Pumpkin Pie

OK, now I can finally try to make a pumpkin pie! All right….it’s not too difficult actually but definitely takes more work than an apple pie since we need to cook the pumpkin first. Anyway, it tastes good but just a little too soft. So, maybe need to either reduce the milk or add more pumpkin.

Ingredients:
Short crust pastry (sweet) – see apple pie recipe for the pastry
Pumpkin (300gm- steamed and cut into small pieces)
Mixed spice (1/2 tsp)
Brown sugar (150gm)
Milk (300gm)
Egg (1)
Corn flour (1 tbsp)

Preheat oven at 180C.

Method:
1. Blend pumpkin, sugar, egg, milk, mixed spice and corn flour together.
2. Roll pastry into 2mm thick and line the pastry dish.
3. Poke holes with a fork.
4. Pour in the pumpkin mixture.
5. Bake for ~1 hour or until cooked (pumpkin is set).

Thanksgiving Desserts

A friend invited us over for a Thanksgiving dinner at her home and everyone brought something to feed us all. I am supposed to bake a pumpkin pie but I had no idea how to make one and I don’t want to risk a failure attempting it the first time in case we end up with no dessert. So, I baked the same old apple pie but just thought I’d make it more interesting with some decorations from the leftover pastry. Isn’t it a lovely pie? :)




Apart from the pie, I baked a chocolate cream cheese cake too. This is also the 2nd time I bake this cake and I think it’s better than the first time I make it. OK, at least I am improving and not the other way round ;p
We were too full from the turkey dinner and all the yummy food, so I brought this cake to Sunday church service. The cake was gone quickly and I am glad everyone loved it!

Apple Pie

I love to try new recipes and pies are always a favourite because they look complicated to make but when you actually start doing it, it’s not that scary after all. So, don’t scare yourself and give it a try!
I love the pastry with its crispy crust and the buttery taste! Yummy….but can’t eat too much of it for health reason.

So, here’s a first attempt of apple pie :)


Ingredients:
Plain flour (250gm)
Salt
Icing sugar (3 tbsp)
Butter (150gm)
Cold water (5-6 tbsp)
Apple (3 apples cut into small cubes)
Brown sugar (5-6 tbsp)
Lemon juice (2 tbsp)
Cinnamon powder (1/2 tsp)
Nutmeg powder (1/4 tsp)
Egg (1 egg, beaten)


Preheat oven at 185C.


Method:
1. Put flour into a big bowl/pot and mix with butter until it looks like crumbles. (Use a knife to cut butter into small cubes)
2. Add in a dash of salt, icing sugar and some cold water to form a dough.
3. Wrap in a plastic and put in the fridge for ~30min.
4. Mix apples with brown sugar, a dash of salt, lemon juice, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder. Leave aside.
5. Take out the dough and roll into 2 round sheets of ~2mm.
6. Line the pie dish with the pastry. Use a fork and poke holes into the pastry sheet.
7. Put the apples into the dish.
8. Cover the apples with the other pastry sheet.
9. Cut off the extra pastry at the sides and use a fork to press the edge of the pastry.
10. Cut a cross in the middle of the pie.
11. Brush the pie with egg.
12. Bake the pie in preheated oven for about 1 hour or until cooked.

Note: You can use this pastry to make other pies e.g. peach, pear, blueberries, etc.

Chicken Pie (Puff Pastry)

I just bought 2 recipes books last weekend and one of them was on making pastries. Both books were authored by Alex Goh. Puff pastry seems to be one of those "mission impossible" task for me but hey, no harm trying right? You might think I have gone nuts in the head as I only started making these 9.30pm on a Sunday night and by the time I finished baking the last batch of pies, it was almost 12midnight ;p

But, it was all worth it.....yes, puff pastry is a lot of work compared to shortcrust pastry but I am glad I gave it a try. I don't have the recipe here since it's from the book but you can just googled it and you'll find the recipe to making this queen of all pastries.

I made 15 pies that night and only ate one while distributed the rest to my friends and colleagues. Although the pastry is not as puffy as I want it to be, overall the chicken pies are yummy! Not only I say one la...those who tried it also agree ;p
Here's how I cooked the filling for the pies. Forgot to buy button mushrooms, so didn't add it in.

Ingredients:
Chicken meat (de-boned and cut into small pieces - marinate with soya sauce, chinese wine, pepper & sugar) Potatoes (cut into small cubes)
Onion (diced)
Mixed vegetables
Shallot
Salt
Sugar
Soya sauce
Oyster sauce
Corn flour (mix with some water)
Water Oil



Method:

1. Heat oil in work and saute shallot for 1-2min.

2. Add in potatoes and onion. Stir fry for ~5min.

3. Put in mixed vegetables and chicken meat. Mix well.

4. Season with salt, sugar, oyster sauce and soya sauce. Add some water and let it simmer (low heat) till potatoes are soft.

5. Thicken with some corn flour mixture.

6. Dish up and set aside to let it cool before making the pies.

Chicken Pie (Upside Down)

Do these look yummy? :)

Yes, baking fever is still on, so today Carmen and I decided to bake chicken pie!!!

Yeah, it's kind of ambitious for 2 of us who doesn't know much about baking but as always, even if we fail, we'd still have some fun trying.

When it comes to baking, I have got to folllow someone's recipe and this one is also from Peony.

Here's the link to her recipe: http://myculinaryjournal.blogspot.com/2007/10/chicken-pies.html

The only thing which I have changed is the way I cooked the filling. Instead of mix vegetables, I just used diced carrots though I did use up the leftover mix vegetables which I have which is less than a handful. I also added some mixed herbs and soya sauce. The whole mixture smells amazing after adding the mixed herbs and I must say the taste is absolutely delicious.

Oh....why do I call it upside down chicken pie? You know this is the very first time I bake chicken pies (never baked any pies in my life) so I still do not know what went wrong but we found that after baking the pies for 30minutes, the pastry at the base and sides are still uncooked!

So, to save the pies, we took them out of the moulds and put them back on the baking try upside down and bake again for another 15minutes! Hahaha...It turned out great after that. Phew....

Carmen concluded that I am still better with the wok doing my usual stir fry. Haha...Anyway, I am going to find out what went wrong and try again! Next, we're thinking of trying to bake some egg tarts!