Football Final Kangaroo Party Pies

You could approach the (second) football final through colours: lamingtons for Collingwood supporters and Black Forrest Cherry Cake for Saint Kilda Supporters. But let's face it, footy watching is not a tea party occasion. You need something simple, that doesn't require too much eye-hand co-ordination and that goes well with beer... and salty or savoury. The obvious food is Pies. I am going to put out a challenge to forgo the frozen party pies and create some special pies for footy watching tomorrow... In addition to the pies already listed here, how about a Kangaroo Party Pie?

Ingredients
2 sheets puff pastry
3 sheets shortcrust pastry or one quantity (made with 250 gms flour, 125gm butter etc)
200 - 250 gm kangaroo fillet, diced into 1cm squares
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1-2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1 desertspoon favourite chutney
1 cup stock
salt
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 tbs worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon cornflour dissolved in a little cold water (optional)
salt and pepper
sesame seeds for garnish
1 egg, lightly beaten
butter for greasing pie shells or muffin tins

Method

1. Grease 12 small pie shells or a 12 hole muffin tin with butter.
2. Preheat over to 180 degrees celcius.
3. Heat olive in heavy pot, add onions and garlic and cook until soft.
4. Add diced kangaroo and brown on all sides.
5. Add: chutney, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, stock, salt and pepper and bring to simmer.
6. Continue to cook until meat is tender.
7. You can leave the lid on or off, but there must be enough liquid when you are finished for the filling. I suggest you keep the lid on, and take it off 15 minutes before you think it will be finished.
8. Add cornflour mixture 5 minutes before you are finished cooking filling. Stir through while sauce thickens.
9. When the filling is cooked to your taste, take off the heat and cool.
10. Roll out out shortcrust pastry to 7cm rounds and line pie/muffin tins..
11. Brush edges with egg.
12. Add cooled mixture, making sure you don't fill the tins too much.
13. Cut out 6 cm rounds of puff pastry and lay over filling, lighting pressing edges.
14. Brush with egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds and make a few slits in pie for steam to escape.
15. Bake for between 20 and 30 minutes, keeping an eye on the puff pastry which may brown quickly. You may need to put a sheet of paper over the top.

Enjoy.

Mushroom & Beef Pie (in Sour Cream Pastry)

I have been making this pie for many years. This recipe is adapted from the Scandanavian Timelife Cookbook, the book I have here is my mother's and is over 30 years old.. This recipe is from Finland.
Pastry Ingredients
300 gms plaint flour
pinch salt
185 gm unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1cm pieces
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
butter for greasing tray

Filling Ingredients
Extra Virgin olive oil or butter for fying (around 2 tbs of )
125 gm (approx) finely chopped mushrooms
250gm-300gm lean minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk

1 egg combined with 2 tbs milk

Method
Sour Cream Pastry

1. Sift flour and salt together.
2. Rub in butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. (Alternatively you can use a food processor, but after this point, return the mixture to a large bowl.)
3. In a separate bowl, mix together egg and sour cream.
4. Make a well in centre of flour mixture and pour in egg & sour cream mixture.
5. Work dough gently and pull together into a pliable ball. (Do not over knead).
6. Cover in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

Filling

1. Melt butter or heat olive oil, and sautee onions for 5 minutes.
2. Add mushrooms and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.
3. Add meat and cook cook for around 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Put mixture into bowl.
5. When mixture is cool, add parsley cheese and milk.

Putting it together.

1. Divide pastry in half.
2. Roll out one piece into a rectangle, approximately 15 cm by 30-35 cm, and place on buttered jam roll tin (or line with baking paper).
3. Gather meat mixture into ball and place in centre of dough, to resemble a log. Brush water along edges.
4. Roll out the second piece of pastry so it is a big bigger than the first and lay over the mixture.
5. Brush pastry with egg and milk mixture. Trim.
6. Gather remaining pastry, roll out and cut into 1 cm strips.
7. Make a lattice trim on pastry.
8. Pinch edges together.
9. Prick the top of the loaf in several places.
10. Brush top again with egg and milk mixture.
11. Cook in oven, set at 180 degrees celsius for around 45 minutes.
12. Allow to cool a bit ans serve with sour cream.

