Thursday, February 17, 2005

Pies from our favourite kitchen appliance



Well....favourite along with the food processor, deep fryer, steamer, George Foreman grill etc.etc.etc. but this is really right up there. It's a small pie-maker (pictured below) that makes a quick, yummy meal. We turn on the maker, which is pretty small and compact, and within about 5-10 minutes have steaming hot pies with light, crispy pastry. Yummy!
We use frozen puff pastry we keep in the freezer; one sheet makes the base and top for two pies, which is enough for a meal. Both the top and bottom of the pie maker get very hot, so both the base and lid become really crispy and flaky. And we fill them with anything and everything in the fridge - leftover vegetables, meat, potatoes, eggs & cheese (mmmm!), fruit, chocolate, whatever. One of our favourites is a can of Heinz Braised Steak and Onion, which sounds kind of embarrassing, but makes a really fantastic meat pie...god, that really sounds like the Aussie version of trashy food! Just put a beer in the other hand and the image is complete!
They're a great portable meal for when you have to eat on the run, or in the car on the way somewhere...just be careful when you bite in...exploding hot pies are messy and very hot!
The one below I filled with a can of tuna with sweet chilli, Mersey Valley vintage cheddar cheese (really soft and crumbly) and cooked green beans. And I ate it in front of the tv while watching the Food Channel. Mmm...have pie and tv. Am happy.

at

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/18/2005 12:23:00 am

    Oh.my.god.... I want this machine. Never knew it existed but now I know it will fill that culinary hole in me which I have always felt.....
    PS: Am I the only one who sees some boobs there?

    ReplyDelete
  2. santos.2/18/2005 10:49:00 pm

    i see a very happy face with goggly googly eyes.

    i am having such an attack of appliance envy; i flip through donna hay/vogue entertaining/delicious magazines and i see the wonderful colours on the retro-feel sunbeam appliances, the amazing grills and mixers, and now this?! shuh. i need to retrofit the house to 230-240volts, and take a very large suitcase down there *soon*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2/19/2005 09:27:00 am

    hi,
    I give up. Who makes this thing?
    Can't find it any place.

    Maybe Its only sold in Australia...

    Any bit of info will help.

    Thanks, Mike

    ReplyDelete
  4. Niki2/19/2005 02:41:00 pm

    I see boobies too!
    It's made by Sunbeam, which is an Australian company, I think - but the type of thing it is should surely be made by companies in other countries too? Surely us Aussies can't be the only ones who have discovered the pleasure of pies!? May I ask what country you're in, Mike?
    Here it is on the Sunbeam site: http://www.sunbeam.com.au/products/product_details.cfm?rec_id=153&sec_id=21
    I also had a look on ebay and found two for sale in Australia. You could get them shipped to where you are (but you'd need an adaptor and/or transformer...hmmmm.)
    http://search.ebay.com.au/sunbeam-pie-maker_W0QQfltZ9QQsaatsZ15

    Santos - yes, there are some GORGEOUS kitchen appliances out there which I'd really love. But not all of them are easily affordable, and then there's that thorny issue of space....damn!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2/22/2005 09:05:00 am

    Hi and Thanks,

    I did checkout ebay (us and others). It turns out that yes
    Australia is the only place this is sold. (Did see 2 for sale in the UK, but they probably came from Australia. Oddly enough in my search I did come across an Australian Gov site that listed 'pie maker' as one of the things you 'didn't need to buy'. I wish they could come out and see the huge amount of gas it takes to heat my monster oven. (BTW: I live in Florida, US)

    Also the day after I asked who made the pie maker my issue of 'Saveur' showed up at my door. Included was an article about small town Australian bakeries.
    And the Australian love of, you got it, meat pies. (I mean, 1500 entries!)

    One more thing. Caned 'Steak and onions' and Vegemite seem to be 'Only in Australia'...

    So many reasons to visit Australia.

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ziz2/26/2005 12:07:00 am

    Hot damn! That is the coolest appliance I've seen in a long time... *sigh* you Aussies have all the luck! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Niki2/26/2005 12:57:00 am

    Hi Mike; yep, Australians really love their meat pies. It's a complete Melbourne tradition to go to the footy (Aussie rules, of course) in the freezing cold and rain, rugged up in a big footy team scarf and to buy a 'Four 'n' Twenty' pie from one of the roaming pie boys. The actual pies are crap, but it's a tradition nonetheless!

    Hi Alicat; I had no idea that this post would generate such enthusiasm! It was something I wasn't even going to photograph as it's so unexciting to us, but I happened to have the camera nearby...and look what happened!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4/07/2005 03:28:00 am

    Wow !!! I found one of these nifty little pie makers at the second hand store, in the U.S. !
    I am so anxious to try it...Yum!
    Thanks for the ideas...mine did not come with any info or directions. Happy Feasting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous4/19/2006 02:04:00 am

    Just found one at a yardsale in London Ont. without instructions - this is so helpful. Do I need to know the temp to set it? Any other suggestions for fruit pies?
    Pat 4/18/06

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous5/26/2006 04:26:00 am

    I found one of these at a thrift store in North Carolina, USA. I was able to print off a manual for it from the Sunbeam.com website. The problem is the machine didn't have the top/bottom cutters. Anyone used the machine by just pushing the dough in there yourself?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10/31/2006 06:14:00 am

    I just got one of these at my church yardsale. I googled it to try and find some recipes... I can't wait to try it out! I am a total gadget freak!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous5/30/2008 08:56:00 pm

    I'm too excited to add up this one in my kitchen appliances...

    ReplyDelete
  13. sugarx25/27/2009 02:12:00 pm

    I picked one of these up at the Salvation Army with no instruction manual and recipes book. If anyone has the manual and wants to put it on a pdf. format, scan it clean, though. I had a gal do it for me, but scanned it as a blurry mess. I appreciated all her effort, but couldn't read it at all!

    Anyone up to the challenge?

    Thanks so much SUNBEAM 2 PIE PIEMAKER with 101 recipe ideas. About 10 minipages all together.

    Thanks!

    CAandy

    ReplyDelete
  14. sugarx25/27/2009 02:14:00 pm

    I picked one of these up at the Salvation Army with no instruction manual and recipes book. If anyone has the manual and wants to put it on a pdf. format, scan it clean, though. I had a gal do it for me, but scanned it as a blurry mess. I appreciated all her effort, but couldn't read it at all!

    Anyone up to the challenge?

    Thanks so much SUNBEAM 2 PIE PIEMAKER with 101 recipe ideas. About 10 minipages all together.

    Thanks!

    Candy

    ReplyDelete
  15. SugarSugar5/27/2009 02:15:00 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. SugarSugar5/27/2009 02:15:00 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. SugarSugar5/27/2009 03:20:00 pm

    This is the same basic manual for the 2 up or 4 up Sunbeam Piemaker, also called PIE MAGIC 4 or POE MAGIC 2!

    SUNBEAM PIEMAKER 4 Pie Manual 4e5bec2a-81d8-4ca1-88f8-6912dfdc7431

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nabeela6/08/2010 02:58:00 am

    I think, it's made by an Australian company.
    Am i right?

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.