Mince Meat Pies

Every X'mas, I make mince pies. I have learned to love this little pastry in England and from its fruity sweet and citrusy flavor, I also started to like the English fruit cake which is more heavier with the brandy and rum effect. I guess it is very true that our tastes and palates change over the times and I loathed the sight of fruitcake when my own dad got it every X'mas last time and I couldn't figure out what he loved about it then. But now, I look forward to next year to make one myself and share with my kids, perhaps lighter on the alcohol and sugar content as I think it was the overbearing smell of the brandy and rum that really put me off eating it when I was younger.

Although they are called Mince Meat Pies, I rather call them Mince Pies as there is no meat at all and Meat Pie sounds savory rather than sweet. I haven't learned the trade of making the mince meat filling yet and bought a large jar which contained no rum ingredient. And I thought there was no one who will make them till I return to the same aisle in my grocery the other day to find all the mince meat filling gone!! Luckily I bought mine a month ago. Without mince pies, I think I will not enjoy X'mas!

The pastry cases were made from a combination of 3 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 sticks of butter and 3/4 cup cold water. The butter must still be cold and cut to slices before rubbing them with the flour. The idea is to get every bits of flour coated with the butter and the hands are the only best tool to do this. I used plastic gloves to maintain the temperature of the butter while in contact with my hands and for easier clean up later. I skipped the addition of sugar to the dough as the filling will be sweet enough and added the cold water in 3 batches of 1/4 cup each time. Doing it this way gave me a better control of the texture of the dough and to ensure that I get the right firmness. The dough must be rested for at least an hour in the fridge before the rolling out, cutting and filling. This recipe is enough to make 12 pastry cases measuring 3.5 inches each. Depending on the shape of the upper surface of the pies, my star shape used less dough, hence the scraps from the 12 perfect rounds were enough. For close tops, I would recommend an extra batch of the dough recipe.

For extra bite, I added dried cranberries to the bottom of each pastry case before adding on a tablespoon of the filling. I think the star design was from a previous recipe in my BBC Good Food magazine and I like the idea of exposing the filling, hence I couldn't be skimpy!! The whole bottle of mince pie filling was used up. Before baking, they were brushed with milk with emphasis on the pastry to get the right brown color and also to adhere the tips of the stars to the main pastry cases. Baked them in a preheated oven of 425F for 18 to 20 minutes, with 1 rotation of the pan and another brushing with the milk for the last 5 minutes of baking. The oven was turned off after the baking and I left them inside for an extra 10 mins so that they will set and brown evenly. I like them served warm with the English custard but whipped cream will do too. Sprinkling the confectioner sugar is also a must or else the pies look bland and can never tempt a non fruit cake eater to try these!

I made mini sizes of these pies a week ago for my friends cookie tins. The little ones took more effort as they were much more smaller with less filling of 1 teaspoon each. I wasn't sure if my friends were into these pies so I made them mini sizes. One feedback was not favorable towards sweet pies so I know now what to make next year for that friend's gift but hopefully the rest likes them.

Wishing everyone who reads this blog a Merry X'mas and Happy Holidays. May you all have good food, be merry and enjoy yourselves. X'mas comes once a year and we have to wait till the last month every year, so cherish the gatherings of families and friends and the companies of good people.

Chicken Phyllo Tart

It has been some time since I last posted an easy recipe. With the busy season of gifts buying and cookies making, I didn't manage to create anything new for dinner. Sometimes we even fed on the same kind of vegetable for days and I simply make a stew that last for days.

Today we had a playdate at a friend's place and I made these tarts to bring over. Thank you AK for inviting us over and I hope you didn't have a bad time cleaning up your place after we left!! And we will still get invited the next time.

I got these phyllo tart shells from the grocery , sold under the name Athens Mini Phillo Shells. When I first started this blog, I adamantly told my Greek friend that I will try to make phyllo dough one day and he said I am crazy. Still, eager as a bird and strong as a bull then, I told him I will do it. After months gone by, I finally came to my senses that something store bought are meant to be and phyllo is on top of the list! I may be crazy with ideas but I don't have a mad mind!

I had no idea that these tart shells were so small till I took them out of the packet. My goodness, they were perhaps less than 2 inches each and I was wondering how am I supposed to put in any filling into them. At first I was planning to pour the condensed chicken soup together with the chicken meat, peas and corn into it but I ended up spooning the ingredients individually into 15 shells. Making them were not difficult, any types of fillings will do and I am surprised they were so crisp and tasted fresh after a mere 10 minutes baking in the oven at 350F. Like they said, good things comes in small packages and pop one of these in your mouth, you will enjoy munching it away. The cream of chicken soup did not melt during the baking, it stayed the same creamy consistency but warmed and complementing the steamed chicken pieces that I filled into the cavity of the shell and topped with peas and corn. I grated some Gouda cheese with a lemon rind grater to get the long strands and sprinkled on top of the cream of chicken soup. Sprinkled with some thyme , the tarts looked complete. The fun is eating it when it is still super crispy.

