I went to buy a creamy chicken pie the other day but they were sold out, so I had no choice but to make myself some as I had already promised my stomach. I like to be efficient when I can (or some people would call me lazy) so I bought a roast chicken so 1) I wouldn’t have to pre-cook the chicken for the pies 2) to have delicious chicken sandwiches for lunch and 3) I could just roast chicken for general snacking.
I also used this opportunity to use or random bits and pieces in my fridge like slices of cooked haloumi, vegetables that were looking a bit sad and also use up some of those frozen vegetables that I thought I’d eat to create a healthier meal or curry puffs.
So here we go…
Creamy chicken pie recipe
(serves approximately 16 smallish pies)
Ingredients
- 1 cooked chicken breast shredded (use haloumi as a vegetarian alternative)
- 2 cups frozen or fresh vegetables chopped into little pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1.5-2 cups thickened cream
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
- 6 sheets of puff pastry
- spray oil
- egg wash
Equipment
- Oven
- Wok or a big fry pan
- Texas muffin tin *see tips
- Pastry brush
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C and spray oil onto your muffin tin
- Heat some olive oil in the wok on med-high heat and then cook the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add the onions and sauté until translucent
- Mix in your vegetables
- Add a dash of water and cover until all the vegetables are relatively soft
- Pour in your cream and let it simmer (take out your puff pastry to defrost)
- Add in your flour and stir in until the mixture has thickened (add more flour if it is still too runny)
- Remove off heat and season to taste
- Cut 4 defrosted puff pastry sheets into quarters for pie bases
- Cut the remaining 2 sheets of pastry into 9 equal squares for pie lids and cut two small slits in the centre of each square
- Mould the pie bases into the muffin tin and fill with pie filling
- Delicately stretch the pie lids over each pie and tuck in the edges for a neater look
- Brush on egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown
Tips
I really like the Texas (6x) muffin tin size but you can use a normal 12x muffin tin, which will mean smaller pies
You can make the mixture a few days ahead of time and just spoon the filling into defrosted pastry on the day. I have never had a pie left over for freezing but I’m sure you’re able to.
I served 1-2 pies per person with a side of salad for a meal
Enjoy!
If you’re somehow not tempted by their extensive cabinet, there is a small menu to choose from.
Bspoke is actually inside the Pushys bike store. They have a cute small bar to one side, an open cafe next to it and plenty of seating which extended to an outside courtyard. It looked like there was limited menu and not a single piece of bacon in sight but it still intrigued me. I wasn’t really hungry as I just ate my weight in popcorn but my eyes lit up when I saw home-made pies in the cabinet. I messaged TimmyC to come next door to meet me.
Flat white medium coffee ($4.00). TimmyC said it was a decent coffee but it wasn’t good enough to just come just for their coffee.
Homemade pepper steak pie ($9.00). I am the first to admit that 9 bucks for a small pie is a bit steep but I loved the outer pattern of the pie and I’m a sucker for pepper steak. The pastry was golden brown which encased big chunky pieces of tender steak with a good dousing of pepper. It was served with a side of delicious sweet tangy chutney but it could have done with some simple green leaves to make the plate more complete.
I really liked the huge tender chunks of steak inside the pie.
If my friend or partner wanted to shop for bike bits, I would definitely appreciate this oasis with a laid back atmosphere as they shopped on the other side of the store. I found the service to be very friendly and efficient.
It was a busy morning but we were greeted with smiling faces at the counter. When I asked who ‘Chris’ was, a young polite handsome man smiled and put up his hand, it appears to be a family business where they assured me that all the bread, pastries, tarts, cakes etc were all made in-house.
They also have pastries and muffins.
And a selection of quiches and croissants with fillings.
I was a bit hazy with the prices, not everything was labelled and I was too busy choosing something to eat but the thick shake, pie, croissant and large coffee came to $17.00.
Cheese and bacon pie ($5.00). A meaty pie with a little bit more bacon than your average cheese and bacon pie, but nothing particularly exciting.
Croissant. It has a lovely pastry network inside but it wasn’t buttery and flaky. It felt more like a squishy bread roll.
Large flat white. TimmyC said it was mediocre coffee.
Vanilla creme brulee ($5.90). I felt that I didn’t try enough of their menu so I told TimmyC to go choose another sweet from the cabinet, he got the creme brulee which I thought was odd to have in a bakery (it is served in a ramekin so I presume you can only have it when dining in?). They pre-prepare the base and store it in the cabinet and sugar is caramelized on top before serving. The toffee ‘hat’ broke beautifully under the knock of my spoon which revealed a velvety smooth custard. I didn’t understand that since there was a toffee layer, how there were still some granules underneath the sugar top that didn’t caramelize, it didn’t do anything to the taste it just took away from the smooth custard texture.
I didn’t have an overall amazing bakery/patisserie experience here but I’m not convinced it is a bad bakery, maybe I just didn’t choose their specialty items, which the website suggests is their cakes and bread. I don’t know how much their bread costs but I thought the large tarts and cakes had a hefty price tag (tarts $29.00 cakes $50.00) but I’m determined to try one soon, maybe not this week though.
Venue: Chris’s patisserie and bakehouse
Some people enjoying the lovely sun and some tasty bakery treats.
This is the beautiful cake that they had on display at the One Fine Day Wedding Night
Hmm what to choose?
Croissant ($3.00). This was a super buttery and flakey croissant not dry and bready like most bakeries. As Tim was eating it in front of me I was getting shards of pastry raining all over me and we both had to dust ourselves off before getting in the car.
Macaroons ($3.00 each). We were sceptical about their macarons because their sign is labelled macaroons… If you don’t know what it is, that can’t be a good start but despite our initial hesitancy we order one anyway. The texture was okay but I wouldn’t have guessed the flavour, it tasted slightly alcoholic from their rum soaked raisins and I would have guessed tiramisu or something.
Chicken and leek gourmet pie ($7.50). The pie filling was super thick and so when you bite into it nothing really leaked out which was handy. I’m more of a beef pie girl but I let TimmyC decide the pie flavour, it must mean that I have to go back to try their beef pie.
Choux pastry ($5 ish based on change?). A nice choux pastry filled with subtle sweet custard enrobed with a sticky hard toffee. It is clever that they put two together because one is never enough. 
Everything is made on site from their pastries to their chocolate and their elaborate wedding cakes.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 