Polly wants a pastry house
One of the big hits of the food I made for my pirate party were the Parrot Pies. I made 72 of them and they disappeared before you could say yo ho ho (though not before some of my guests were able to drink a bottle of rum).
This is a pretty easy, cheaty and yet delicious peanut satay mix that you could put to a few different uses. I might possibly have eaten some of the "excess" mix with some vegies for lunch on the day I made the pies.
As the chicken mix is fully cooked before forming these pies, you can make these in advance and stick them in the freezer until you're ready to bring them out again, which is great when you are serving many dishes for a party and don't want to be doing too much work in the immediate lead up. This is particularly useful if you are like me and like to go barefoot around the house, leading to aching feet and legs after spending hours standing in the kitchen before berating yourself and putting on some sneakers (for sneaking), by which stage it is too late and you have wiped your feet out before even putting on your nice party shoes.
Parrot Pies
Slightly adapted from taste.com.au
Ingredients
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 Tb sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
280ml can coconut cream
1 Tb vegetable oil
750g chicken thighs, cut into 2cm cubes
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Shortcrust pastry (sorry can't remember how many sheets I used!)
Puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method
1. Combine peanut butter, sweet chilli, soy sauce and coconut cream. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, or until browned. Add onions. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in peanut sauce. Remove from heat. Refrigerate until cold.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
4. Grease mini muffin pans.
5. Use a cookie cutter to cut circles of shortcrust pastry that are large enough to sit inside each mini muffin hole, pressing the pastry in to get rid of any air bubbles sitting underneath it.
6. Fill each pie with the chicken mixture.
7. Brush the tops of the pastry with a little water, then cover with circles of puff pastry. Press down gently to get any air out of the pie, then press firmly around the edge to join the puff and shortcrust pastries together. Use a crimped cookie cutter to neaten up the edges of each pie.
8. If you're feeling energetic, make some little shapes up with the leftover puff pastry to decorate the tops of the pies. Last time I made these I made cupcake sized pies, and cut out little chicken shapes to go on top of each one. I wasn't feeling quite so energetic this time, so I just cut out "P" shapes given that these are Peanut Parrot Pies for my Pirate Party!
9. Brush tops of pies with egg wash, and sprinkle over some cracked black pepper.
10. Bake pies for 25 minutes or until golden. I was making mine slightly in advance for the party, so I baked them for 15 minutes after making them, then froze until the day before the party. I then took them out to defrost in the fridge overnight, before baking them for another 15 minutes or so just before serving.
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41 comments:
The only things better than a pie are two pies. Even more so when you pretend it's a pie made with exotic animals. I LOVE the idea of a pirate party, I might steal this idea sometime!
Arrr...is this really parrot in these here pies? Look mighty delicious, methinks!
I simply love party pies of all varieties. Ones of the parrot nature are probably pretty good too. I always eat more than my fair share of them when they are on offer. I can understand why they disappeared so quickly. Great recipe.
Oh gosh, that peanut mix would be heavenly as a dipping sauce for veggies! Also, I have a dream that one day, pretty party shoes will be comfortable. Come on, world, we've landed on the moon and invented instant mashed potato - surely pretty shoes don't have to hurt?
Haha I was hoping for some parrot i the ingredients list! ;)
That looks heavenly with the other seasonings blended together.
This looks great!
Haha about some of your guests drinking a whole bottle of rum. Did they end up in the bathroom shortly after? :)
I've never seen those before but wow, they look great!
These look absolutely amazing - such simple ingredients but somehow they look like gourmet treats from some chichi deli! Yum! (though WHY were you coooking for your OWN party?)
I love the Ps on the little pies! I havce an erratic fear of pie making. I think i'lkl just have to make do with imagining how good these taste!
Such adorable little pies with the Ps! The filling sounds delicious!
My favorite comfort food is pot pies. These look FANTASTIC!
Those pies look so cute! Love the perfect little Ps :) Somehow it has never occured to me to try baking little pies in my cupcake/mini muffin trays, I will have to do that soon!
Ooh, I love party pies (and little sausage rolls). The pies look luscious.
By the way, I hear you about the aching feet after slaving over a hot stove all day - I find that wearing a pair of spongey shock-absorbing thongs does help.
They are damn cute these little pies! No wonder they were such a hit at your party.
I also use my muffin tin when making mini pies, they come out fabulously each time.
Rose - Oh yes, you are so right. And with mini pies you can eat at least a few before it starts to 'count' ;) You totally should, it was such a fun party.
mademoiselle délicieuse - arrrr she be right, me hearties!
Mark @ Cafe Campana - it just ain't a party without party pies ;) I don't think there is an accepted 'fair share' with party food, it's a free for all! Every man for himself! :D
Hannah - Yes, good call! It would be pretty good with lots of things. Oh party shoes, even my 'comfy' ones are making me pay by the end of the night. I love how landing on the moon and instant mashed spuds are comparable in scientific merit, haha.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella - I was fresh out of parrot! Next time!
Divina Pe - thank you :)
Karine - thanks! Actually, I did not encounter any spew or post-spew evidence. My guests were very jolly and merry but not spewy, thank god.
