Smoked ham, leek and goats cheese impossible pie

Impossible pie, what a fascinating title.....

Impossible pies come in two forms, sweet and savoury. The former is essentially a baked custard style dish, the latter a form of a crust less quiche. The impossible bit being (I think) the fact that other than whisking the milk and eggs together you basically throw everything in to the dish and bake and it does look rather impossible at first.

The resultant pie was very tasty and great for a light meal when served with a green salad, its also a useful recipe for using up a few eggs when you have a glut from your hens like we have currently. The additions are infinitely variable I used leeks as we had some in the garden and the ham as it was in the fridge, but I am thinking of making a fully vegetarian version probably using pre cooked broccoli or asparagus and adding a little seasonal wild garlic or sorrel next time.

Serve warm or cold, its also the ideal pack up and go snack for a picnic or lunch box, a definite keeper in my opinion. I now need to try the sweet version.

I recently received a lovely hamper of goats milk goodies from St Helen's Farm so took the opportunity to use both goats milk and goats cheese in this recipe.

What you need

• Extra virgin rapeseed oil (1 tbsp or so)
• Couple of leeks - cleaned and sliced thinly
• Garlic - crushed or wild garlic if in season
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 eggs
• 70g Self raising flour (it works fine with gluten free)
• 300 ml semi skimmed milk (I used Goats as that what I had to hand)
• 1 pack of smoked ham - chopped into small pieces
• Approx 80g mature goats cheese -grated

I used a lightly oiled Pyrex flan dish to bake the "pie" in.

What you do

• Pre heat your oven to 200c 
• In a frying pan cook the leeks and garlic until softened and just every so slightly colouring
• Remove from heat and place in baking dish along with ham and the grated cheese, season with a little sea salt and pepper
• Whisk the eggs, flour and milk to make a thin batter
• Pour this over the leeks, cheese and ham
• Loosely cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes
• After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 30 minutes until the pie is firm and golden.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, before serving in slices 
• Refrigerate if you wish to serve cold.

#GreatBritishRhubarbrecipe link up

My lovely fellow bloggers Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Janice at Farmersgirl have launched a linky for beautiful Rhubarb recipes, I love rhubarb now even though it was something I detested as a child and the blog has no less than 12 rhubarb recipes. 

                          

So if you love rhubarb pop across and check out their lovely linky up. To find our selection just type "rhubarb" in the search field to find lots of rhubarby loveliness.

Coffee Shop Classics at BB1 for Life for South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club

Last weekend South Lancashire Clandestine Cake club visited BB1 for Life a newly opened community coffee shop and community space in Blackburn city centre. The centre is on facebook and twitter and is hoping morph into a community hub for all in the city.

We were lucky that the Coffee shop is run by no-one other than Kate - Cake club organiser for Ribble Valley so our every need was catered for, the coffee was fabulous. So if you are in Blackburn pop in for a warm calming welcome, they are just adjacent to King Georges Hall.

Decorated in a relaxed folksy vibe the venue is instantly calming , with scaffold shelving you just instantly relax.

Our theme was to help inspire Kate as to what cakes should feature on her menu, as usual we had a fabulous selection of cakey delights. We all delighted in sharing cake and chats on a relaxed Saturday afternoon visit. We enjoyed the following

• Chocolate fudge cake - gluten free
• Apple crumble cake
• Cappucino cake
• Pineapple upside down cake
• Carrot and pecan cake
• Kardemummakaka - Norwegian Cardamon coffee cake
• Cherry and marzipan cake
• Coffee and walnut cake
• Orange cake
• Swiss Roll

Parsnip, carrot and mango chutney soup

Its official I am sad, yes very sad I cut out recipes and paste them in a scrap book and then on wet days, I stand at my kitchen counter and gently flick through the pages discovering inspiration for dishes to cook. This is one such recipe, inspired by a carrot and chutney soup recipe (this one contained rice as a thickener) I decided to rescue a few past their best carrots and parsnips from the vegetable rack and combine them with mango chutney in a sweet mildly spicy soup.

