Pumpkin and Butternut Pie

These last few months has been hectic, and once again I am reminded how precious time really is. I think the greatest gift you could give someone you love is your time. I love to show I care by taking time to do things for people. One of the things I love to do is making their favourite dishes. The dish I’m about the share today, my dad absolutely loves.

I love pumpkin pie, but I always try and find a way to make a dish healthier yet keep it tasty. I think I got this one right.

Pumpkin and Butternut Pie - as you can see it was a hit!

Pumpkin and Butternut Pie

Ingredients:

250g Steamed Pumpkin

400g Steamed Butternut

1 teaspoon Butter/Margarine

2 teaspoons Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

200ml Milk

1 heaped tablespoon Custard Powder

Sugar and cinnamon mix to “dust” the pie with. (Mix it 3:1, for every 5ml of cinnamon use 15ml of sugar. This is good to use on pancakes as well.)

Method:

• First steam the Pumpkin and butternut and mash it together, I use my hand blender to get a smooth consistency.
• Next add the butter, sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
• Lastly dissolve the custard powder in the milk and add to the pumpkin mix.
• Pour it into a baking dish, and lightly dust with a sugar and cinnamon mix.
• Bake in a 180 degrees Celsius oven for 30 minutes.
• Take it out to cool slightly before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, I know what I’m making for Christmas…

Chicken Pie

I tried making my grandmother’s chicken pie, it did not taste like my gran’s pie. I'm sure she is hiding a secret ingredient from me… :)

Anyways, it still tasted good, and there wasn’t much left over. I think it was a success. The recipe isn’t creamy or rich, it’s actually very refreshing. Here’s what I did:

Note to self, next time remember to take the picture before calling people to the meal.

Chicken Pie

Ingredients

4 rashers Streaky bacon cut or scissored into small bits
4 Chicken breast fillets
1 tablespoon Plain flour
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 cups Chicken stock
375g Puff pastry (ready rolled)

Method

1. Cook the chicken and thyme in the chicken stock, uncovered. When it is cooked, take it out and set aside to cool down. Cut the cooked flesh into smaller pieces.
2. Let the juices reduce, and cook the bacon pieces in this reduction.
3. Add the flour and chicken pieces, let the sauce thicken.
4. Spoon into a prepared oven dish.
5. Press the meat down, to make an even flat surface.
6. Cover with the puff pastry, and brush the pastry with melted butter.
7. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20min or until the pastry is golden brown.

This dish can be prepared the night before and baked the next day. Perfect for those family gatherings when you never seem to have enough time.

Enjoy!

PS: You could also put some ready made pastry as a crust, it will absorb all the lovely juices.