Simply Life - thank you!
Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite - thanks! Yes, not at all gourmet ingredients but they are so tasty. Hey, at least I didn't bake my own cake this year!
vickys - thank you! Just think - if you conquer your fears, you will be rewarded with delicious pies. Win win!
5 Star Foodie - thanks! I could go some of that filling right now, and it's only 9:30am ;)
Pam - there is something just so GOOD about pies isn't there. Thank you!!!
Stephcookie - thanks! Yes it is great actually, the mini muffin trays give you a very party friendly size of pie (minimises chance of splurting the filling down your shirt) although it is fiddly and time consuming to make such little ones.
Belle@Ooh,Look - it's funny how 'serious' grownups still get so excited about little pies and sausage rolls :) thank you! Spongey thongs are good, but with my flat feet I have to go the sneakers for arch support. Maybe I need some homeypeds, haha.
Jo - SecondHelping - thank you! I wish there were leftovers, I could go some right now. They're such a good size in those tins aren't they! You can easily eat a handful of them before you realise what you're doing ;)
Well, gotta put those pesky parrots to good use somehow ;)
Chicken Satay + Pastry = WIN
I can see why they disappeared so quickly! They look delicious - but why are they called parrot pies?
oh, I'm so disappointed there's no actual parrot in these pies!! They look so appetizing, I can see why they disappeared so fast.
So thats where I've been going wrong, I've been stamping about in sneakers rather than sneaking.
peanut butter and chicken pieces in a pie. pretty interesting. raaa!
Peanut butter and chicken go together like peanut butter and chocolate, mmm. They sound really tasty. How did you cut out such perfect little "P"s?
Mini pies look amazing! Love anything miniature size - it allows you to indulge without over-eating. And the decoration looks really cute. Great job Conor!
This is a great party treat indeed! The "P" is really nice touch too!
conor, conor, conor.... those little parrot pies are ridiculously cute. i love the little Ps you put on there. hahahah. boy, 72 of them? that's a lot. i would've fit in to your pirate party because i have some pirate costumes from halloween a couple years ago. arrrr!
Conor I am loving this pie recipe. I have never eaten a pie with peanut butter before. I will definately have to try this recipe. By the way your comments on my blog are hilarious. Ehehe thanks.
Emma @CakeMistress - exactly! What good are they just flying around all birdy like? THanks! :D
Trissa - thank you :) arrrrrrrrrrrr they be called parrot pies cos they be pirate food!
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge - Well, a chicken is kinda like a big grounded fat parrot, right? Thank you! Yes yes, sneaking is key with sneakers, sheesh!
penny aka jeroxie - arrrrrrr! yum yum
papawow - so true, so true. I have a set of alphabet cutters, which come in very handy for such occasions!
Food lover - thank you! I totally agree. Mini=cute and you can eat way more! Thanks :)
Cajun Chef Ryan - thank you! So many "p"s, I was beginning to regret my decision to do them half way through ;)
krissy @ the food addicts - oh thank you! Why be just plain cute when you can be ridiculously cute? :D Oooh I'll have to invite you next time I'm getting my pirate on!
A cupcake or two - thanks! It's such an easy way to get a nice satay taste, and goes really well with the buttery pastry. Hehe, thank you and you're welcome :D
I can't beleive you cut out the Ps, wow. Where is my invite for one of these theme parties?
Excellent idea to make them before hand so there is not too much prep in the lead up to the meal. I can't believe you made so much food for everyone though! Kudos to you - I would have catered and gotten someone else to do the hard work!
Another dinner winner!
I'm so behind in my blog reading. These look tres awesome! I'll be keeping them in mind for my next partay!
Evelyne @ CheapEthnicEatz - it's in the mail, I keep telling you! :D
Rilsta - Yes, the more you can do in advance, the better (especially when your party is on a hot night and you're wearing long sleeved velvet!). Thanks :)
Panamahat - hehe, thanks!
Iron Chef Shellie - cheers!! Super easy mix to make up and super tasty too :)
What fabulous flavours!!! No wonder these were such a hit.
Cakelaw - thanks! Pretty easy too :)
Arrrrrrrrr! Like some of the other readers I'm also disappointed that there were no parrots in them there pies. Perhaps real parrot pies wouldn't have disappeared so quickly?
By the way, my birthday is in December, can you come over and cater mine? ;)
Agnes - I know, I'm sorry. If I could somehow capture my neighbour's incredibly noisy pet bird and cook it up in some pies, I would, I promise! December hey? Buy my ticket and I'm there ;)
This is a very intersting Pie, and looks amazing... I am always in search for these kind of snacks...
thanks for sharing the recipe.
Arlette - thank you! It is quite an easy mix to make, and certainly was very popular with my guests and my belly :)
What a fab recipe, thank you for sharing. I made these yesterday and they turned out really nice, but I forgot to water the top of the short crust pastry before topping it with the puff pastry. Turned out more like mini-burgers but lovely nonetheless!
gcroft - I'm so glad to hear it, and they look so good even with their burgeryness! It gives them more character :D Hooray for taste.com.au hey? :)
This is a great party treat indeed! The "P" is really nice touch too!
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