Catie's chicken pies

Catie Ensten (Briggs) is one of the most amazing people I know.  Good hearted, full of life, intellect, kindness, organised, super mum, super teacher, super popular and super friend all in one person.  Thanks for being a rock and a vault.  Love you heaps.

Catie's chicken pies sound delicious, although there is a lot of butter in them but hey you have to splurge out sometimes don't you.  Enjoy. 

Ingredients and instructions

1 chicken breast - chop into 4 -5 pieces. Use a tenderloin.
Fry in butter, brown until nearly cooked.
Take out of the fry pan.
Another knob of butter, fry a whole heap of mushrooms and leaks, there is usually a lot of juice so fry it off a bit. 
Chop up the chicken into fine pieces.
Put into the vegetables, then cook a bit more to properly cook the chicken. 
Take out all of the ingredients and put in a bowl.
Make a white sauce in the fry pan by using a tbsp plain flour with some more butter.  Cook for 2 minutes, add 1/2 a cup of milk so it turns into a creamy sauce.
Its OK to have a thick sauce because there is quite a lot of water in the vegetables..
Add heaps of cracked pepper, then turn the heat off.
Use puff pastry in your pie maker, or in a pie tin.  Cook my pastry first in the pie maker/tin so that it is crispy on the bottom, then add your ingredients into the pie maker/tin and put some more puff pastry on the top.  Put some egg or milk wash on top.  Using a fork put some holes in the top of the pastry.
Cook until brown on top.
If cooking in an oven cook in a moderate oven about 180degrees Celsius.

Auntie Marie's Golden Syrup Dumplings

Auntie Marie and Owen September 2010

Auntie Marie is a beautiful, kind and loving person.  I love her dearly and I always call her an angel lady.

When we were children she would always make golden syrup dumplings for desert and the tradition has stuck.  Everytime I visit her  in the south-east at Mt Gambier she makes dumplings.

Auntie Marie and her family are awesome cooks.  She grew up on the family's dairy farm where there was always an abundance of cream and milk for beautifully made deserts and other foods.   Her mum Doreen Hayes used to make the best sponge cake, so imagine that with jam and cream.  Auntie Marie told me she hasn't ever mastered her mother's sponge recipe as it's always a flop and she doesn't know why.  So I said to her we will know her for dumplings instead.

Here is the recipe:

Instructions

Sauce

• Put in saucepan
• 1 tablespoon of golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 cup of sugar

Dumplings

• Mix 1 cup self raising flour and rub in 1 tablespoon of butter. 
• Stir in beaten eggs and a little milk. 
• Roll into about 8 balls. 
• Drop them into boiling water and put lid on top. 
• Cook for about 20 minutes.