Cook With Us #12 - Chicken, Leek & Mushroom Pizza Braai Pie

Herewith my entry for the fabulous contest arranged by The Cook with Us team - @chefsteve , @pandamama and @offoodandart.

I have chosen to braai something different, and that is not a juicy steak or boerewors, but I will show you here how to make a Chicken, Leek & Mushroom Pizza Braai Pie.

Here in the southern hemisphere in Durban, South Africa we're well into Autumn, with Winter winking at us every now and then.
Durban is a sub-tropical region with mild winters but extremely hot and humid Summers, so Winter is a most welcome respite from the hot and sweaty days!
Durban Tourism's slogan Durban, the warmest place to be in Winter certainly is true. We have lovely sunny days and cool evenings; occasionally have hail storms but never see snow.
So even in the midst of Winter, we can have a Braai - or Barbeque - as it's called in the rest of the English speaking world.
Our little braai fire has been lit and all will gather closer, like moths drawn to a flame :)

South Africans love their meat, and when our rugby team is playing, you can rest assured that friends will be around for a bring and share braai - everyone brings their own meat and drinks and the hostess supplies the salads or gets each lady to bring along either a salad, dessert or whatever their specialty is!

This is a real jolly affair; the menfolk get the job of braaing the meat so call it the ladies night off, but it's always a joke with us ladies whose job it is to:

• Buy the charcoal & firelighters
• Ensure the braai stand has been cleaned
• Buy the meat and everything that goes with it
• Buy the booze and do not forget the ice or you're in hot water!
• Ensure the booze is placed into the refrigerator well in advance as the beers have to be ice cold!
• Marinade the meat
• Prepare salads or veggie bakes
• Make the garlic bread or butter the rolls
• Prepare the dessert
  
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  The men's job is to:
• Make the fire and boast about who makes the best fire
• Stand in front of the braai with a beer in their hands
• Call out for the meat to be brought to the fire when the coals are ready
• Ask for the braai tongs
• Ask for another beer

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Then they pat themselves on the back and say how lucky the womenfolk are having a night off from cooking!

Ok, I'm exaggerating, it's not always that bad, us South Africans all do enjoy a braai and the womenfolk have learnt to delegate!

Very popular for celebrations is a spit braai, a massive outdoor rotisserie setup where a whole lamb usually is braaied, or a variety of large roast cuts.

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When it comes to a regular braai, one can buy braai packs from butcheries and the usual fare is a lamb chop, a steak and a piece of boerewors.
The direct translation for boerewors is Farmer's Sausage, a big fat juicy sausage with high tones of coriander, cloves and nutmeg, and with vinegar added for preservation.

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This is not to be confused with Braai Wors (barbeque sausage) as that version always is a very inferior sausage that I suggest you rather stay away from should you ever visit South Africa!

We prefer selecting our own cuts; other delicacies are spare ribs, Sosaties (a type of Kebab with marinated meat, dried fruit & onions on skewers), Texan Steaks (usually a large piece of pork in a hot spicy marinade), Skilpadjies (coriander spiced lamb's liver with onions & Worcester Sauce stuffed in caul fat - the membrane that surrounds kidneys) to name but a few. Fish and seafood also is popular for the braai.

Our Swedish guests really took to braaing when they stayed in our bnb some time ago, making the most of the gorgeous weather.

• Chicken fillets marinated in lemon juice, lemon rind, Rosemary & Thyme.
• Leeks, finely diced
• Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small tub Cream
• Bread dough
  The pizza braai pie filling had to be prepared and cooled off before using.
  Leeks were sauteed in a little olive oil and butter & kept aside.
  
  Mushrooms were sauteed in the same pan and kept aside.
  
  Chicken fillets were sliced thinly, sauteed in the same pan at a high heat, careful not to overcook.
  
  Add leeks, mushrooms and cream to chicken, thicken with a little cornflour and season to taste. Leave to cool.
  

  Hubby used our small braai as there were only three of us, coals glowing and almost ready for action.
  
  I made my own bread dough while filling was cooing off - white wheat flour, salt, a little sugar, a blob of butter, yeast & warm milk & water, let it prove and had enough for our Pizza Braai Pie and to make twisted Garlic Rolls.
  
  I took two balls of dough and rolled it thinly into rectangles to fit the braai grid which has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
  
  A nice amount of filling was spooned onto dough leaving the sides free.
  
  Second dough rectangle was placed on top, sides pressed down to seal and placed over the coals.
  
  Be careful the coals are not too hot as I discovered, but quickly took action or my pie would have burnt to cinders and dough would have been raw inside, I still have to learn to be patient!
  
  The other side turned out beautiful and evenly cooked and was speedily removed from the hot coals.
  
  The remaining dough was divided into four, rolled into rectangles, three were topped with garlic and butter.
  
  

  Stack the dough rectangles.
  
  Twist the dough strips.
  
  Place on braai grid.
  
  Keep on turning them until they're nicely risen and cooked.
  
  A different kind of braaied meal - but not without the beer ;)
  

  
  Our Chicken, Leek & Mushroom Pizza Braai Pie was really delicious with smoky flavours and a nice break from the usual meat braais, have to watch the cholesterol levels you know ;)
  

  That is the end of my braai story, hope to see you cooking along with us at #cookwithus, where you not only stand to win sbd and learn new cooking tricks, but also meet awesome people!

  A quick recap of the whole process:
  

  
  Original Content by @lizelle
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