Chicken Pie in a Pan

To celebrate British Pie Week, which takes place from the 2nd – 8th of March, we’ve dedicated this month’s blog to one of our favourite pie recipes from the Haynes Men’s Pie Manual, written by Andrew Webb. We’ve included the complete recipe and method below so you have everything you need, except for the ingredients, and it’s a very simple but very tasty pie that we’re sure you’ll enjoy. For more great pie recipes check out the Men’s Pie Manual RRP: £21.99 available from www.haynes.co.uk and other good book shops.

Chicken in a frying pan pie

This is the easiest pie in the world, as you make everything in one pan. Needless to say,
it has to be a pan that you can put in a hot oven. I also use ready-made pastry as that
saves time, mess and fuss too.

I made this pie in a small 7in (18cm) frying pan, though I’ve done it in larger; if you’re going to use a normal sized frying pan double the amount of filling, and I’d probably use a pie bird in the centre. You can also use the tiny frying pans used for frying individual eggs, the result being more of a ‘starter’-sized pie. You can also bulk out with left-over spuds.

Ingredients

 

For the filling
½ tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 small onion chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped
Large handful of any leftover cooked chicken bits (thigh, breast or leg)
½ teaspoon of dried tarragon
100ml of chicken stock
Tablespoon of crème fraîche
Handful of frozen peas
Leftover boiled/roast potato
For the pastry
1 packet of pre-made, pre-rolled pastry (shortcrust or puff)
1 egg

Method

 

1)    Place your pan on the hob and gently fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the garlic halfway through (you don’t want it to burn).
2)     Add the chicken, tarragon, stock and crème fraîche and simmer for about 15 minutes until well combined. Then add the potato.
3)     Add the frozen peas and cook for another 5 minutes so they’re cooked but still bright green.
4)     Turn off the heat and leave to cool.
5)     When cool, preheat your oven to 180°C. Take the pastry out of the packet and cut off two strips 1cm wide. Fashion these around the edge of your pan (this is to provide a bit more support to the pastry). Brush them with egg wash and unfurl your pastry over the pan. Crimp gently and trim off the excess. Brush with the rest of the egg wash and place in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.
6)    Allow to cool a little before eating straight out of the pan.

Learn more about the Haynes Men's Pie Manual

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Advice for motorists as UK braces for freezing weather

Britain is to be plunged into a deep freeze today, with 60mph gusts and temperatures falling to -13°C, so motoring experts Haynes Manuals has issued key advice for motorists on keeping safe when facing a variety of winter hazards.

A severe cold front is making its way down from the Arctic, bringing an “80 % probability of icy conditions and heavy snow”, according to the MET Office. The blizzard-like weather will result in difficult driving conditions for motorists, so Haynes Manuals has offered the following tips:

• Check routes before you travel. Both the MET Office and BBC Weather websites include detailed information about the main problem areas across the UK. Check that your routes are clear, especially if you are driving somewhere new.
• Prepare for the worst. Before heading out into the cold, ensure that you have a full tank of fuel, your charged mobile phone and some warm clothes. It is also advisable to take something to eat and drink as these could prove vital if you do break down or get stranded.
• Ensure your car is in good condition before you set off. Check that your battery is charged, your lights are working, your windows are clean, your screen wash is full, your tyres are in good condition and tyre pressures correct before you start your journey.
• Be cautious when driving on slippery roads. If your vehicle skids, depress the clutch and turn the steering wheel into the direction of the skid. When the vehicle straightens steer along the road. Whatever you do, don't brake, it will just lock up your wheels and you'll skid further.
• Drive safely. Driving in blizzard-like conditions can be extremely hazardous, so use caution. Be aware of low visibility and slippery roads caused by snow showers and frost covering the ground, particularly early in the morning. Leave adequate distance between cars, stopping distances are ten times longer in ice and snow so don’t go too fast.

Remember: Icy road conditions and snow blizzards put extra strain on car and driver alike, so preparing in advance is highly recommended to keep drivers and passengers safe on UK roads.