Zucchini Pie

This is one of my absolutely favourite pie recipes... not much to add, just follow the recipe. The amounts listed here are from memory, and I might adjust them in the next few days when I get around to making this again. You will need a quiche tin with a removable base (around 22 cm in diameter.)
Ingredients
Pastry
125 gm wholemeal flour
125 gm plain flour
60ml extra virgin olive oil
60 gm unsalted butter
small amount of iced water with lime or lemon juice

Filling
4 X medium sized zucchini
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cooked brown rice (optional)
3 eggs
1/2 cup grated mature cheddar
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
black pepper

butter for greasing quiche tin

Method

1. Butter quiche tin.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
3. Combine flours with salt.
4. Rub butter and oil into flour and pull together with water.
5. Place in fridge.
6. Pour 3 tbs olive oil into large frying pan and saute onion and garlic until soft.
7. Add zucchini and continue to saute until soft and a little brown. Allow to cool.
8. Beat eggs.
9. Add zucchini (rice if using) and cheeses to egg, leaving a table spoon of grated parmesan aside.
10. Cut two thirds of dough and roll thin. (You may need to place it between plastic sheets to roll out.
11. Lay pastry over buttered quiche tin, and trip edges.
12. Pour filling onto pastry.
13. Roll out remaining pastry with any left over bits. Try and roll it out so it is a rectangular shape.
14. Cut strips with a serrated cutter.
15. Layer pastry strips over filling in a lattice design.
16. Sprinkle with parmesan.
17. Place in oven for around 40 minutes.
18. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Spanakopita

Melissa's Spanakopita in Smith Street, Collingwood, sets the benchmark for Spanakopita. (check out http://indolentdandy.net/fitzroyalty/2009/06/22/tiropita-at-melissa-on-smith-st/)
I would often see hungry people lining up outside at lunch-time waiting patiently for the Spanakopita to come out of the oven..it was worth the wait. What made so fantastic was the filo for a start, which was made by the shop, and the ratio of pastry to filling was perfect.... not too much filling.
So, I suggest to make a good Spanakopita, try making your own filo... really it's not that hard. But not something to do if you're in a hurry or impatient in the kitchen. Check out the Greek episode of My Family Feast on SBS... it inspired me to make home-made filo.
Back to Spanakopita.. and my constant catch phrase.. it's all about balance. For Spanakopita it's about balancing the spinach with the cheese...
This receipe is adapated from a couple of different sources.. remember, you can use whatever greens you want.

Ingredients:
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 eschallots (scallions/springs onions) finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs fennel seeds
1 bunch spinach or similar green, washed and stalks cut
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
salt
freshly ground black pepper
100-200 gm fetta
3 eggs
parmesan cheese
filo pastry
melted butter

Method
1. Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan over medium heat, and onions, garlic, fennel seeds and springs onions and sautee until nice and soft. To do this you will need to turn the heat to low.
2. Add spinach and cook until soft (around 5 minutes.)
3. Add pepper and allow to cool.
4. In another bowl, beat eggs and add feta and parmesan.
5. Preheat oven to around 180 degrees.
6. Grease the bottom of tray with butter, and layer each piece of filo, spreading with melted butter, until you have used around 8 sheets. Make sure you line the sides as well.
7. Combine spinach mixture, with egg mixture and parsley. Add salt to taste
8. Pour spinach mixture into/over filo and spread evenly.
9. Lay another layer of filo on top, and repeat the layering process with butter until you have used another 8 layers. Spread butter on the final layer.
10.Trim excess pastry from around edge and cut into across diagonally (both directions) half-way through pie. (Don't cut to bottom).
11. Bake for around 45 minutes to 1 hour until brown.

I like to cool my spanakopita a bit before eating, but this is personal taste.

I serve this with a salad of roma tomatoes and black olives, with red wine vinegar.

Pies

I love pies.. I love the way they are self-contained, with a crisp filling-proof case and that special something special inside. I often think they are the perfect portable food with treasure like appeal.
I still have pie shells I bought when I was 16 and I have tried many, many pie recipes. Most cultures have their own version of a pie, from samosas to a good ole' aussie beef pies... These are some of my favourites with recipes to follow:

• Swedish mushroom and meat roll..
• Chicken and vegetable pie...
• Spanakopita...
• Empanadas ...
  
• Tuna Empanadas ...
  
• Zucchini pie...
• Pork and red cabbage pie..
• Pide ...
  

