Chicken Pie...but I dont like gravy

Hey folks,

Welcome back to Student Eats. Today we are going to discuss pie. First I need to set the scene so sit back, relax and get ready for this mini story.

I was feeling adventurous, I wanted to challenge myself, then it came to me. PIE! That's it I'll make a pie from scratch. Cue a googling session for ingredients. Turns out a didn't have everything so I waited until that awesome day when your food delivery arrives from Tesco (I recommend online grocery shopping, especially if you live up a hill) So now my lovely readers I'm going to share the magic of pie with you.

mmm home made pie

Excited yet? I am!

To pull this off you will need a few key things

Equipment
Ramekins or Muffin tray
Rolling pin
Mixing bowl
Frying pan
Cheese grater
Cling Film/Foil

Checklist
Chicken (3 pieces made 4 pies)
110g Lard/Butter
175g Plain Flour
Onion
Carrot (Optional)
Gravy granules
Chicken stock cube
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
All Purpose Seasoning
*Any seasoning of choice will do, this is what I used*

Method

Pastry
1) Weigh lard/butter, wrap it in foil or cling film and put it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes
2) Put flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl
3) Take the butter/lard out the freezer, unwrap it and grate into bowl with flour
4) With a knife/spoon spread the shavings covering them with flour
5) Sprinkle 2 tbsp of water over the mixture and stir
6) Gradually add spoons of water and stir. Use as little water as possible to make a dough ball
7) Once it starts to come together use your hands to incorporate all the flour. Don't worry if it tries to fall apart. Just push it back together
8) Wrap the dough ball in foil/cling film and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes

Chicken
1) Season both sides of the chicken
2) Chop small amount of onion and fry. Don't brown it
3) Put chicken in the frying pan on medium heat. Cook for a few minutes and flip

4) Add water to prevent burning every once in a while
5) Add chopped carrots if you want
6) After 10 -20 minutes add chicken stock. Don't forget to flip the chicken
7) Once chicken is cooked remove from frying pan, leaving the cooking liquid and veg
8) Add gravy granules to liquid and stir over heat to thicken it. Turn off heat once thickened
10) Shred the chicken on a plate

Pie
1) Take dough out freezer and roll it out
2) Arrange dough in ramekins/tray making sure it comes just over the sides
3) Fill half the cup with chicken, add a layer of gravy mixture and top with more chicken
4) Cut out circles from dough for pie tops
5) Press tops onto the top of the pies and seal the sides by pressing the dough together
6) Pierce the tops to allow steam to escape
7) Cook pies in the oven on 200°C until browned


There you have it. Home made chicken pie. Hope you enjoyed todays post. Come back soon for more recipes. Comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.


Enjoy your eats

Onion Bhaji

Why hello there,

Long time, no see. Hope all is well. I've been quite busy recently but boy do I have a treat for you today.

Ever been in a cooking situation where you end up with left over onion? Pain in the butt right? Well today I'm going to tell you how to solve this little problem in the form of Onion Bhaji.

Today I was sitting in bed thinking snack, snack, I need a snack. Quick google search for the basic ingredients for onion bhaji. Well I dont have most of that but I do have half an onion! How hard can it be? So ignore all those fancy recipes and try this out. Onion bhaji student style.

Checklist
Onion (1/4 made 6 bhajis)
Oil
Plain flour
Water
Pepper
Ground coriander
Lemon juice
Paprika
All purpose seasoning
*I used random seasoning I had* Have fun with this

Ok got everything ready? Good lets get started.

1) Put some flour into a mixing bowl, you dont need a lot (This was an experiment so I didnt measure anything, sorry about that)
2) Add a decent amount seasoning of choice and a few squirts of lemon juice
3) Gradually add water and stir each time until you get a batter like consistency
4) Chop left over onion into strands/half rings
5) Add onion to batter and stir, making sure to cover the onion in the mixture
6) Heat some oil in a frying pan
7) Add small groups of onion/mixture into pan
8) Turn over after a few minutes
9) Cook until slight brown

There you have it. This works well as a snack or an addition to a meal. Also goes nicely with tomato ketchup.

Stay tuned for more recipes.  Comments, suggestions and questions always welcome

Enjoy your eats

Embrace your inner Ninja Turtle...

Hey, long time no see!

Welcome back for the next installment of Student Eats.

Today we are covering a very important topic. Its time to make that awesome thing called pizza.

Chicken and pineapple

Checklist
450g Self Raising Flour
90ml of olive oil
180ml warm water
1 tsp salt
Tomato puree
Mixed herbs
All purpose seasoning (optional for meat topping e.g. chicken)
Cheese
Topping of choice

1) Season and cook meat topping of choice e.g. chicken
2) Put flour and salt into a bowl, gradually mix in the oil and water until you have a dough ball
3) Kneed and roll out on a surface
4) Put the dough on a pizza/oven tray. Dont be scared to make a non pizza like shape, I molded the dough over a rectangle oven tray
5) Cover dough with tomato puree, a spinkle of mixed herbs, loads of grated cheese and the toppings of choice
6) Shove it in an oven on 200°C until cheese is melted (if you used a meat topping make sure it is cooked)


There you have it. Experiment with different toppings and let me know how it goes. So far I've tried chicken and pineapple, as well as ham and pineapple which is my favourite.