Don’t  forget to check your tyres, lights, wipers and battery, but most importantly drive safely. Conditions across the UK are expected to become extremely treacherous, so it is essential that drivers take proper care and pay attention to the road.

If conditions are really bad, then consider whether your journey is necessary.  If it is then make sure you tell someone where you’re going and what time you expect to arrive.

For more handy tips from Haynes visit Haynes' Handy Tips at Haynes Online

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10 Steps to a Healthier You

By Sean Lerwill

This time of year everyone decides it’s time to make a conscious effort to be healthier and thus improve their fitness and hopefully lower their body fat (or lose weight as most see it). For most they have no idea where to start, so join the gym, start eating just fruit and veg and eventually fall off the wagon when results aren’t seen, tiredness kicks in and life takes over. Well, here are 10 simple steps to making sure your 2015 fitness regime sticks:

1. Take it slow

When changing your life, very few people can stick with complete upheavals. A much better option is to change one thing each week, or if you’re feeling brave, each day. That way it doesn’t seem overwhelming and is more likely to become habit over time. For example: start today by consciously drinking more water. Tomorrow, carry on drinking more water but also add getting into bed 30-60mins earlier than usual. The next day add to water and sleep ensuring you eat breakfast. etc.

2. Add some simple exercise to your lifestyle.

Walking is a great addition; if you drive/get the bus or train/underground to work try getting off/parking a mile from work. Walk that last little bit at the beginning and end of the day. It’ll not only burn a few more calories but it’ll give you time for some fresh air and fresh thoughts on life.

3. Work out your calorie needs.

If you don’t know what your body needs, the likelihood is you’ll overfeed or drastically underfeed it. Either can have negative effects compared to what you want. Overfeed and you’ll gain weight. If you aren’t training for muscle growth, this will be body fat. if you drastically underfeed you’ll breakdown muscle tissue, we don’t want that. So, work out your calorie needs (explained how in my Transformation manual) and use a smartphone app like MyFitnessPal to log what is eaten. It’s a chore to do for some, but it makes a huge difference.

4. Eat breakfast.

It really is the most important meal of the day. Your body goes into starvation over night (hence Break-fast). In the morning your body needs fuel or it starts to feed on itself. The bad news is it’s likely to start breaking down your muscle tissue and we don’t want that. Your muscle tissue is metabolic tissue; meaning it actually burns calories and helps you lose fat. We want to keep it, so eat breakfast, everyday!

5. Eat less carbohydrate.

In the world we live in most of us overdo carbohydrate. We eat too much bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, crisps, chocolate etc. It’s not just our fault; the takeaway foods we get from the highstreet sandwich chains and supermarkets are carb heavy. It’s cheaper for the supermarket. Studies have shown that taking carbohydrate down from 60-70% of a daily diet to 20-30% can increase the use of fat as a fuel by up to 70%. What this means is that if you eat less carbs your body will burn more of your excess body fat. Don’t cut carbohydrate out altogether. It’s still necessary for your body to have some good, naturally occurring carbs, but avoid the processed versions and lower the overall amount.

6. Drink more water.

Water is required for nearly every bodily process. Humans are actually 70% water. We need a constant supply of water to help remove toxins, keep the immune system strong and to metabolise fat. Try drinking 1litre per 20kg of bodyweight. For a 60kg woman = 3litres, for an 80kg man = 4litres. And for every hour of exercise drink another 1-1.5litres extra.

7. Eat more protein and fats.

Fats have been given a bad name over the last 20-30years. The thought process that fat makes you fat; not just because of the name, but because of fats being 9kcals per gram compared to protein and carbs which are 4kcals per gram. Yes fats may be more calorific but they are also essential to many bodily functions. Good fats like oils from oily fish, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil and butter/dairy are very good for the body. Equally they help ensure a lower carb diet which as stated above helps with fat utilisation as a fuel. As does eating more fat itself.

