PIES

 

Here are the recipes for several delicious pies.

 

                                             CHICKEN AND LEEK PIE

Filling:

2 tbsp olive oil

A nob of butter

2 chicken legs, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized pieces

4 leeks, split lengthwise, thoroughly washed and finely chopped

 3 eggs, whipped

Salt, finely ground black pepper to taste

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cumin

 

6 phyllo pastry sheets

Melted butter

 

First prepare the filling.  Sauté the chicken in olive oil and butter until partly cooked. Transfer to a dish with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper, nutmeg and cumin to taste.

 

Sauté the leeks in the same saucepan stirring until tender, adding a little tasty chicken stock if necessary.

 

Mix the chicken and leeks well together and pour in the whipped eggs.  Check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, cumin and nutmeg, if necessary.

 

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and brush a round Pyrex dish with melted butter.  Place three buttered phyllo pastry sheets at the bottom of the dish and spoon the filling evenly over. Cover with the overhanging phyllo sheets and cover with three more sheets, brushing each sheet lavishly with butter. Trim the excess pastry and tuck neatly down the sides of the dish.  Score into strips, brush with butter and bake for 30 minutes until golden. 

 

Cut into portions and serve with a green salad of your choice.

 

 

                                               A SPECIAL SPINACH PIE

Filling:

2 tbsp olive oil

500 g (1 lb) spinach, washed and chopped

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced, also the green parts

1 leek, split lengthwise, thoroughly washed and sliced

A sprig of dill and a few mint leaves thinly sliced

2 eggs, whites whipped to soft peaks with a pinch of salt

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup crumbled feta

1 cup trahana (please see below)

 

Batter:

2 cups wheat flour

1 cup cornflour

½ cup fine semolina

125 ml (½ cup) olive oil

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

500 ml (2 cups) water

1 tub Greek yoghurt

 

Mix all the batter ingredients well together until thick and set aside. 

 

Sauté the onions and leeks in olive oil until soft then add the shredded spinach and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the chopped herbs, egg yolks, feta and then freshly ground pepper and salt if necessary. Finally, fold in the whipped egg whites.   

 

Pour half the batter into a butte5red Pyrex dish and spoon the filling evenly over. Cover with the remaining batter, even the surface, brush with melted butter and bake in an oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for 35 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

 

Trahana is one of the world’s most ancient alimentary products.  According to some historians, tarhana evolved from the gruel that fed the Greek and Roman soldiers as they conquered the then known world.   

 

Trahana is made with wheat flour, semolina, milk, yogurt and a tiny pinch of salt and mixed to form a thick paste.  Then it is thickly grated and traditionally it is dried in the sun, but it is more convenient to dry it in an oven preheated to 100 C (212 F).   

 

 

                                                    PUMPKIN PIE

A delightful pie from the Cyclades islands.

 

1 kg (2 lb) pumpkin, peeled and thickly grated

1 onion, peeled and grated

1 leek, split in half, lengthwise washed and thinly sliced

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

500 g (1 lb) feta cheese, soaked in water to remove extra salt and crumbled

 Freshly ground black pepper to taste

 (Mix everything well together) 

 

700 g ( 1 lb 6 oz) plain flour

250 ml (1 cup) milk

2 eggs, whipped

Salt and pepper to taste

(Mix everything until well combined)

 

Semolina, butter

 

Preheat the oven to 180 C (370 F) and sprinkle a round, buttered tin with half the semolina.  Mix the two mixtures extremely well together and spoon evenly into the tin.  Sprinkle with the remaining semolina, dot with butter and bake for 40-50 until golden and puffed. 

 

                                                         STEAK PIE

My childhood friend, Katy, gave me the recipe for this pie of which I have no words.

300 g (10 oz) plain flour mixed with

1 tsp mustard powder

120 g (4 oz) butter

120 g (4 oz) margarine

Salt to taste

1 egg, beaten for glaze

 

Filling:

1 kg (2 lb) steak, thinly cut

30 g (1 oz) seasoned flour (salt, pepper and nutmeg)

A nob of butter

1 bay leaf

125 ml (½ cup) white wine

125 ml (½ cup) tasty meat stock

 

Toss the steak in seasoned flour and sauté gently with the bay leaf in butter and place in a deep pie dish and discard the bay leaf.  Pour in the wine and stock, cover with the pastry and decorate it with a fluted edge. Make a hole in the centre to release the steam. Brush with a little beaten egg for glaze and bake for 1 hour until the pastry is golden brown.

 

 

                                     CHICKEN MUSHROOM AND BACON PIE

Prepare this pie for your family and friends.

 

8 rashers of lean bacon

2 tsp of garlic-scented olive oil

500 g (1 lb) mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

250 g (½ lb) chicken thigh fillets skinned, boned and into bite-sized pieces

90 g (3 oz) plain flour mixed

1 ½ tsp dried thyme leaves

2 tbsp butter

2 liqueur glasses Metaxa brandy

500 ml (2 cups) tasty chicken stock

Freshly ground black pepper to taste, but be sparing with the salt, because of the stock

1 sheet puff pastry

 

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and sauté the bacon in olive oil until crisp.  Then add the mushroom and let them simmer gently in the pan with the bacon.  Toss the chicken in flour and thyme until well coated and sauté them in butter until they begin to colour.  Pour in the brandy and the hot stock stirring until a sauce is formed.  Let it bubble for 5 minutes until it thickens. 

 

Spoon the mixture into a round Pyrex dish.  Cut the puff pastry into a circle larger than the dish's circumference, brush with a little water so that  it sticks to the dish and press with your fingers or a fork to make a pretty, fluted pattern.

 

Bake the pie for about 30 minutes or until beautifully puffed. 

                                                       APPLE PIE

This is a recipe for one of the best apple pies and I prepare it with hard, aromatic apples.  I use a 250 g (8 oz) tub of margarine and the same tub to measure the sugar and flour.

6 apples, peeled, cored and cubed

1 cup raisins

the juice of 1 lemon

Crust:

1 cup of butter or margarine

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 cup self-raising flour

Drizzle the apples with lemon juice, arrange them evenly in a pyrex dish and sprinkle with the raisins.

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 /F) and whip butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt until light and fluffy and gently fold in the flour. 

This is a thick batter, not a dough, so spoon it carefully over the apples, without leaving gaps in between and level the surface with the back of a wet spoon.

Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes until the crust becomes crisp and golden,

     

 

                                          Fresh Apple Pie by Angela Jonhson