Tea party - Mini pecan pies and potato pea cups

I like all food that come in small packages. Precisely, why I loved making these mini pecan pies and potato pea cups. Both these recipes are from fellow bloggers, except that I made a few changes to the recipes.

Mini Pecan Pies
I followed the same recipe from Ahaar. Instead of pouring the filling in a 9-inch pie crust, I used mini graham cracker pie crusts. For this recipe, I used the filling for 12 mini pie crusts. I used light corn syrup and also added chopped pecans to the filling. Of course, I did top off the pies with pecans again. I used 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 cup. Click here for the original recipe. I baked the pies for about 40 to 45 minutes. Do keep an eye on these pies as you might end up baking them too much. If you do that, the corn syrup will crystallize and the center of the pie will become very hard. Serve these mini wonders with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Baked mini pecan pies

Potato pea cups

This is a savory treat I absolutely loved making. Once done, they look like a piece of art and are a big hit as a starter to any meal. I came across this recipe at Priya's Kitchen. Click here for the original recipe. Here is my recipe.

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes (boiled and mashed)
1/2 cup of green peas
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
Salt to taste
Oil as needed
Pepperidge Farm Puff pastry sheets
1 egg (beaten) for egg wash (you can use butter too)

Method
1. Sauté the onions in a pan with a little oil until soft.
2. Add the green peas and sauté till tender.
3. Add the mashed potatoes, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt and mix till everything is well blended.
4. Thaw the puff pastry sheets and cut into squares (you can make 9 squares from one sheet).
5. Brush with egg wash on both sides and place in a big muffin pan.
6. Put a tbsp of the potato-pea filling and bake at 425°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until brown and flaky.
7. Top it off with the sweet and sour chutney and serve warm.

Potato pea cups

Sweet and sour chutneyFor the sweet and sour chutney I used store-bought chutney and followed this recipe:
1 tsp of coriander paste
1 tsp of mint paste
1 tsp of date-tamarind chutney

Mix all the above in a bowl and garnish the potato-pea cups when they come out of the oven.