Myers Dave - The Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies

Wed like to dedicate Perfect Pies to our remarkable team: Lucie, Amanda, Jinny, Kate and especially Justine, who has put her heart and soul into this book.

contents

This book is a celebration of our love affair with the pie, so get out your rolling pin and join us. Bring a pie to the table and youll see smiles all round.

Pies are our passion. We grew up eating pies, we love to cook pies and we eat them with our families now. Pies encased in buttery shortcrust, pies with a light-as-air topping of puff pastry, little tarts and pasties we love em all. Theres nothing better than sitting round the table with family and friends and portioning up a pie a pie is a dish meant for sharing.

The pie started as a way of carrying the filling a portable feast. Originally the crust wasnt necessarily meant for eating, just for getting the delicious contents to your mouth. Now the pastry can almost be the main event and you can have fun making all sorts of different kinds. Pies know no boundaries and every country has its own version there are Indian samosas, Argentinian empanadas, French tarts and quiches, to mention but a few.

In this book weve tried to leave no pie unturned and weve included cobblers and crumbles, suet puds and potato-topped pies everything that we could think of that could possibly be described as a pie. There are lots of the favourites you know and love, such as steak pie, fish pie and apple pie, as well as some new ideas we hope youll love, and plenty of belting pies for vegetarians try our roasted vegetable tart and our spicy bean hotpot pie.

When youre having a party, what better to serve than pies? Weve put together some cracking recipes for mini pies a nd tarts that make melting little mouthfuls your friends and family will go mad for. And lets not forget the leftovers. Youll find our pastry recipes are quite generous always better to have too much pastry than too little so weve included some ideas for using up those precious scraps, including the fastest fruit pie ever.

Pastry is alchemy and wizardry. Who would have thought you could make a bit of flour, fat and liquid into something so meltingly delicious. And ITS NOT DIFFICULT! Anyone can do it, so just follow our simple instructions for all the classic pastries from shortcrust to suet and youll be turning out pies like an expert in no time. If you dont want to make your own, you can make most of these pies with bought pastry in fact, like many people, we often use bought puff and you can put a pie together with this in double-quick time.

There are plenty of tips about pastry-making throughout this book, but in the last chapter weve put together all the pastry knowledge weve gathered over the years. Youll find the low-down on the best way to make pastry, roll it out, line your tins and decorate your pies. Youll also find some extra-special pastries to try, such as chilli pastry and chocolate pastry.

So, pie lovers everywhere its time to roll up your sleeves and start turning out perfect pies. Have fun.

Lots of love

creamy chicken,
ham & leek pie

A fantastic pie for high days and holidays or for a feast any day of the week. Poaching the chicken keeps it really succulent (see our tip), the leeks add a wonderful sweetness, and it's all encased in crispy, buttery shortcrust pastry.

Serves 45

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached with a stock cube (see below)

250ml cooking liquor (see below)

75g butter

2 slender leeks, trimmed and sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

50g plain flour

200ml milk

23 tbsp white wine (optional)

150ml double cream

150g thickly carved ham,

cut into 2cm chunks

flaked sea salt freshly ground black pepper

shortcrust pastry

350g plain flour,

plus extra for rolling

200g cold butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

beaten egg, to glaze

You'll need a 23cm round pie dish

Melt 25g of the butter in a large non-stick saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the leeks and fry gently for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, then tip everything into a bowl. Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining butter. Stir in the flour as soon as the butter has melted and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the milk, a little at a time, stirring well between each addition. Gradually add the cooking liquor and the wine, if using, then stir until the sauce is smooth and thick. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 minutes, while stirring. Season to taste, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Pour into a bowl, cover with clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6 and put a baking tray into the oven to heat. To make the pastry, put the flour and butter in a food processor and blitz on the pulse setting until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the beaten egg and water and blend until the mixture starts to come together in a ball. Weigh the pastry and take off 280g for the lid. Gather the rest of the pastry into a ball and flatten slightly.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface until it's slightly thicker than a 1 coin and 4cm larger than your pie dish. Lift it gently into the pie dish and press firmly into the base and sides, making sure there are no air bubbles. Leave any excess hanging over the edge. Cut the chicken breasts into 3cm chunks and add to the cooled sauce with the leeks and ham. Tip the filling into the pie dish and brush the rim of the dish with beaten egg.