Greek Lamb Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Sunflower oil, for brushing
450 gram minced lamb
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
400 gram canned plum tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
350 gram young spinach leaves
2 75 gram filo pastry, thawed if frozen
1 tsp sesame seeds salt and ground black pepper
Green salad or vegetables to serve (optional)


Cooking instructions:


Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 8 inch round springform tin (pan).

Cook the lamb and onion, without any added fat, in a non-stick pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is golden brown for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic, tomatoes with their can juices, mint and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.

Wash the spinach and remove any tough stalks, and then cook in a large pan with only the water clinging to the leaves until just wilted for about 2 minutes. Drain well, squeezing out as much liquid as possible.

Lightly brush each sheet of fib pastry with oil and lay in overlapping layers in the prepared tin, leaving enough pastry overhanging the sides to wrap over the top.

Spoon in the meat mixture and spinach, then wrap the pastry over to enclose, scrunching it slightly. Lightly brush the top of the pie with oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake until golden and crisp for about 30 minutes. Serve hot, with green salad or vegetables.

Shepherds Pie Recipe

The Mashed Potatoes:
(You could add a touch of garlic powder or freshly roasted garlic to these potatoes as well for an exciting variation.)
About 5 Potatoes, Peeled and Cut Into Cubes
2 Tablespoons Sour Cream
1 Tablespoons Softened Cream Cheese
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Pie Filling:
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pound Ground Beef or Lamb
2 Carrots Peeled and Chopped
1 Onion Chopped
About 1/2 Cup Frozen Peas

Gravy:
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Beef Stock or Broth
A Healthy Squirt Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tsp Freshly Chopped Thyme

The Garnish:
Paprika
Freshly Chopped Parsley Leaves

Directions:
Get a pot large enough to hold your potatoes with room to spare and fill with cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt to the water and then add your potatoes. Boil the potatoes in the salted water until tender. It should only take about 10-12 minutes. You can check the potatoes for doneness by piercing with a toothpick or fork. Drain the potatoes and add them to a large bowl. Add your sour cream, cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes and stir until smooth. Set Aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil to the pan, then add the ground beef or lamb. Season the meat with a bit of salt and pepper. Brown the meat, crumbling it as you brown. If you are using meat that is high in fat, try and spoon out some of the drippings as you cook.

Add your chopped carrots and onions to the ground beef. Cook your vegetables with the meat for 5 minutes or so, stirring often. You can then remove from heat.

Now we are going to make our gravy. Grab another skillet and over medium heat cook 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour together for a few minutes, stirring often. Make certain to keep an eye on this mixture because it can burn. If it burns, the butter can turn bitter, and you will have to start over. You will only need to cook the butter and flour for a minute or so until it mixes together and is smooth.

Add your beef broth or stock, Worcestershire Sauce, and fresh thyme to the flour and butter mixture. Stir and allow gravy to thicken. It should only take a minute or so.

Add the gravy to your meat and veggies and stir in your frozen peas.

Preheat your oven broiler to high.

Now grab a relatively small round or rectangular baking dish and fill it with your meat and veggie mixture.

Top the mixture with your mashed potatoes and spread evenly over the mixture. Sprinkle some paprika on top and broil around 5 - 6 inches from the heat until the potatoes are evenly browned.
Sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top and serve.

Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Lemon Meringue Pie is a popular delicious dessert from France.

1 1/2 cups plain flour
3 tsp. icing sugar
5 oz. butter
1 beaten egg yolk
2 Tbls. water, approximately

FILLING:
1/2 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 egg yolks
2 ounces unsalted butter

MERINGUE
3 egg whites
1/2 cup castor sugar

Grease flan tin.

Sift flour and icing sugar into bowl. Rub in butter. Add yolk and enough water to make pastry cling together. Knead gently and refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes.

Roll out on lightly floured surface and line tin. Fill pastry with dried beans or rice and bake at 400 degrees F. for 10 minutes.

Spread filling into case, top with meringue. Bake 400 degrees F. for about 5 minutes until meringue is beginning to brown. Cool and serve.

Filling:
Mix cornflour and sugar in pan with juice and water until smooth.
Stir over heat until mixture is very thick. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 seconds. Take off heat and quickly stir in the lemon rind, yolks and butter. When butter is melted, cover and cool to room temp.

Meringue:
Beat egg whites in small bowl until soft peak stage. Gradually add sugar, beating well until there is no grainy feel in the mixture.

Apple Pie Recipe

An apple a day will keep the doctor away ... Try this delicious and healthy recipe...:)

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients :

10 -12 newton pippin (preferred) or granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 - 1 cup sugar, depending on how tart the apples are.

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Peel, core, and slice the apples 1/4 inch thick or use the apple peeler corer and place in a pot over low heat.
Mix the cinnamon, sugar and constarch in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples and stir. Cover, simmer and stir occaisionally until apples are soft but not mushy. 20 to 25 minutes or more.

