Leftovers Pie

This pie can be made at any time of the year, if you have any leftovers from your Sunday Roast this is a good way to use them up.  I made this after Christmas as a way to use up some of the leftover roast and not yet used veggies in the fridge.  You can use anything really that you have to hand, a great way to use up the odds and ends in the fridge.

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup plain flour

3/4 cup peas, frozen

3/4 cup beans, frozen and chopped

2 cups chicken stock

shredded left over chicken/ham/pork/lamb/beef

1/2 cup chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Pastry

Melt your butter in you non stick pot and saute the onions, carrots and celery on low until just tender.

Add your peas and beans, stir and put a lid on your pot and sit it on low for ten minutes this will allow all the vegetables to cook through.

Add the flour to your vegetables, stir through and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.

Add your stock slowly stirring until you get a thick sauce.  Cook for 5 minutes until just simmering, this cooks off the flour taste.

Add your meat and parsley and stir through gently.  Put a lid on your pot, remove from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Make your pastry as per your preference, I added salt and pepper to mine as this is a savoury pie.  Roll your pastry and fill with the cold filling.  Top and crimp your pie and decorate to your taste.  Place in the fridge and allow to relax for approximately 30 minutes

Brush with beaten egg, remember to cut a little cross or vent in the middle of your pastry, so that it doesn't explode!

I did salt and pepper the top as well.

Bake at 180C for 30 to 40 minutes.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Serve to the hungry hoards!

Cherry Ripe Slice

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Yes I know I'm a couple of days early.  That is so that you can make this before hand if your going to make it to have at a BBQ or take with you to an Australia Day event!

For those family and friends that live Overseas you can make this even without the cherry ripes and still get a taste of home.

For my overseas readers, a Cherry Ripe is a chocolate bar available only in Australia it is coconut and glace cherries wrapped in smooth dark chocolate.   Very very very yummy!

250 gm Choc Ripple biscuits (oreo's if you cannot get choc ripples), blitzed to crumbs

250 ml sweetened condensed milk

60 gm butter, melted

200 gm glace cherries, chopped

1 cup dessicated coconut

2 cherry ripe bars (optional)

150 gm dark chocolate, melted

These are cherry ripe bars, yum!

Chop up your cherries, don't be too finicky just roughly chop them.

Roughly chop your cherry ripes if using them.

In your mixing bowl place your biscuit crumbs, cherries, coconut, cherry ripe's.

Add your melted butter and condensed milk.

Stir until combined

Spread in your lined tin.  Best to line it as it makes it easier to lift out the slice.

Place a piece of baking paper over the top and gently flatten with a potato masher.  Refrigerate for an hour, this allows the slice to slightly set and you can remove the baking paper from the top.

Spread your melted chocolate over the top, give the tray a tap on the bench, this helps to smooth the melted chocolate and give it a nice finish.  Refrigerate overnight, remove from the fridge and slice with a hot knife, this stops the chocolate from cracking.

Keep the slice in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Lobster Tagliatelle

While in Canada for my Brother and Sister In Law's wedding last year, my wonderful SIL Deana took us to a wonderful restaurant called The Hot House.   I had the most wonderful Lobster Tagliatelle, I have not been able to try and recreate it until now for a couple of reasons.  A. Lobster is like one of the most expensive things and B. Scott doesn't eat lobster, yay more for me!

With Scott in hospital for a small procedure over night and I needing to keep my mind off things while I wait for the phone call to say everything went well, I decided that now was the perfect time to make this.  Well it does take most of the day to make the sauce.

This recipe serves 4 for a main meal or 6 for entree.

1 x 500 gm cooked lobster

1 carrot

1 stick celery

1 onion

2 sprigs parsley

1 tablespoon tomato paste

75 ml brandy

75 ml white wine

500 ml chicken stock

6 mushrooms sliced

12 snow peas sliced

75 ml cream

salt and pepper to taste

Tagliatelle for 4 fresh or dried

chopped parsley for serving

Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrot.   Place in a heated pan with a tablespoon of oil, cook for 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Larry the lobster, he's expensive so don't waste any of him.

Twist Larry's tail from his head.

Stick the head in a bag and smoosh with a pot or your rolling pin.  You wish to break the shell but you want to keep the inside bits for the sauce, it adds heaps of flavour.

In your pan add the wine and brandy and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the shell, head and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.  At this time you can turn off the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Strain the shells and vegetables.

When just about ready to serve.  Fry your mushrooms and then toss in the sliced snow peas to heat through.

Simmer the sauce until reduced by half.   At this stage cook your tagliatelle to directions in a pot of salted boiling water.

Add the cream and continue to simmer until reduced and thickened.

Chop the tail meat into bite size pieces.

Add the mushrooms, peas and lobster to the sauce to just heat through.  Add your cooked tagliatelle and toss through to cover in the sauce.

Serve and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.