Check back soon for the next post
As always comments, suggestions and questions are welcome


Enjoy your eats

Soup

Hey folks!

Its been a while since my last post so lets jump back in with soup. Its been very cold recently so soup is the perfect solution to get warm from the inside out and also for a cold, which I have right now =[

The recipe and method below is for Carrot and Coriander Soup

This is another simple and cheap recipe that uses fresh ingredients, so for those health nuts and calorie counting folk this is perfect for you, get on it!

Checklist
1lb Carrots
1 Potato
1 Leak (White end only)
1 Celery Stick
1 Onion
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
Ground Coriander
Fresh Coriander (optional)
Salt and Pepper (optional)

1) Chop all the vegetables
2) Add olive oil in a pot and heat up
3) Add all the vegetables apart from the potato
4) Add 1tsp of ground coriander and fresh coriander stalks into a pot
3) Stir so they don't brown
4) After a few minutes add a pint of vegetable stock
5) Add sliced potato
6) Put a lid on it and cook for 20-30 mins
7) Once the vegetables are soft grab a hand blender and smoosh it ( yes i said smoosh, technical term)
8) Add water to get consitency of your liking
9) Add fresh coriander leaves (optional)
10) Add salt and pepper to taste

This recipes makes 5 servings so fridge some, freeze some,  or share it with your flat mates.

It doesnt stop there, try different vegetable combinations such as courgette instead of carrot. Just switch out the lb of carrots for a lb of a vegetable of your choosing.

There you have it. A tasty soup to beat away those cold blues. Check back soon for more recipes.

Questions, comments and suggestions welcome.

Thats it folks, enjoy your eats

Stir Fry Madness

Hey folks, welcome back for your 3rd installment of Student Eats.

Today its all about stir fry.

Now the great thing about stir fry is that you can put so many different things in it. The recipe below is just 1 of many ways to make a stir fry. So after trying this way get crazy and experiment with other ingredients.

Bags for life at the ready, its check list time

Checklist
Rice noodles
Bean sprouts
Broccoli
Carrots
Onion
Courgettes
All purpose seasoning (optional)
Sweet chili sauce/ Tomato pasta sauce/ Stir fry sauce (Try all of them, not together, DARE YOU!)

1) Chop all the vegetables
2) Grate carrots (optional, chop if preferred)
3) Add all vegetables apart from bean sprouts into a frying pan (Softens the veg as noodles and spouts cook quicker)
4) Lightly cover veg with seasoning (optional)
*remember to stir*
5) Once veg is soft add sprouts and noodles
6) Add sauce of choice and stir to make sure the sauce covers everything
7) Cook for 1-2 mins until noodles are soft and sauce is hot

This makes a great snack or a light lunch. Also goes great with meat for dinner. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Questions, comments and suggestions welcome.

Thats it folks, enjoy your eats

Magic Mince....Munchkins?

Ok here we go folks. This post is going to be about the magic of mince.

I say magic because it is cheap, easy and goes with so many other things. For example you can have it with rice, pasta, spaghetti or tortilla wraps.

You will need the following ingredients

Checklist

Mince

Onion

Pasta Sauce

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

All Purpose Seasoning

Sweet Chili Sauce

Jerk Seasoning (Optional)

Good old Tesco does a value pack of mince for £2. For the international readers any pack will do of course, so run to your local store and get some along with the rest of the items on the checklist. I'll sit here patiently and wait for you to get back. 

Ok everyone stand still for a head count...

Good everyone is back just in time.

1) Get the mince going in a saucepan on a medium heat. Stir occasionally so it cooks evenly.         Don't throw away the container you will need that later.

2) While thats going get ahead by chopping up an onion into small pieces. Try not to rub your     eyes as you probably have onion on them and it will make it worse. Safety first kids.

3) Once mince is coloured, not pink anymore, drain most of the fat into the container it came      in. Don't pour it down the sink as it can block it.

4) Add the onions and the mixed herbs as well as just a dash of salt, pepper and sugar.

5) Add a light covering of all purpose seasoning and sweet chili sauce.

6) Add a tsp jerk seasoning for a little kick.

7) Add pasta sauce.


8) Remember people, stir stir stir. You want all the flavours to spread into the mince.

Taste test time! Are you excited yet? Add extra seasoning if needed to get it to your liking.

It is good to cook more than needed. Fridge some, freeze some. Words to live by I think. You are now sorted for most of the week. Remember mix it up a bit with the suggestions above.

Thats all folks. Enjoy your eats =]