While the apples are cooking slowly, it's time to prepare the pie crust.
Don't be intimidated by homemade pie crusts. Your family and friends will be impressed if you just follow along with my apple pie recipe.
It's really easy if you know what to do and what to avoid. I will explain exactly how to do it.

The Pie Crust

Ingredients :

2 1/4 cups white flour, sifted twice
2/3 cup shortening, chilled
1 tsp. salt
6 - 8 tablespoons of ice water
9 inch pie plate

Directions:

Put the 8 tablespoons of water in a bowl, add 4 or 5 ice cubes and put in the refrigerator.

Make sure that your shortening is cool and not room temperature.

To make a flaky crust the shortening needs to be cool in the fridge for 15 - 20 minutes before using.

Double sift the flour. Take a sheet of wax paper and sift 3 cups of flour on to it.

Gently spoon flour into a one cup measuring cup. Level it off with a knife, and place this flour back into the sifter which is sitting in a large mixing bowl.

Continue measuring the other 1 1/4 cups into the sifter in the same way.
Be careful not to pack down the flour. We want it light and fluffly.

Add the salt on top of the flour and sift again into the large bowl.

Add the shortening to the bowl. With a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour until the particles are about the size of peas.

Now add 3 tablespoons of the ice water all over the dough. Mix lightly and quickly with a fork.

Then add one tablespoon at a time and mix again until all the flour is moistened.

If it looks like you need more moisture you can add up to 7 or 8 tablespoons of water.

The mixture should be neither dry and crumbly nor wet and sticky.

Stir with a fork until it forms a dough and almost cleans the sides of the bowl.

Press the dough into a ball with your hands. Cut the dough in half with one half a slightly bigger than the other.

Place the half for the top crust in the bowl and cover it with a damp paper towel (use cold water). This will keep the dough from drying out.

Sprinkle flour lightly over your pastry cloth and place the dough in the center. Push down on the dough with the palm of your hand to flatten it into a circle.

Rub flour over rolling pin and begin rolling. Always roll from the center of the dough out, lifting the rolling pin at the end. Make your dough the same thickness throughout, between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick. If the edges split, use your fingers to push the egdes together.

Use your 9 inch pie plate as a guide for size. Roll the bottom dough a good inch wider than the pie plate. The dough needs to be big enough to come up the sides of the pie plate.

When the dough is the correct size, pick up the dough and place it into the pie plate so that it covers the plate. If the dough hangs over the edge of the plate more than an inch, trim it off using your fingers.

Add the cooked apple mixture to the dough. Mound the mixture up in the center of the pie.
Dot with butter, say a tablespoon or two worth on the apples.

Take your second pie dough that was covered in the bowl and roll it out the same as above. Make sure the dough is a little larger than the pie plate.

Fold the dough into quarters , take a butter knife and make three 1 inch slits one inch apart in the folded ends of the dough. These slits allow steam to escape. Also don't cut the slits too close to the edge of the pie as pie juice will leak out.

Pick up the dough and cover the top.bIf the top crust hangs over the edge of the pie more than an inch trim with your fingers. Seal the edge of the pie by tucking the top crust under the bottom crust to seal the edge and keep the juices in.

Place 2 inch wide strips of foil around the edge of the pie. This area of the pie always tends to get more done before the rest of the pie is cooked.

Put the pie on a cookie sheet in a 425 degree oven. Cook for about 50 minutes total.
Remove the foil strips after the first 30 minutes so that the edges will brown nicely. Bake till pie is a nice golden brown.

Apple Pie

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
Cold water
4 apples or 1 quart sliced apples
4 tablespoons sugar
1-tablespoon butter

Sift flour, baking powder and salt; add shortening and rub in very lightly; add just enough cold water to hold dough together. Roll half out on floured board, line bottom of pie plate; fill in apples, which have been washed, pared and cut into thin slices; sprinkle with sugar and dot with small pieces of butter; flavor with cinnamon or nutmeg; wet edges of crust with cold water; roll out remainder of pastry; cover pie, pressing edges tightly together. Trim off extra paste. Prick top of crust with fork or knife and bake in moderate oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve hot.

Coconut Pie

2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup biscuit mix
4 eggs (3 will work if they're extra large)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut

Combine all of the ingredients together in a blender.
Cover and blend on low speed for 3 minutes.
Pour into a greased 9-inch pie pan.
Let stand about 5 minutes then sprinkle with coconut.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Serve warm or cool.

Chocolate Pie

1) 2 tb Flour, (heaping)
2) 1 c Sugar
3) 1 c Large can evaporated milk
4) 1/2 ea Stick margarine or butter
5) 1/4 c Cocoa
6) 2 ea Egg yolks
7) 1 c Milk, 1 cup (mixed)
8) 1 ts Vanilla

Mix flour,cocoa,sugar.Add egg yokes.Add milk a little at a time until
you have the dry ingredients and eggs mixed well. Add vanilla and
butter. Cook over medium heat until thick stirring constantly.Pour into
baked pie shell. Top with meringue and brown. Makes 2 - 8 inch pies
from filling.