Aussie Pies

While in Australia a couple years ago ( where does time go?!) NZ and I discovered Meat Pies, the Aussie equivalent of grabbing a hotdog or burger at the local joint. We were told that these are common stadium-fare at the footie and netball games that the Aussies are so crazy about.

Our first meat pie experience was at Jesters in Surfer's paradise, located in Queensland. Unfortunately, this discovery came the last weekend of a 15 day trip. Had we known about these earlier, we surely would have filled up on those instead of sandwiches filled with salad & basted with butter ( don't get me started on my issues with Aussie sandwhich makers, who totally didn't understand the term "dry").

Anyhow, after discovering Jester's meat pies, my domestic wheels started turning when NZ asked if I thought I could re-create them.

So, never wanting to disappoint my one-and-only-sunshine-of-a-husband, I purchased 3 small pie tins, measuring about 4 inches in diameter when we returned home and got to work in the kitchen.

Meat Pies can be filled with anything, from ground beef, to chuck roast, to pulled pork and chicken. I bet you could even fill them with spagheti if you felt so inclined. The most authentic Meat Pies are a mixture of chuck roast and gravy, with a dollop of ketschup on top.

I'm not a huge Chuck fan, so I altered the recipe and usually use CHICKEN to make CHICKEN PIES. I am a Sunday cooker, so I cook all of our meat for the week on Sundays and use it for recipes throughout the week. My chicken pie recipe uses precooked chicken.

CHICKEN PIES:

Necessities:

2 Precooked Chicken breasts ( cubed or shredded)

1 package Gravy mix

1 c water

1 c frozen veggie mix

Pre-made pie crust ( I like Pills.bury)

Cornmeal or Cornstarch

Cutting Board

Rolling Pin

Small Sauce Pan

(3) 4" dia. pie tins

Steps:

PREHEAT OVEN to 450 degrees

1. On large cutting board, unfold thawed pie crust. Dust board with cornstarch or cornmeal to keep dough from sticking. Gently roll out crust so that it is about 1/8" thick.

2. Using small pie tin as a guide, trace and cut out (3) rounds and place in pie tins.

3. Re-roll unused crust and cut out 3 more circles to top the pies with.

4. Add 1 c cold water and gravy mix to saucepan and wisk until thickened.

5. Stir in shredded or cubed chicken breasts and 1 cup frozen veggies.

6. Spoon the chicken,veggie, gravy mixture evenly amongst the pies. 7. Wet finger and run around the edges of your pie topping circles.

8. Place tops on pies and gently pinch to seal the seams

9. Place tins on cookie sheet to avoid dripping in your oven ( saves the mess!)

10. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 450 degrees.

mmmmmm, I'd reckon it's din-dins, mate!