Our Best Chicken Pie Ever
Dear Pie, we miss you already…until next time….. I know I said I was slipping into light cooking mode but this just had to be done. Originally conceived last year as a result of leftovers, we’ve been reminiscing about it ever since. We wanted to make it with the leftover chicken from this but it was too damn good and we ate it all. In the end I roasted another just for the occasion.
The success of this pie is largely down to the fact that it is made from yesterday’s dinner; butter roasted chicken with it’s herby, anvhovy flavourings, some fennel gratin made with manchego cheese, some shredded leeks sautéed with bacon, all held together with a dreamy bechamel. This is such a treat because it needs to be made this way, there’s no good putting unroasted chicken or un-gratinated fennel in there – it needs that once-a-year decadent quality.
Ok so the pastry isn’t the greatest ever and a little too thick but the filling, the filling! It’s rich, don’t get me wrong – diet food it ain’t, but it’s gooood and when cold, it’s even better. When you have all the elements of leeks, bacon, chicken, fennel and bechamel, it’s just a case of mixing it all together and adding a good dollop of wholegrain mustard.
On realising that I am without a decent pie dish, I made this in a spring form cake tin which worked but lacked that dive in-scoopage factor. However, it does allow you to trim the perfect slice ready to induce stares of jealousy come office lunch break the next day.
‘I can’t understand why I’m not losing weight?!’ I splutter through a mouth of buttery, meaty deliciousness, flecks of pastry all over my chin.
Our Best Chicken Pie Ever
You will need a generous springform cake tin, well buttered, a dollop of wholegrain mustard and 2 beaten egg yolks in addition to the ingredients below.
For the chicken see recipe here
For the fennel gratin
1 medium fennel bulb
3 small onions
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2/3 bechamel sauce (2/3 of the quantity below)
Manchego cheese
A little parmesan (optional)
Salt and pepper
- Finely slice the fennel and onions and mix together with the garlic.
- Add a layer to a small gratin or roasting dish followed by some grated Manchego and a little bechamel. Season.
- Add the remaining fennel and onion, followed by the rest of the bechamel and a good grating of Manchego. Add a little parmesan and more seasoning if you like.
- Cook under a hot grill until golden and bubbling.
For the leeks with bacon
2 small leeks, finely sliced
5 rashers of streaky bacon. chopped
- Fry the bacon until beginning to crisp.
- Add the leeks and a small knob of butter and saute gently until softened.
For the bechamel
425ml milk
8 black pepper corns
1 bay leaf
1/2 small onion or a shallot
40g butter
20g plain flour
Salt and pepper
A pinch of mace or nutmeg
- Put the milk, bay leaf, mace or nutmeg, peppercorns and onion into a pan and bring slowly up to simmering point.
- Remove from the heat and strain the milk into a jug.
- Clean any milk residue from the pan and melt the butter gently, add the flour and stir to a paste.
- Add a little milk at a time, stirring to make sure all is incorporated.
- Start adding larger quantities, as if you are making mayonnaise, stirring with a whisk.
- When the lumps are gone, turn down really low and simmer for a few minutes until thickened.
- Decant into a bowl, cover and set aside.
For the shortcrust pastry
I followed Delia’s recipe – here. I doubled the quantity but it was a little too much as you can see from the thickness of the crust!
To assemble the pie
Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
- Get your filling ready by mixing some chicken pieces, leeks and bacon, the gratin and the remaining bechamel (you used 2/3 in the gratin) in a large bowl. Add a good dollop of wholegrain mustard and mix together.
- Cut the pastry dough in half and roll one half out, putting the other back in the fridge.
- Use it to line the pie dish, letting it overhang the edges slightly.
- Add the filling, then roll out the remaining pastry and add the lid, folding the edges in to make a crust.
- Put a cross in the top of the pie and brush with the beaten egg yolks.
- Bake until the pie is golden brown.
Category: Lunchbox, Main Dishes, Meat, Pastries, Pies, Vegetables 15 comments »
April 4th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Helen, it sounds wonderful and the crust looks nice and flaky. To be tried out in the fall.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Helen, What a nice blog you have,all your food looks delicious! I enjoyed my visit, and I’ll be back.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I want this in my belly, now. I have a certain something for meat pies. The only change I would make is to use fresh rendered lard in the crust.
Biggles
April 4th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Peter – thank you. It’s still like winter here in London, although not today, today is freak warm day!
Marie – I’m really glad you enjoyed it, glad you could stop by.
Biggles – I thought this might be up your street. Do you mean rendered straight from the meat and then added to the pastry?! Now THAT is a good idea and very decadent indeed.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Oh Helen…..this pie is soooooooo thick and flaky. I’ve made some pies in my time but nothing in this scope. Thanks for the post. I’ll be making this one soon. -A
April 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
This is amazing — I can see why you’re sad it is gone. Even though you didn’t care for it, the crust looks phenomenal and the flavors in the pie … bechamel, bacon, fennel …. sounds divine!
April 4th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Aaron – Thank you, I hope you make it and I hope you enjoy it!
Allen – Thank you too! I think I may have been a little hard on the pastry with hindsight, it was great to bite into a big thick chuck of it. Mmmmmmm.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
This looks so good. I love chicken pie – what a great comfort food. I adore your addition of fennel gratin!
April 4th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Mm… chicken pie – it looks amazing. And would be perfect today – it’s rainy, gray and cold in New York today. Can you FedEx a piece over nowish?
April 4th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I made a chicken cottage pie this evening. It was a recipe from Sophie’s site “Mostly Eating” and was lovely. Now want to make this pie too! Are two chicken pies in a week too much I wonder…
April 5th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Oh my. This is for a time when I’m completely abandoning my diet (which unfortunately is not now, due to too much diet abandoning earlier this year!)
April 5th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Gimme pie pie pie….great selection of ingredients for the filling!
April 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I just love chicken pie. Mine is made of chicken, carrots, green beans, onions and a bechamel sauce. I usually serve it with garlic mashed potatoes. This is comfort food to me.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
That looks amazing. What a perfectly golden brown crust!
September 17th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Thanks for some really great information. I vist a lot of restauranst for my work but ius still difficult to get good opinions in certain regions. Sarah M.