Chelsea Winter. Winner of Masterchef NZ in 2012, author of three cookbooks, and my go-to gal when I’m in a recipe funk. At My Table and Everyday Delicious are the most-used and most-recommended cookbooks in my kitchen, so I’m making it my mission to try every recipe. And of course, her new book, Homemade Happiness, is on my Christmas wish-list!
If you offer me a mince pie from the local bakery, I’ll wrinkle my nose and politely decline the offer. If you offer me a Chelsea Winter pie, I’ll launch myself at you and cover you in kisses.
Ms Winter knows her pies, that’s for sure.
Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Pie
Chelsea promotes this pie as being the one to make someone fall in love with you, and having made it a few times, I think she might be onto something. The combination of chicken, mushroom and spinach is delicious on its own, but when you add that wholegrain mustard…wow. The great thing about this pie is that you can use any vegetables you like, and it’ll still be awesome.
Smoked Fish Pie
I like a bit of fish pie, me – it’s a bit retro, and reminds me of my mum. Chelsea’s version is nice (I like the addition of capers and gherkins), but it takes a while to make, and I’m not convinced that it was worth the effort. It’s tasty, but I’ve tried quicker versions which are just as good.
Slow-cooked Steak, Guinness and Cheese Pie
This is a real pie, according to my husband. Meaty and heavily-flavoured, it ticks all the boxes for a great winter’s meal, especially because the oven keeps the kitchen nice and warm for over three hours! I like that it takes a cheaper cut of meat and turns it into something quite special, however I would suggest using less meat than the recipe says.
Little Chicken Pies
This recipe is very similar to the chicken pie above, but takes much less time to prepare. It’s not as tasty, in our opinion, but my boys loved having little pies instead of a wedge of a bigger one. I did find I needed more than 400g pastry, but maybe I didn’t roll it out thinly enough.
Beef and Red Wine Potato-Top Bake
This was another slow-cooked ugly cut of meat pie, but didn’t hit the mark the same as the above steak pie. It was okay, but nothing special.
Moroccan Lamb Pie
This one is a goody! Great flavours, and although the ingredient list is long, most of the items are spices so it’s not as daunting as you think. However, there is a bit of planning ahead required, so it might not be a mid-week pie.
Tall, Short, Tiny & a Pickle 