Our Bramley Apple Pie

I have loved apple pie since I was a young kid. Amanda was not a big fan of it but recently she started to fancy it. I believe it is one of the most famous desserts in the Western world and it is frequently served with custard, cream or vanilla ice-cream. Mmmmmm, delicious, I want a warm slice now!! Lately we started using ready-made pastry as it is of good quality and it really saves you time in the kitchen. Try this pie out, it is quite easy to do, we sliced the Bramleys using our food processor but you can easily thinly slice them with a knife. We also soaked our raisins in fresh orange juice for about an hour so they plump up and get a unique distinctive flavour. If you have leftover pastry and apple mixture, you can do other small pies! For a 24-25cm pie you will need...

• 1kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 140g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground aniseed
• 70g raisins
• 1 juice of an orange
• 1 sheet ready-made shortcrust pastry
• Flour, for dusting

1. Start by soaking the raisins in the orange juice and set them aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
3. In a large mixing bowl put the sliced apples, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, cinnamon & aniseed and mix them well until apples are coated in sugar and flour. Set aside.
4. Dust the work surface with some flour and roll the pastry sheet, cut it in half and thin it out until it is half size in thickness.
5. Grease a 23 to 25cm pie dish and put half the pastry sheet on the dish, make sure it is loose. Now fill the dish with abundant apple mixture and cover with the other half of the pastry sheet. Seal well the edges and snip the top of the pie with scissors in various parts so as the steam can escape. Sprinkle with some extra sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to set for about 15 minutes.
7. Slice and serve cold or warm, plain, with cream, custard or even vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Cottage Pie

The term Cottage Pie has been around for centuries and the actual name is known to have been around since 1791. Incidentally, this year was when potatoes started being introduced as an edible crop which was available to the poor.  Initially made with leftover meat, this pie took its name from the meaning of the term cottage, which actually means a humble residence for farmers. (Ref: Wikipedia) Cottage Pie has been a favourite in our family for decades and have been loving it since I was a child as my mum prepared it frequently. So this is our take on a classic British dish. Needless to say it is very easy to prepare, I mean the meat mixture is not rocket science and boiling potatoes is quite a low ability task. So this recipe does go with the easy ones. It is the ultimate comforting food and you will definitely ask for seconds. You will need...(this amount of ingredients will make a medium pie)

For the meat mixture

• 500g lean beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 250ml prepared gravy (I use Bisto Best), this acts as a thickening agent
• ½ teaspoon dried mixed herbs
• ½ teaspoon hot paprika
• ½ tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 beef stock pot/cube
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (or to taste)
• 25g butter, for frying

For the mashed potatoes

• 750g potatoes, boiled
• 40g butter
• A splash of milk, (you want the mash to be quite firm)
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• Sweet paprika, to garnish
• Ground black pepper, to garnish

How to...

1. Start by preparing the mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes and add the butter, milk and ground nutmeg (if using) and mash to the desired consistency. Set aside.
2. Prepare the meat mixture. In a large frying pan, on a moderate heat, heat the butter until it melts and starts sizzling, then add the onions, carrots, celery and mixed herbs. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until onions, carrots & celery are soft. Add some black pepper if you want to at this stage (We do!).
3. Add the beef mince and stir in to mix in with the vegetables. Now add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock pot/cube more black pepper, hot paprika and cook uncovered until the meat is done and all the liquid has nearly gone.
4. When meat is cooked add the prepared gravy and stir in well. Lower the heat and simmer until the meat mixture for a minute or two. 
5. In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. To assemble your cottage pie, you just pour the meat mixture in a deep pie or casserole dish, level the mixture withe back of a spoon and cover with the mashed potato. Use a palette to level the mash on top of the meat mixture. Try and seal it well to prevent it from leaking. You can also prick some holes into the mashed potato topping so as steam can escape.
7. Sprinkle with sweet paprika and ground black pepper and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
8. Take it out of the oven and leave to cool down for about 15 minutes. It is now ready to serve. 

Enjoy!!

R&A

Sweet Surprise Pie

This pie was absolutely gorgeous. I just made a couple of these and used two small silicon heart shaped moulds. I made my own pastry but feel free to use ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry. The recipe for the pastry yields a good amount of dough, so just wrap any dough that you do not use in cling film and freeze it. Although I made these mini pies you can adjust the ingredients to make a large one. Serve this pie warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. You will need...

For the dough

• 350g plain flour
• About 200ml water
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 100g unsalted butter, in cubes and soft

1. Put the flour and sugar into a bowl and rub the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the egg yolks and pour the water gradually until you get a very soft, pliable dough.
3. Knead well for a few minutes. 
4. Wrap in cling film and put into the fridge for about 20 minutes to set.
5. Any dough you do not use wrap it in cling film and freeze for future use.

For filling two pies

• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 tsp strawberry conserve or jam
• 2 tsp seedless raisins
• Honey
• Caster sugar, to decorate
• 2 small heart shaped pie moulds, although you can use any shape

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. 
2. Line the bottom of the moulds with pastry.
3. Spread the bottom of the moulds with the strawberry conserve. Neatly lay half a banana in each mould, sprinkle 1 tsp of raisins on the banana pieces and drizzle with honey.
4. Cover the moulds with pastry and trim any excess. Make sure that you seal it well.
5. Pinch the top of the pie with scissors and sprinkle with the caster sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until done.
7. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Torta Tal-Corned Beef - Corned Beef Pie Maltese Style

This pie has been in my family and possibly in loads more Maltese households since World War 2. Tinned Corned Beef (Bulu Bijf) used to be used as a substitute for fresh meat which was scarce during the war. It is a very straightforward recipe and we even used pre-prepared pastry as making puff-pastry takes loads of skill and time. My mother-in-law does her own pastry which makes this pie tastier, while my grandma used to send me to the Pastizzeria (Traditional Maltese pasty shop) to buy her pastry from there, oh what memories!. There is a secret to this recipe which is, using Tomato Paste (Kunserva) instead of any other tomatoes/tinned tomatoes. So here it goes...you will need...

• 2 large tins corned beef
• 1 small can kunserva [tomato paste] [about 120g]
• 4 large carrots, finely diced
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 8-10 very small potatoes, cooked and cut into 4 pieces
• A handful of frozen peas
• 2 packages ready-made puff or shortcrust pastry sheets
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• A little water

How to...

1. Heat the oil and add the carrots and onion and cook until carrots are soft. If necessary add a little water.
2. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
3. In the meantime cook the potatoes, do not cook them too much, you can boil, microwave or steam them. Cut them in 4 and set aside.
4. When carrots & onion are cooked, add the corned beef and tomato paste. Give it a good stir and simmer for a couple of minutes until the corned beef smashes down.Add the potatoes and peas and stir carefully again.
5. Turn off the heat. Set aside.
6. Roll the pastry sheets and put it onto an oiled/buttered 28cm round pie dish or a rectangular pie dish.
7. Add the corned beef filling and cover with the remainder of the pastry. Prick the top as well so excessive steam comes out of the pie.
8. Cook in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Enjoy!!

R&A