For my birthday, I desired nothing more than to receive the Breville Pie Maker so that I could make my own petite pies for the holidays. Although a pie maker isn’t really realistic, I thought it would be fun making pot pies, quiche, and sweet pies for myself and loved ones. When I received the lovely pie maker for my birthday, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to try my pie maker and see what goodies it could provide.
However, as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the pie maker was still unused. I began to start doubting my reasoning for requesting it and considered selling it. I even went to Williams Sonoma and asked them if they had any input. The lady responded by sharing some recipe ideas as well as telling me that if I sold it then I would receive almost double what it was paid for.
Although, I continued to ponder selling it, I just couldn’t muster up the courage to actually go through with it. After all, it was a gift and it still could be put to good use.
It has been almost nine months to the day until I received the Breville Pie Maker and I was finally convinced that I had to do something about it. I had strategically gone to the store the night before and purchased the ingredients so that I would be ready to bring back its purpose to its former glory. The day had finally come and so I neatly pulled it out of the cardboard box and removed its plastic cover.
I quickly looked over the directions and then decided that it was time to start. Since the proportions are different from your average pie, I didn’t have a recipe to follow. Therefore, I began to create what turned out to be a delicious and successful experience making chicken pot pies.
The Breville Pie Maker requires food to be cooked and cooled before putting them into the pie machine. Therefore, I had to come up with a strategic plan in order to accommodate these directions. I started first with making the gravy meanwhile simultaneously making the filling. As soon as both were complete, I mixed them together and put them in the freezer to cool down before starting on the actually pies (it also gave me the chance to do a little clean up before starting on the dough).
In order to save time, I used ready to use pie crust which I bought at my local Safeway. When I had made the filling, I allowed the dough to thaw out on the counter. When it was finally time to start using the dough, I ended up unrolling the ready made crust to find that it started to pull apart. Because the dough was pulling apart, I decided to make a ball and roll it out myself with a rolling pin. This action worked and I was then able to use the pie cutters (provided by the pie maker) to make my pies.
As soon as I had all the tops and bottoms of the pie dough cut, I was then able to proceed with the cooking process which was relatively easy. The Breville Pie Maker provides a press to press the dough into place. You then put about 1/3 cup of filling into each pie and cover with the dough tops. While there isn’t a timer on the pie maker, you can easily check and see if the pies have cooked to your liking usually about 7-12 minutes. Once they are done, you pop them out and enjoy.
Chicken Pot Pie
This recipe is for a 1 Large Chicken Pot Pie to be made in a Pie Pan. To make in the Breville Pie Maker, use half of the amount of ingredients I provided except the dough which you will still need the same amount. You will also need to adjust the ratio of chicken and dice finely if using the Pie Maker.
Ingrediants
1 medium sized Yellow Onion, diced
6 stocks of Celery (Sliced into Chunks)
4 Carots (sliced in half and then into fine chunks)
6 Mushrooms (sliced finely and into chunks)
2 cup Peas
4 cups of Chicken Stock
1 tsp Thyme
6 Tbsp All Purpose Flour, plus more for rolling crust
1 Stick Butter
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 Store Bought Rotisserie Chicken (meat removed from bones and diced)
1 Ready Made Frozen Pie Crust Package (it comes with two dough pieces for a top and bottom)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 Degrees F
For the Filling:
Thaw out the pie crust. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 5 Tbsp of butter. Add the flour and whisk to create a rue about 3 minutes. Slowly add 3 cups of the Chicken stock as you whisk the mixture. As soon as you have incorporated all of the 3 cups of stock, reduce heat and simmer until the mixture thickens about five minutes. Remove from heat.
Melt the remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for three minutes. Add the celery and mushrooms, and thyme and cook for another two minutes. Reduce heat and add 1 cup Chicken Stock to mixture and let the liquid condense until its almost evaporated. Add the chicken, peas, salt, and pepper and let cook for a minute. Add the reserved sauce to the mixture and toss.
For the Crust:
Roll out the first pie dough onto a floured surface such as the counter or on a cutting board until the dough is slightly larger than the pie pan. Repeat this process for the other pie dough. Lay the first piece of dough onto the pie pan. Add the filling and then cover the filling with the second piece of dough. Poke the top layer with a fork in the middle.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 Degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the filling starts to bubble.
Let cool for five minutes before serving.
Note: You can make the filling ahead of time to speed up the process.