Eating more protein helps with repair and recovery following illness, injury or simply working out. Studies have shown that eating 20grams of protein every 3hrs through the day helps keep muscle synthesis switched on; ie. it ensures the hard work in the gym under the weights bar is fully utilised. Furthermore, eating protein regularly can help keep hunger pangs at bay and stop you reaching for the biscuits.

8. Sleep more.

Lack of sleep is not good for the body. It adds stress and stress leads to certain hormones being released to cope with the stress. Due to our evolution those stress hormones make our bodies’ want to store body fat. Simply put, they are our comfy, warm, portable blanket for when the snow comes in (our stresses of days gone past). Try to sleep 7-8hrs a night uninterrupted. It will help avoid injury and illness, help lower stress levels and thus help with burning fat and building muscle by aiding recovery.

9. Supplement.

Although not necessary for many, supplements can really help. It’s important to first eat a balanced diet of the correct kcal's for you and the right percentages of fats, carbs and proteins. However, beyond that, using supplements can really help. For example, many people don’t get enough vit D, especially in the UK so a supplement can be essential. The same for omega 3 fish oils. If you don't eat oily fish everyday, then supplement with omega 3s. If you struggle to eat enough protein, try a whey or soya protein. Check the ingredients and try to avoid too many sugar and additives. Other supplements that can aid fat loss are green tea extract, CLA, a multivitamin and vitamin c.

10. More weights, less cardio.

The standard thought process is that to lose weight (bodyfat) you run, cycle, walk etc. Although those activities will burn calories, we don’t just want to burn calories in our training sessions, we want to trigger muscle growth, which as explained above is metabolic tissue and thus burns calories while we sleep, sit at our desk or watch TV. Therefore, weight training/resistance training is far more beneficial than cardio training when trying to lose bodyfat. Try to use weights (even if just body weight resistance training) 2-3 times a week and if you enjoy it, cardio 1-2 times a week. If it’s a choice between one or the other, I would always advise resistance training over cardio. However, it is imperative that every session is intense. If you can lift a weight easily for 10, 15 or whatever the reps are, it’s too light. You need to be lifting it so that the muscle hurt/burn, thus you are giving the body something to repair and adapt to. This in itself burns more calories after the session itself, but also encourages the body to produce a little bit more muscle (don’t worry girls, not much - it takes years to grow big muscles) which means more metabolic tissue and thus more calories burned when at work/rest. Remember, make it intense. if it’s easy, it’s not enough.

Sean Lerwill, Author of the Haynes Body Transformation Manual, is a well-known Personal Trainer and ex-Royal Marines PT Instructor. Sean regularly features in leading fitness publications offering help and advice to the masses and as a Marine PT Instructor helped numerous Marines complete what many regard as the hardest Military training regime in the world. Other Haynes publications written by Sean are: Haynes Royal Marine Fitness Manual, Haynes Running Manual and the Haynes Triathlon Manual. All of Sean’s Haynes Manuals can be found at Haynes Online

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Post-Christmas Pie

Post-Christmas Pie Recipe

Got your family coming round for New Year’s Day and still got leftovers to use up? Then try our post-Christmas pie recipe from the Men's Pie Manual...

Ingredients

For the filling

Around 500g leftover turkey meat shredded
500g mixed game birds (pheasant breasts, pigeon breasts are available from good butchers during the winter months, duck is also readily available in supermarkets)
teaspoon each of the following spices, ground: mace, cinnamon, allspice berries, grated nutmeg, cloves (actually Idon’t like cloves, so I tend to leave them out)
300g of sausage meat
200ml of turkey stock made with the wings and carcass 

For the pastry

It’s hot-water crust, fellas, and lots of it.