A perfect soup for a cool spring weekend lunch, sufficiently comforting without being too winter warming, I served this with some easy gluten free flat bread (recipe on separate post), any leftovers I plan to take to work in my trusty soup container.

The recipe would also work with other chutneys, caramelised onion would be good and its also very frugal too. What's not to like so why not give it a try.....

                                               

What you need

• 2 large carrots - peeled and chopped
• 2 large parsnips - peeled and chopped
• Vegetable stock ( I used Essential Cuisine)
• 1 tbsp mango chutney
• 1 brown onion - peeled and finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• A little rapeseed oil or olive oil or butter

What you do

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, carrots and parsnips and sweats for a few minutes without colouring.
• Add enough vegetable stock to the pan to cover the vegetables 
• Simmer until the vegetables are soft and add the mango chutney to the pan. 
• Blitz with a hand blender or in a liquidiser until you achieve a smooth velvety texture, add more vegetable stock if required.
• Return to the pan and bring back to simmer before serving.
• Delicious served with flat breads or artisan bread.
• This soup also freezes well

I am linking this post up to Farmers Girl's linky "Recipe Clippings" for April, as this recipe was inspired by a clipped recipe from my scrapbook.

                                           

I am also linking up to Credit crunch munch as I am using past their best vegetables which is just the sort of frugal meal I like. The challenge created by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab food for All and hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy

                                           

Also to #ExtraVeg created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy and hosted this month by Jo's Kitchen.
                                                         

And to Souper Soup created and hosted over at Jo's Kitchen for soups.

                                                       


And to No Croutons required co hosted in rotation by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen, a challenge for veggie soups and salads.

                                                     

And finally to Simple and in Season hosted this month by Fuss Free Flavours for the lovely Ren Behan 

                                          

Antony Shirley, executive chef at the Seafood Pub Company

Antony is a former sous chef at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, head chef at Panacea in Manchester and at Raffles in the West Indies. He was instrumental in setting up and opening the first Piccolinos restaurant and later served as their UK development chef. Now Antony’s creative dishes are the star of the show at the Seafood Pub Company. He won the Development Chef Awards Best Pub Group Menu 2014. The Seafood Pub Company has six current sites in Lancashire: The Oyster and Otter in Feniscowles, Blackburn; The Assheton Arms in Downham, Clitheroe; The Fenwick in Claughton, Lancaster; Farmers Arms in Great Eccleston, Fylde; Derby Arms in Thornley, Longridge and the Barley Mow in Barley, Pendle. A seventh site, Town Green Brasserie in Aughton, Ormskirk, is due to open at Easter.

• What is your favourite cookery or food book or publication?

Lucky Peach is a great food mag, lifestyle and bits from around the globe

• What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you?

All the best ingredients in one county

• If you weren't doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

Drummer in the Artic Monkeys, artist or joiner.

• Which piece of kit could you not do without?

Robata grill - a Japanese open grill - we have one in each kitchen, they add an amazing

smoky barbecue flavour

• Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

Noel Gallagher, Mark Hix, Elvis, Damien Hirst, Fred Perry, Joycelyn Neve, Alex Turner

from the Arctic Monkeys and Morgan Freeman to narrate the evening!

• What advice would you give to your younger self?

Calm down and don't ever doubt yourself

• Describe your style in three word

World, Colourful, Spice

• What was your latest foodie gadget purchase?

We don’t do gadgets in our kitchen, fire and flame do us just fine!

• What is your greatest achievement to date?

Helping to start the Seafood Pub Company and everything we've achieved, it just keeps

getting better

• What is the worst mistake you have made?

Forgetting the flour for a cookery demo, I was making flat breads, the demo was in the

middle of nowhere; it wasn't my greatest demo

Easter pie anyone - Hollands Pies and Choc Amor creations

HOLLAND’S CREATE CHOCOLATE PIE RECIPES WITH LANCASHIRE FOODIES

Holland’s, one of the UK’s best-known producers of piesand pastries, has teamed up with two Lancashire food fanatics to create a series of recipes for the ultimate Easter pies, Holland’s chocolate pies! Baking tools at the ready!