I'm currently working on and adapating carrot and kevlograviera pie..
My tip for good pie making is to choose the right pastry for the filling: shortcrust, puff, filo, yeast etc..... and to make sure the filling is flavoured and adequately cooked according to how long it will take to cook the pastry... get the balance right.

Lemon Tart

So easy, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. The following is adapted from the 40th birthday issue of Gourmet Traveller.
Ingredients
5 eggs
200ml double cream (not the stuff with thickener in it)
juice and finely grated rind of 3 lemons

Icing sugar for dusting
(Short crust pastry... recipe under Rhubarb.. plus egg for pastry)


Extra special utensils
blowtorch....

Method
1. Make a shortcrust pastry as per Rhubarb upside down cake and line a buttered 22cm round tart tin with removable base (quiche tin). Bake the pastry blind in the oven for 20 minutes (ie. put baking paper inside pastry and weights inside the baking paper such as baking beans, beans or rice. Remove paper and rice or beans, brush the pastry with egg, and bake it for 5 minutes more until browned.
2. Break (5) eggs into bowl, and sugar and whisk until well combined. Add cream, strained lemon juice and lemon rind and mix well. Pour into tart shell and bake for 15 minutes at 150 degrees celsius.
3. Allow to cool to room temperature and dust heavily with icing sugar or castor sugar. Caramelise top with blowtorch.

Serve with fresh cream.

Focaccia de Patata (aka Baked Gnocchi)

Many years ago, my eldest sister returned to Australia after spending a few months with a family in Lecce (Southern Italy) with a new take on Italian cooking. Cream based pasta sauces ? Dried figs with bitter almonds and mandarin peel, and this, one of my most favourite recipes.

Focaccia de Patata is an alternative to traditional boiled gnocchi, much easier to make, and better tasting. This is also one of those great recipes for remote living. Almost all the essential ingredients are long lasting or available in most remote communities. (Although you will need to tap into that store of frozen parmesan in your freezer.)

Just a word about potatoes. Old potatoes are good, and those best suited for mashing. (Do not use waxy potatoes. Apparently desiree and Toolangi delight are good, and I also like binji).

Another word about the dough - don't overwork it, and whatever you don't use a machine to make the dough. It just won't work.

FOCACCIA DE PATATA
INGREDIENTS
Dough
4 -5 potatoes, peeled and sliced (around 500 - 600 gms)
salt
2 eggs
50 gms plain flour
50 gms SR flour
(or any combination of cornflour, gluten free - around 100 gms in total)
200 gm Ricotta (optional)
Parmesan Cheese (Italian or Australian, not prepackaged or pre-grated)

Sauce
1 medium onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic
Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)
Tin tomatoes
Tomato puree
(Replace the above with fresh tomatoes if available.)
Piece of green capsicum
salt and pepper

Assembly ingredients
Olive Oil
Black olives, seeds removed and sliced in half; or
Diced eggpplant that has been salted and baked in the oven.
Parmesan Cheese

IMPLEMENTS
One lasagne baking dish, or pyrex baking dish

INSTRUCTIONS
Dough

1. Peel potatoes and slice.
2. Place potatoes in salted water in a medium-large saucepan and cook on a medium-to-high heat until falling apart.
3. Strain well and allow to cool.
4. Place the cooked potatoes in large bowl and mash with fork or potato masher. (Do not use a food processor or stab blender.)
5. Add eggs, ricotta and flour. The amount of flour may depend on the dense-ness of the potatoes.
6. Pull mixture together. (Do not over knead). Set aside.

Sauce

1. Heat oil, add garlic pieces and cook for around 2 minutes.
2. Add chopped onions and piece of green capsicum and cook until onions are well cooked.
3. Add tomatoes and cook down.
4. Add salt and remove green capsicum. (A pinch of sugar should be added if tomatoes are too acid.)

Assembly

1. Dip a table spoon of dough mixture in olive oil, remove and place on base of tray. Continue until the tray is completed covered and resembles a focaccia. (You should have about a third of the mixture left.)
2. Pour tomato sauce over dough mixture.
3. Next place olives (or eggplant) evenly over mixture, followed by fresh basil.
4. Dip smaller spoonfuls of mixture into olive oil and dot/drop on top of dough.
5. When finished, sprinkle over with grated parmesan.
6. Bake in medium to hot oven for between 30 and 40 minutes. Place alfoil or baking paper over top if burning occurs.
7. When finished, let the focaccia sit for around 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh green salad.