Hati Seorang Isteri.......

Last week we got a very disheartening news, Puad, our neighbour in Ayer Baloi had stroke, not once but twice! I spoke to Ina, his wife last night who was taking care of him in Sultanah Hospital in JB...apparently he was having tea ("ngeteh") at the waroung in front of their house on Deepavali night when this happened. His two other friends who were with him did not realise this until Ina went to get him to come home for dinner! He was restless, could still move but was walking aimlessly up and down their house, not talking or recognising Ina and was looking for water. He refused to go to the hospital until later....the stroke left his right limbs numb, at first he couldn't even reconise his family, his wife and children, and his blood pressure was 230...now , according to Ina, his BP had gone down to 170, but it has not reduced since then...he can now recognise his loved ones, but couldn't speak still....Ina had to accompany him at the hospital as at times he went aggrasive ...the other day he fell off the bed....

Ina sounded very strong last night, I couldn't imagine what I would do if in similar situation...she also spoke about her plans for her family....I can only imagine Puad no longer roaring his big bike next door...Ina asked for our doas and asked us to take good care of ourselves, our health...apparently Puad had neglected his medications for a few years already......

hmmmm.....let's ponder that.....and before I forget let me share with you this recipe...there was a kind of funny twist to this recipe, as I looked at the wrong recipe for the crust, and to make it worse, I tweaked the recipe (as well) as usual....hmm....

Chicken Pot Pie

For The Crust (which I should have used Martha's all purpose crust! yikes!)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

3/4 cups cold butter, cubed

1 large egg yolk, plus 1 large egg yolk for egg wash

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

1 tbsp heavy cream for egg wash

For The Filling

1 kg chicken fillet, I used breast

1 large onion cubed

3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

1 leek, sliced

2 sprigs rosemary, from my kitchen

300g shitake mushrooms, sliced

sprinkles of black pepper

3 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt to taste

cooiking oil to sautee

Method

Uisng a fork cut the butter into flour, cheese, sugar and salt mix until it resembles coarse meal. Add 1 egg yolk to combine, still using the fork, drizzle in 1/4 cup water, a tbsp at a time until the dough comes together. Never never knead! Add water if the dough is still crumbly. Divide the dough evenly between ramekins, I used those that were given by Tina for my birthday! I got 6 ramekins....refrigerate for about one hour.

In the meantime, prepare the filling...Sautee garlic and onion until fragrant, brown the chicken flesh, add, milk, cream, mushroom, pepper, leek, salt to taste. Let simmer for about 10 minutes and remove from fire. In the mean time preheat the oven at 170C.

Remove the dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, I lined my kitchen top with baking paper and roll the disk of dough 1/4 inch thick. Divide the chicken filling evenly between the ramekins, and cover with the crust. Brush crusts with egg wash. Bake until crust is golden brown 30 to 35 minutes!

The pies were meant for lunch the next day...I had one for my sahur, and the kids finished them during breakfast! Tq Tina for the wonderful book and I love love the ramekins!

Life is short, let's do things that are important to us, and let's make doa for Puad and Ina and their family....have a fruitful week ahead...tqs for reading you alls!