320ml boiling water
600g plain flour
600g strong flour
450g lard
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar

Making the pastry

1 Sieve the flour into a big glass or ceramic bowl and add the sugar and salt. Have a butter knife standing by.
2 Melt the lard in a saucepan on a low heat – you don’t want to overheat it, just render it back into a liquid. If you start to see tiny bubbles, stop, and let it cool down. Carefully pour the boiled water from the kettle into the lard and gently stir.
3 Quickly pour this into the bowl containing the flour. Use your knife to mix the dough together, as it’ll be way too hot to do it with your hands. 
4 When it’s cooled to a warm, squidgy texture get your hands in there and begin to work it hard. Don’t worry, it can take a bit of a knockabout.
5 Transfer to your bench and kneed for five minutes.
6 Roll out with a rolling pin and remove a quarter for your lid.
7 Gently place the remainder in the pie tin and push to ensure a snug fit.
8 Trim off the excess.
9 Place on your lid and crimp to ensure a good seal.

Next let's take a look at a 'traditional' game bird pie...
Make a good standing crust, let the wall and bottom be very thick; bone a turkey, a goose, a fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon, season them all very well, take half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, and half an ounce of black-pepper, all beat fine together, two large spoonfuls of salt, and then mix them together.

Open the fowls all down the back, and bone them; first the pigeon, then the partridge; cover them;  then the fowl, then the goose, and then the turkey, which must be large; season them all well first, and lay them in the crust, so as it will look only like a whole turkey; then have a hare ready cased, and wiped with a clean cloth. Cut it to pieces, that is, joint it; season it, and lay it as close as you can on one side; on the other side woodcocks, moor game, and what sort of wild fowl you can get.

Season them well, and lay them close; put at least four pounds of butter into the pie, then lay on your lid, which must be a very thick one, and let it be well baked. It must have a very hot oven, and will take at least four hours. This crust will take a bushel of flour.’Now, that requires so many animals you’ll probably get a visit from the RSPB – there’s over eight different species in that. It isn’t so much a pie as a pastry tomb for winter birds.

Then there’s the pastry – a bushel of flour is around 36kg. What must it have been like to not only afford one, but to present it to your friends, neighbours and household? How did they even cut it? They must have used a sword. Anyway, let’s make a more sensible version, as some of the flavourings are excellent.

Now it’s time to talk turkey... 
We forget that turkey, too, is a game bird. Buying a good rare-breed naturally raised turkey is critical. It’ll have the flavour, the texture and the fat covering. Also, you don’t have to bone out a whole one (that would take ages). Instead think of this as a deluxe version of a turkey pie. You want to break out your biggest deep-sided, spring-loaded cake tin for this. I’m serious, this is the big one.

Method

1 Strip the meat from the turkey and make the stock from the carcass.

2 When the stock is ready, pass through a sieve to remove the bones and vegetables and pour about 200ml into a clean pan. Put the rest in the freezer for something else.

3 Poach the game meat in this stock for about 15 minutes until tender and cooked (this will help keep them moist).

4 Remove and leave to cool. Keep the stock.

5 Make your pastry (see above) and, working quickly, roll out and line your cake tin, saving enough to make the lid. Make sure it’s well into the corners.

6 Then, in a bowl, mix the sausage meat with the cooked turkey and game meat and the spices. If it looks a little dry, add a spoon or two of the stock.

7 Fill the case with the filling and brush the edge with water.

8 Roll out your lid and place it on top. Cut a small hole for the steam to escape and bake in a moderate oven (160°C) for an hour. Check the filling is cooked with a meat thermometer and leave to cool completely before cutting into big wedges.

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Seven Top Ski Destinations

The Haynes Seven Top Skiing Destinations

With many peoples next holiday a Ski holiday and to celebrate the publication of the Haynes Skiing Manual, Author and Skiing Expert Bill Mattos has put together the top Seven skiing destinations.

