Gail's Chicken & Mushroom Cornish Pasties

Preheat oven to 180 C and sprinkle a large baking tray with cornflour
Pastry ( Holsum Quick Mix Pastry )
3 1/4 cups cake flour
330g Holsum vegetable shortening
250ml boiling hot water
½ tsp salt
Extra flour for rolling
1 lightly beaten egg with a little water to glaze pastry
Method:
1. Cut the Holsum into small pieces into a mixing bowl.
2. Pour the boiling water over and stir lightly.
3. After about 10 minutes stir in the flour and salt.
4. Mix dough together using a knife or palette, no hands
5. You may have to add a bit more flour if it’s a bit sticky. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead dough slightly. Divide into 2 pieces. Flatten into round disks and wrap in plastic cling wrap
6. Chill in the fridge for 1/2 hour until the dough hardens and firms up. Prepare your chicken & mushroom filling while dough is resting.
7. Roll out 2 disks of dough in a circle the size of a side dinner plate. I rolled to get out 8 circular disks. Keep rolling pastry until all used up. Add 1 heaped tbsp of chicken and mushroom filling into the centre of pastie, fold over and crimp with your fingers or you can use a fork OR if you are making one large pie, 2 rectangles to fit your pie dish one for the bottom and 1 for the top
Place pasties on baking tray and glaze with egg. Sprinkle the tops with a little cornflour. Bake in oven for 30 to 35 minutes
8. Dough can be rolled out, wrapped in grease-proof paper and frozen until needed. Use for savoury tarts, sausage rolls and jam tarts
Chicken & Mushroom Pastie Filling
1 x Small rotisserie cooked chicken or you can use your own leftover roast chicken, pulled apart with 2 forks. I used the entire breast and skin of chicken. Set aside
In a large frying pan add 2 tbsp olive oil and add 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves minced garlic. Saute until onion is tender.
Add 1 x 200 g punnet sliced white mushrooms , add 2 tbsp butter and 2 squeezes of lemon juice .
Season lightly with salt because chicken is already salted, black pepper and the leaves of 4 sprigs fresh thyme.
Saute for 3 minutes then add your pulled chicken and heat through.
Add 1/2 cup fresh cream and heat until combined. Set aside to cool completely before adding as filling.
Serve with steamed vegetables and gravy
Cheat Gravy version (delicious)
1 1/2 cups boiling water in a small saucepan.
Add 1 beef buillion (stock cube ).
Bring to boil. Add 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, taste for salt and add white pepper and a sprinkle of aromat.
Mix together 2 heaped dessertspoons cornflour with a little water to make a paste. Whisking the liquid on a simmer, add the cornflour paste and continue whisking until gravy thickens. Cook for 3 minutes.
Serve with homemade Chicken & Mushroom Cornish Pasties.
Bakers note:
I should mention that only 1 half of the dough was used.
It yielded 8 Cornish pasties. The other half of the dough I froze to use to make sausage rolls.
But you might need to use both disks of dough if making 1 x large rectangular pie
Prepared, tried and tested by: Gail Haselsteiner‎