Cherry Daisy Pie

This is not really a recipe. This is leftover pastry needing a home, but as it looked so sweet, I thought I'd share it with you.. Having made my Chicken and Wild Garlic Pie - I had a bit of leftover pastry. Now I am not one to waste, so I opened the fridge door - as I always do - for inspiration. There sitting in a small pot was some leftover cherries from some cherry cookies I had made the other day.

I popped the cherries in a pan with 2 tbsp. of caster sugar and a dash of orange liqueur and cooked down a little until mushy. I rolled out a circle of pastry and popped it on a small plate. Topped with the cherries and brought up the sides of the pastry to hold them in, and decorated with pastry daisies. Little egg wash and put in the oven at the same time as the pie (180 C for 20 mins).

Cute as a button and delicious with hot, sweet custard.

Chicken & Wild Garlic Pie

Yesterday was cold in London. A typical English Spring; raining and cold. It was a stay at home type of Sunday too. I needed to make pies - that would warm us up. In the morning I took three very small chicken breasts out of the freezer to defrost and rooted through the vegetables to see what could join the chicken... Wild garlic leaves. Perfect. I used ready made pastry. I sometimes make it myself but I wasn't in the mood. And no, there is nothing wrong with buying pastry!

A lot of people  forage for wild garlic - it does grow in lots of places. I didn't, I bought it in the supermarket. But that's because I really need to get back to my foraging books to research because wild garlic leaves look an awful lot like Lily of the Valley which (in natures typical way) not only grows at the same time of year - but grows close to garlic. And Lily of the Valley leaves are poisonous. So, for this time, I bought some to make my Chicken & Wild Garlic Pie.

Ingredients:

2 medium chicken breasts, chopped into centimetre cubes
50g wild garlic leaves, roughly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp. oil
30g butter
2 tbsp. flour
300ml chicken stock
1/2 glass of wine
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 egg, beaten
pack of ready made shortcrust pastry

Method:

In a pan, fry the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the chicken and stir fry until mostly cooked. Add the flour, stir in well and cook for 2 minutes to cook out the floury taste. Then add half of the stock and mix well. Then add the wine and turn up the heat to cook off the alcohol. Finally add the remaining stock, along with the garlic leaves, thyme and sage. Stir well and cook on a medium heat for a further five minutes until the leaves are wilted and the sauce a thick gravy. Put chicken mix into two individual pie dishes, or one larger one.

Cut the pastry to fit, Press down on the edges with the back of a spoon and decorate the top with leftover scraps of pastry. Brush with egg and cook in the oven at 180 C for approx. 25 minutes.

Serve piping hot with boiled potatoes and peas. Yummy!