Sunday, February 10, 2008

This is...Sunday lunch!


This week's This is... theme is Sunday Lunch. So this is 'kind of' what we usually have for Sunday lunch. And I'm probably really stretching the definition of 'kind of' here...

Usually Sundays consist of Matt and Kym going mountain-biking in the morning, while Jade and I bake something yummy to have as snacks for the coming week, while watching the kids. The boys then pick up a few meat pies from the local bakery on the way back from their ride, and that's lunch! But.....well, I am just a bit too proud to stick a photo of a takeaway meat pie as my Sunday lunch, and yet I'm not good at out and out lying...so.....


I made homemade pies for lunch! Yep, I figured, why not have the extended family over for a 'typical', and yet 'not so typical' Sunday lunch. It was actually a really lovely day. I made chicken and mushroom pies, and made the mixture the night before (yeah, party animal that I am - this is what I did on my Saturday night!!!). I didn't really follow a recipe as such, but this is how I made them. I think half the reason they were so nice was because we bought all the ingredients fresh from the Rocklea markets on Saturday morning, and you just can't beat good quality fresh produce.



****

Chicken Pie Mixture

1.1kg free range organic chicken thighs
700g button mushrooms
6 leeks
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley
3 tbsp cornflour
1 massels chicken stock cube
A sprinkling of dried thyme
White pepper
Salt

Cut chicken thighs into 2cm cubes and brown in a large pot.

Chop the leeks and saute them with the chicken until soft, then stir through the button mushrooms (I left the small ones whole and the bigger ones I chopped in half).

Just cover with boiling water, add stock cube and thyme, and simmer for about 1.5 - 2 hrs (until chicken is REALLY tender).

Mix cornflour with water and add to simmering mixture to thicken. Chop parsley and stir through. Season with pepper and salt. Allow to cool.

****

Next morning, Lee and I cut out some shortcrust pastry to line the individual pie tins, added the mixture, put a puff pastry lid on top, then stuck a pastry shape onto this (this was Lee's forte, and everyone had a different cut-out on their pie - mine was an 'M' for Mum, and Matt's was the truck). We then brushed the tops with an egg and milk mixture, and baked on a pretty high oven (about 200 degrees celsius). Boy were they YUM!!! Matt made a lovely fresh salad to go with them, just to lighten the meal up a bit. Perfect!


So that was one of the triumphs of the afternoon! One of the not so triumphant aspects was Brown Betty, which was a recipe from Net's 120 Ways of Using Bread recipe book . I'm so sorry Net. I have no idea how I stuffed this one up. I really wanted to like it. But, although it looked quite good...


It just tasted like a big bowl of yuck.

Could it have been because I made my own breadcrumbs using wholemeal spelt sourdough bread?

My poor aunty insisted it couldn't be that bad, but when she tried it the smile froze on her face and she gave my husband 'that look', before discreetly spitting it into the bin....oh well...you win some you lose some... On the plus side, Lee and I had great fun using our new apple peeler/corer/slicer thingy that we had been given for Christmas. This was the first time we'd used it, and it was heaps of fun making apple slinkies!


Luckily, my mum (as always) came through with the goods. I hadn't asked her to bring anything, but Mum being Mum, of course she turned up with something...and boy were these something...


Mini lemon meringue pies - oooh la la! Now these were every bit as good as they looked, and went perfect with an after-lunch cuppa. Very civilised really. And so now I don't feel so embarrassed about showing you this Sunday's lunch. It wasn't perfect. But it was pretty damn close! Many thank to The Lark for inspiring us to have such a lovely day :)

PS. If anyone would like the lemon meringue pie recipe just let me know and I'll ask mum for it and post it here. Cheers!

12 comments:

CurlyPops said...

I would love the lemon meringue pie recipe. Such a fabulous idea to make individual serves...and those chicken pies look scrumptious too!

Sherrin said...

Wow! Can I come for lunch when you next make these?! :P

Lemon Meringue pies look awesome too- I'll watch out for the recipe as well. :o)
-Sherrin

Hyena In Petticoats said...

WOW.

That's all I have to say.

What a brilliant spread you've put on there.....

Leah xxx

Anastasia said...

everything looks SO good!!! chicken pie is the best and easy too - i make it often and my boys love it!
ive never tried lemon merigune pie - looks fantastic!!

Unknown said...

Your pies look devine, enough to make me try and make some for my family. Apple springer machines are the best things for encouraging kids to eat more fruit, I love it too because I can go off for a walk with my apple on my thumb and just snack away. My mum makes those mini lemon meringues too, they are just so yum. Not sure about your Aunty Betty, never tried one before, looks good but it must have been the sour bread that ruined the masterpiece. Much healthier lunch than our daggy hot dogs.

Stacey said...

Wow, that's a lot of gorgeous looking food you've got there.
I'd love the meringue pie recipe!

Ulla V. said...

I would really love to have a go at both the chicken pies and the meringue pies....All of a sudden I feel an urge for chicken pie :0)

bettyninja said...

Oh so much yumminess (except for the whoops creation) my stomach is rumbling.

SadieandLance said...

Oh Y-U-M! Those pies look so good. I'll have mine with a pastry 'B' on the top please, and lots of sauce too!

I'll put my hand up for posting the lemon meringue pies please. Oh yeah!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an amazing lunch!

Anonymous said...

what a great looking lunch,

the pies look delicious,
where is the smell on the internet!

lemon meringue look perfect also, thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

I feel so responsible for ruining your gorgeous meal! Everything else looks so lovely, especially the lemon meringue.

I foolishly left out some important pimps that I make to that recipe. First, get the breadcrumbs crisp by frying in butter and brown sugar, add some cinnamon/mixed spice. Add lemon zest to the apple puree and maybe some sultanas/raisins. Then layer the two up so you get contrast between the crisp and soft layers, instead of a bowl of yuck!

I'm especially sorry I made your Aunty do "that look"!