Best for just skiing – Banff, Canada

Near (driving distance) Banff village are the three ski areas of Norquay, Sunshine and Lake Louise. All are awesome and surprisingly uncrowded most days. Featuring huge skiing, huge powder, huge backcountry and bowls, or bimble gently on wide, intermediate groomers. It's all there. http://www.skibanff.com/sunshine-village/

Best for variety –  Zermatt, Switzerland

With skiable slopes up to nearly 4000m and two separate countries (Switzerland and Italy – so you’ll need your passport), Zermatt is widely regarded as one of the best resorts in Europe. http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/resorts/Zermatt/

Best for powder –Niseko, Japan

For a balance of some of the world's best and most consistent powder (over 15m per year) and an all-round decent score on everything else you’d want from a ski holiday. Unless you live on Hokkaido, Japan, it's not the easiest to get to but it is worth it... http://www.niseko-village.com/en/

Best for indoor Skiing – Ski Dubai, UAE

The city of Dubai may be a lush oasis in the middle of arid desert, but snowy is definitely one of the things it isn't. Ski Dubai is the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East and offers authentic snow, chair lifts and an Alpine style lodge. Five runs vary in difficulty, height and gradient, just like an outdoor resort. The longest run is 400m with a drop of around 60m. The ski resort is also the home of twenty penguins, and some would say that's reason enough to go there! http://www.skidubai.com

Best for bragging rights – Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France

Probably the world's most famous ski resort and located at the foot of Mont-Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps and the second highest in Europe! Chamonix-Mont-Blanc has a colossal vertical height of nearly 10,000' (3000m) and some of the world's longest runs, like the Vallée Blanche at 13.7 miles (8.5km). While the town is somewhat hectic, the outlying resorts like Argentieres and Les Houches are quieter places to be, but you can still access the Cham ski area. http://www.chamonix.net

Best for high flyers – Aspen, United States

Ski with the rich and famous! It's shiny and expensive, but it's filled with steeps and bumps, and has many groomed intermediate runs as well. With huge areas of backcountry/off-piste skiing. Alternatively, for hob-nobbing with the toffs a bit closer to home, try Klosters in Europe. http://www.aspensnowmass.com

Best for out of season – the rest of the world

In the northern hemisphere we often forget that the other half have snow when we do not. Australia and New Zealand beckon to those who crave spoken English, but for low cost and incredible scope try South America – Chilean resort Valle Nevado, just over an hour's car journey from Santiago, delivers reliable snow and a big selection of groomed and off-piste areas. http://www.vallenevado.com/en/

The danger of internet research and statistics.

Powder does not fall from blue skies. If you are looking for constant pow, you must resign yourself to many lo-vis days, which stands to reason. Equally there is no point in trawling the internet for the maximum snowfall resort, if all that snow falls in big dumps with weeks of freeze/thaw in between.

Things people don't normally think about

I've always thought people have some odd criteria when choosing where to go on a skiing trip. It's best to write a list of what's important to you – like how many runs there are, that truly suit my skiing ability/style, for instance.

High altitude is not always best. While it does guarantee more snow and a longer season because the snow never thaws up there, it can also mean ice, cold and high winds and a generally unpleasant time. Low altitude, conversely, runs the risk of rain instead of snow, and on otherwise fine days the snow can be slushy, making it hard work no matter what your skiing ability. If you have to book a trip in advance, hedge for the resorts that have a lot of runs in the middle altitudes of 2000-3000m.

In these days of modern, well managed resorts and manufactured snow, it is unlikely that you'll find yourself without any snow. What is worth considering is how you want to get around. Some resorts have everything in walking distance from the village, including the ski lifts (or even ski in/ski out for some exclusive accommodation), but some require a lot of travel by bus or car. My number one question about a resort would be, how long will it take me each day to get to/from a lift that can access the top?

Whatever you do and wherever you go… remember to have fun but be safe! There is a massive range of safety equipment on the market and it is all there to keep you safe when skiing! Year after year accidents happen on the slope that could be avoided if the proper precautions were taken to start with and proper equipment used. Skiing is one of the most enjoyable sports in the world when done safely.

You can find out everything you want to know about the sport in the Haynes Skiing Manual, out now and available at www.haynes.co.uk or all good book shops.

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