’t over knead the dough. Divide into two balls, one larger in size for making the base, with another one smaller for making the top. Roll into two disc shapes. 4. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for about 25 to 30 minutes. (I did not refrigerate them and used the dough as it is.)

5. Preheat oven to 200C/395F.
6. Remove the larger dough disc from fridge. Place on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out into a circle slightly larger than the mould. Carefully line the mould. Trim the edge. Save the trimmed dough for decoration. Prick the base with a fork. Line with baking paper and place ceramic beads, or beans, or rice on top. (I just poked holes on base and spooned in fillings, cover top with dough, poke holes on dough top. Brush top with beaten egg yolk and put to bake at 180deg C for 45 min.)  

7. Transfer to the preheated oven for blind-baking, about 15 to 20 minutes, until the edge becomes lightly brown.
8. Remove the pie shell from oven. Remove the beads and baking paper. Roll out the smaller dough disc into a circle similar to the size of the mould. Spoon the fillings into the shell and cover with the dough disc. Crimp the edges to seal and score the top pastry. Cut two slits in the middle of the pie. Use the trimmed dough for decoration. Egg wash the pie.
Bake in the preheated oven, for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. Serve hot.

Filling

300g ground beef

1/2 can of button mushroom, thinly sliced

1/2 ricebowl mixed peas

1 yellow onion, cubed

200ml of Campbells Beef Broth 

2 tbsp olive oil, or canola oil
1 tbsp abalone sauce or oyster sauce or simply use soy sauce
Ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in pan. Add in onions. Saute till fragrant and translucent.

2. On medium heat, add in ground beef and stir fry till well mixed and meat half cooked. Add in mixed peas and sliced button mushrooms. Mix well till ground beef is just cooked. Add a dash of black pepper and mix well.

3. Pour in 200ml of beef broth and stir well. Add oyster sauce/ abalone sauce or soy sauce. Depending on how spicy you want your beef filling to be, add ground black pepper accordingly. I used about 1.5 tsp of it though because I like it peppery! Stir and mix well. Taste test. If okay, turn off heat, scoop out into bowl and set aside for later use.