It's pie weather

There are many of us working towards running our homes more economically in these tough times and part of that means using up ingrediants in the fridge and having what my mum used to call "iffits" (iffits in the fridge you can have it, iffits not you can't).

With a basic suet pie crust you can transform the most basic things into something hearty, warming and incredibly filling! With 200g of suet and 200g lightly sifted flour combined with a little water and thrown back in the fridge for ten minutes before rolling the pastry is beyond easy and I've never known it come out as anything other than delicious. Keep it around 5mm thick and it's crispy and a little stodgy all at once.

Tonights filling was leftover cooked chicken (equivalent of two large chicken breasts) which I chopped into bite sized pieces and added to a couple of rashers of smoked bacon after frying off in their own fat for about two minutes. I let it heat through for five minutes on a moderate heat and then added about a teaspoon of dried sage, a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a couple of handfuls of grated cheddar cheese and a small pot of double cream. Slightly decadent but all leftovers in our fridge. Let the filling come to the bubble and simmer for a moment while you roll out the pastry and grease and line a 6" metal pie tin. Pile up the filling and add a lid. Get fancy and add leaves and a rolled pastry rose if you like and milk wash the lot.
Cook at gas 7 for 35 mins, checking after 25 mins to see if you need to lower your heat a little for the last little while.

This kind of pie always going down well with my floaty family but we change it around... sometimes I pop a raw egg in a small well in the filling before I pop the lid on and it's like a hidden treasure lurking under the lid when you cut in to dish it up!

Are you pie fans??!