Pieminister at Stokes Croft

It's British Pie week. We all know that Pieminister is awesome. For me at least they have everything I could want from a pie, rich pastry and hearty fillings that are full of flavour, more than just your run of the mill pie. I have yet to try a Pieminister I don't like. So this isn't really a review of Pieminister as such because most people already know how good they are. More a photo blog of my first visit to the Stokes Croft restaurant which is rather lovely, and I have ashamedly only just checked out. I was lucky enough to be offered two free pie feast vouchers so as we were off to the cinema later on I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to visit. 

fungi chicken pie and mash

the mothership

If that doesn't make you want to eat a pie I don't know what will. Now go forth and eat pie! 

Leftover Chicken and Chorizo Winter Pie

Hello all, it's been a while, I have no real reason other than I haven't really been anywhere new lately and have been mostly hibernating in a pile of blankets and cups of tea.  However on Sunday I made this quick pie for Monday's dinner and decided it was so good I had to share it with you. The great thing about this pie is it is pretty versatile and economical you can use up any leftovers from your roast chicken.

golden delicious

You will need:

A couple of large handfuls of left over roast chicken- I would guess I had about 300-400g

1 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp plain flour

400ml chicken stock

200ml white wine

250-300mls crème fraîche

1 pack of pre-rolled shortcrust pastry (or make it yourself if you have time)

3-4 inches of a chorizo ring chopped into small pieces

1 egg for egg wash

1 tsp paprika

Optional items

ham 

leftover roast potatoes and/or carrots

I used chorizo as the other ingredient in my chicken pie to give it a bit of a boost but you can use these optional items instead if you prefer, or have them. Rich and I ate all the roast potatoes so we didn't have any of those left so the only other item in my fridge that would have worked was chorizo. So I fried up the chopped chorizo in a saucepan with the olive oil for a few minutes then I added the flour and stirred it all in with the oil. 

Next I added the stock gradually, like when you make a roux, stirring constantly then finally I added the wine and some salt, pepper and paprika. I let this bubble away until it was thick and reduced down then I took it off the heat to cool. 

Then I unrolled my pastry and halved it to cover the bottom of the pie dish. Once the sauce was cool I added the crème fraîche and chicken and mixed it all up before pouring it into the dish, I then covered it with the pastry top, whilst making sure to make a steam hole and brushing it with egg.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden on top then  serve with whatever you fancy, we just had some cabbage with ours. This is a lovely rich and comforting pie that is really easy to put together but tastes like more effort has been made, so give it a go and let me know how you get on.

chicken and chorizo pie

Chicken and Bacon Pie for British Pie Week

So this week is British Pie Week I was contemplating buying some of the amazing Pieminister pies to have for dinner one night but I thought, 'why be lazy?'. I already conquered my pie making fears a month or so ago plus mum gave me some pie dishes for my birthday, surely it was time to attempt pie number two? Although if you are going to buy, Pieminister are the way to go, faultless pies, my favourites are Chicken of Aragon and Moo and Blue.

So I went for a puff pastry chicken and bacon pie I looked over a few recipes, and as always took what I wanted from both and created my own dish. Chicken, lardons, potato and carrot cubes all went into the main mix as well as making a roux with in the main mix then adding creme fraiche  herbs and some roulé cheese.

I was very proud of it, was tasty and very comforting on a chilly night, definitely has encouraged me to try more pies, which is just as well as mum also got me the Pieminister book for my birthday.

Tonight Rich is making one of his amazing stir frys, he will be blogging about that tomorrow, exciting. In the meantime if you haven't indulged in British Pie Week go get some pie, be it cherry, apple, steak, chicken or cheese and potato, the possibilities are endless!