Not every thing has to be done from scratch, though there is no clear boundaries as to what constitutes "scratch". I mean, strictly speaking, we don't plant our own wheat and grind our own flour, or milk our own cows (though son did suggest once, "Papa, why don't we buy a cow?", "Why" I ask, "So that we can make our own cheese", he says). So, when people say, you made it from scratch, I ask, what do you mean scratch??? Is using ready made pampas puff pastry cheating? Actually, I reckon making puff pastry is too much effort. And not cheap either. Not with the price of butter these days anyway.
So, I stopped by at TMC on the way home, and bought a roast chicken, honey roasted, for RM6.99!!! And a bag of frozen vegetables, ie, peas, carrots and corn combo.
The wonderful thing about this is how quickly it is to assemble. I start at 8.20pm, bible study starts at 9.00pm.
First, cut the pastry into squares, and put into a muffin tin, alternating pattern so they don't overlap. I can't be bothered to cut the pastries into rounds, and reroll the cut offs.
Shred the chicken, and add a cup or so of cream, frozen veggies, a handful of shredded cheddar, (or even those sliced kraft cheeses adds a nice taste), and for added flavour, one packet of Campbell's powdered mushroom soup, mixed in some water. Guess you could use a can too, but more expensive.
Fill the little pies. Funnily, one chicken fills exactly 12.... and a pack of 6 sheets, divided into 4 squares, yields 12 pies.
Cover with another square, and using a fork, press the top and bottom sheets together.
Employ slave/child labour to glaze the top of the pies, with either milk or egg, or both. 
Bake in 180C or 190C oven until brown.
And VOILA, freshly baked pies, which are square, hence PIE ARE SQUARE!!!
12 comments:
yoo......looks tempting! I wonder why you didn't open yr own bakes shop!!
ingenious. it sounds so simple too. looks wonderful to boot. i'm salivating looking at the pictures...
I was hoping you were going to use my free form pie recipe for this post I was sadly disappointed :(
i say, clay, the ingredients for your free form pie are tooo expensive for the mortal man here la. one measley punnet of blue berries, or raspberries, or any other kind of summer berries is in excess of RM20. how to make? unless we replace the filling with papaya, pineapple, etc...
eh, u and I think on same wavelength izzit but I think you are faster since u have child labour? I just read Sydney Morning Herald and they had something similar in Bill Granger's column. Was going to attempt it also. Yours look so simple and yummy.
boo, what do you mean? and who is bill granger?
Hi there! Was wondering if you could share the recipe for your pastry? I've been trying to achieve the sort of croissant-ish flaky crispy texture for my pies and have failed miserably, often ending up with just single layered rather cookish sorts.
Thanks!
actually, a correction to the previous comment... :P
rather, could you suggest a possible recipe to achieve the texture myself instead of buying them readymade?
you can use any fruit, frozen included. Might be worth trying with apples or strawberries. If not I will smuggle some into Kl on my next trip (I will put them between the pages of the martha stewart books ;) )
kat, i've never bothered trying to make puff pastry, coz it's so time consuming. you need to layer, refrigerate, layer again, refrigerate again, ...just not worth the effort. but if you really want the recipe, i can dig it up for you. alternatively, there's another recipe called flaky pastry, but i'm not sure how flaky it is.
you have very cute looking slaves...they look very content and happily splashing away.
U r right! Puff pastry is way too much work and almost just as expensive if made from scratch. Pampas frozen pastries are also my best choice when making pies. Love your square pie, looks marvelous, the last photo is also very well taken.
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