Working with celebritychef Tom Bridge,off The Great British Bake Off, and Choc Amor’s Master Chocolatier Paul Williams, from Tarleton, Lancashire, Holland’s has created three recipes for a series of savoury taste sensations, each with a hint of smooth, rich chocolate; including, Lamb and Potato Ragu Pie with Dark Chocolate; Butlers Blacksticks Blue Cheese and Onion Pie with Milk Chocolate; and Chicken and Mushroom Pie with White Chocolate, Garlic, Coffee and hint of Chilli.

The perfect treats for Easter; these limited edition pies are a seasonal classic from the Lancashire food legends. Master chocolatier Paul, suggests using premium 58% Belgium dark chocolate in the Lamb and Potato Ragu Pie; the delectable minted chocolate Ragu compliments the succulent slow-cooked lamb shoulder with roasted potatoes. Use Choc Amor’s signature 35% milk chocolate to add a sweet sensation to the gourmet Cheese and Onion Pie recipe. Handpicked, especially for the Chicken and Mushroom Pie recipe, the white chocolate - unique to Choc Amor - is made up of 30% cocoa butter and 15% milk solids. The chocolate gives the pie fillings a unique texture and taste, and accentuates the other flavours in the pies.

Pie professional, and award-winning chef, Tom Bridge commented, “This Lancashire collaboration has been a great experience, using my knowledge of pies with Paul’s chocolate skills – we have created a real treat for Holland’s fans to bake over the Easter period!”

Chocolatier Paul Williams said: “My passion for food and creative cooking have had a huge influence on the chocolate I create and sell. This project has allowed me to marry my passion and expertise with Tom’s passion for pies to create some really unique recipes. Using chocolate can result in flavours that sound wrong but once tasted are so right!”

Heres the recipe for the Chicken and Mushroom Pie using white chocolate from Choc Amor.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie with White Chocolate, Garlic, Coffee and hint of Chilli.

With Choc Amor’s White Chocolate made up of 30% Cocoa Butter and 15% Milk Solid

Ingredients

200ml chicken stock

250g sliced mushrooms

1 tsp crushed garlic

2 tablespoons of strong cold coffee

50ml white chocolate sauce with a hint of chilli

300g/11oz Free range chicken breasts fillets, cut into small pieces

3/4 tsp salt

3tbsp plain flour

100ml/4fl oz milk

Freshly ground pepper

Short crust pastry (see recipe above)

Method

Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a saucepan and add mushrooms, garlic, coffee and white chocolate with the chicken and salt. Boil, covered, over a low heat for approx. 1 min.

Stir together flour and half of the milk in a bowl. Add remaining milk and add this thickening mixture to the sauce while stirring. Boil over a low heat and while stirring for about a minute. Season with pepper. Allow to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 400f /200c/gas 6

Prepare the pastry recipe, set aside one-third for the lids.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to 5mm thick. Cut out six large circles to fit in the pie tins and six smaller circles for the lids.

Line the tins with the large circles of pastry.

Place in the chicken mixture into the pastry cases.

Cover the tops with the remaining circles of pastry. Make a small hole in the centre of each pie.

Glaze with beaten egg and place the pies onto a baking sheet.

Bake the centre of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.

To win a one of six dozen Holland’s best-selling pies then simply head to Holland’s Facebook or Twitter page and post a picture of your chocolate pie creation, based on the above recipe, and use the hashtag #HollandsEasterPie or email

hollandseasterpie@hollandspies.co.ukwith your name and address!

Become a fan at facebook.com/hollandspiesofficial and on Twitter @hollandspies. For further information on the Holland’s Pie range please visit www.hollandspies.co.uk. Holland’s is one of the UK’s best-loved pie makers; producing a range of delicious pies, puddings and pastries.