Ingredients :
15 Phyllo tart shells (pre made)
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup of frozen corn bits
6 tbsp of cream of chicken soup (Campbell)
fresh thyme
1/2 cup of grated Gouda or Cheddar cheese
2 chicken drumstick (steamed for 15 mins and cut to pieces)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place all the tart shells in paper liners.
3. Fill the tarts in this order : chicken pieces, peas & corn, small dollop of the cream of chicken soup, grated cheese and thyme.
4. Bake for 10 mins. Remove and serve warm.

Serves: 4 persons (as finger food)

December Bento Days (2)

I asked Curry what he wanted for X'mas. He said 'Nothing'! Does that mean I don't get a wish list too? Will I be fumed with jealousy when the kids ravage the wrapping papers and play with their new toys? But to tell the truth, I have no idea what I want for X'mas. My needs and wants for material stuffs comes once in a blue moon and can suddenly pop up without any occasions. Maybe it is true that X'mas is all about kids only and we the parents can only enjoy their excitement as an onlooker and their joy is our gift.

I think there is something wrong with my camera these days or perhaps the days have gotten so dull that the photos never come out perfect anymore. And I think my Bento making has dropped in standard too! And when my Aunt commented that I need improvement in Bento, that says everything! December is just not the month for Bentos, no inspiration and using left over dinners, cold mornings and shaky hands, other activities of baking during the day... all these I blame on for the degradation of my Bentos!!!! Fear not, there are so many resolutions I am going to make for the New Year and better Bentos is on the list.

I packed noodle with beef & potato stew for Curry's lunch today. The gravy from the beef stew was mixed into the noodle before packing to keep the noodle moist. As I didn't plan properly, I skipped the greens and set out to play with my X'mas cookie cutters instead. I cut thick slices of cucumber and punch X'mas trees and Candy canes. Cut up some flower shaped carrot too.... too much cookies baking these days makes me crafty now! And I only realised afterwards that I have ran out of ranch dressing! I hate peeling the skin off the kiwi fruit and I just included a spoon for scooping half sections of it.

X'mas Cookies

So soon? Yes! Merry X'mas... Ho Ho Ho!

In America, celebrations starts from Halloween all the way to New Year! And like Santa, things can get very busy nearing X'mas and I thought I might as well make these early so that I don't miss out on all the fun of cookies making season!

Talking about Santa, it took me a month to search this cookie cutter all over town and I was elated to have found it ! Sure, I could have substituted with the gingerbread man cookie cutter but thinking that I have to use more time and colors to decorate up the suit besides the face, I was determined to find a face only cookie and do minimum work. Moreover, I have nothing to brag about my decorating skills , so better not try something too adventurous and stick to simple work.

For this batch of cookies, I used store bought cookie dough mixture. As they were made for Missy E's classroom buddies who will chow down everything with no gourmet comments, I saved myself some time of making from scratch. Personally, I don't really like store bought cookie dough as they are too sweet for my tooth and with the icing on it, it feels like I am drowning in sugar. But you only get to be a 4 year old once and I am sure Missy E and her friends will be merrier with more sugar!

The cookies were first baked and then iced with the background colors of white and red. After drying out for 1 day, I proceeded with the finishing touches and I was too lazy to mix up more colors, I used the same colors on the X'mas tree too! The candy cane was a last drop of cookie dough saviour. I still have problem with the consistency of the icing and the hand control on the piping bag. Perhaps I was in a rush to finish up before Prince D gets up from his nap or getting bugged by Missy E, the X'mas tree colored dots were not very uniform!

Anyways, I have done it and I hope the kids love it. I still have different cookies to make for the next 3 weeks and hopefully I don't eat them all up before they leave my kitchen to go into gift boxes!

December Bento Days (1)

The last month of the year. The month when calories don't matter and eating is a sport. December with its many religious celebrations and end of the year bonuses is aptly scheduled for us to binge and gorge everything on the table, in the fridge and in the groceries with free flow of samples of candies, wine and nibbles to entice us. Even I myself think eating candies and cookies everyday this month is a daily meal! Like everyone else, I am making depressing cold January my resolution diet month and let December be merry as it is.

Last week's terrorist attack on Mumbai, India reminds us that we are far from absolute peace on earth and we should all resolute to do more good to ourselves and others, at least the practice of solidarity, compromise and respect for one another will exist regardless of acts of evil that casts a shadow everywhere.

For today's Bento, I made beef dumplings or 'Siu Mai', wrapped in napa cabbage leaves. With minced beef and seasoned lightly with pepper and salt, the fillings are wrapped in leaves and arranged neatly in a small bowl for steaming. The steaming process draws out juice from the meat and I included it into the Bento box to ensure the dumplings are moist come lunch time. For the rice, I mixed it with nori wrapper pieces and hard boiled egg, premixed with some mayonaise. Shaped into logs and gathered up with nori strips. I stir fried some enoki mushroom with carrot, celery and cabbage and garnished with goji berries. Tangerine is plenty in the market these days and its combination of sweet and tart is very good for cleansing the palate after a heavy meal. I included two chocolate candy to sweeten the day.