Quick Chicken Pot Pie

With the cold months coming on it is time for warm and filing pies.

Actually, even when its hot sometimes I want pie.

OK honestly, there aren’t many occasions when I’m not totally up for pie. And while on weekends lovingly slow cooking pie filling can make me weak at the knees, sometimes I’m after quick satisfaction.

Such as Mondays. Monday nights I need a great dinner to think about to get me through the day. This pie can be cracked out in 40 minutes, start to finish. 30 minutes if you omit the leeks (just skip steps 2 and 3). Don’t get overwhelmed by the steps, it comes together pretty quickly and if it takes you 45 minutes, I don’t tell anyone.

Fresh from the oven, ready for my tummy

What you need:

500g chicken, breast or thigh
1 leek
1 cup mushrooms
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1 cup hot chicken stock (instant stock is fine)
1 tsp tarragon
2 tbsp thickened cream
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg or a small amount of milk for brushing on pastry at the end

A large glass or ceramic dish for baking the pie
Two frypans, one of which has a lid (a saucepan can be used as long as it has a lid)

What to do:

1. Preheat an oven to 220C, turn your kettle on to boil (if you are using instant stock) and get your pie dish out.
2. Prep your leek by washing thoroughly, you may need to re-wash sections as you cut. Slice the whites finely, you can get a bit rougher as the leek gets greener.
   

   Thicker pieces are OK once the leek gets greener

3. Place the leek and 2 tbsps of butter into the pan that has a lid. Cover and let them sweat, checking regularly. Keep working while this happens and take off once all of the leek is soft.
   

   Softened leeks should resemble this

4. While the leeks are sweating, dice up your chicken and mushrooms into rough bite size pieces.
5. Place chicken in a bag or bowl and cover with flour and tarragon. Salt to taste. Shake around to coat the chicken in the mixture.
   

   Chicken floured and tarragon-ed

6.  In a hot frypan, place rest of the butter and let it melt add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
7. Keep the pan hot and add the chicken stirring frequently. Let any excess flour fall into the pan also as this will help it thicken up later on.
8. Once chicken is browned, add the chicken stock. As your pan should be pretty hot, it will steam and bubble a bit. Don’t turn the pan down! All of this will help the thickening.
   

   Chicken and mushrooms in their hot stock bath

9. Add the softened leeks and stir well. Let the mixture simmer for 3 – 5 minutes.
10. Stir in the thickened cream, the whole mixture should be quite thick but not like holding together. In my opinion, a pot pie should have a lot of sauce!
11. Pour the filling into your pie pan, smoothing out so it is fairly even height in the pan.
12. With a little water on them, run your finger around the rim of the pan to ease the pastry sticking.
13. Lay your pastry over the pie. As the filling is so hot, you won’t get a chance to reposition much so try to be accurate with your pastry placement. Any overlap, you can cut off and place on top or bunch up into areas of the side for tasty crunchy parts.
14. Run a knife diagonally across the pie. The pastry will have softened greatly so don’t be concerned about doing exact lines. This is just some breathing space for the pie.
    

    Covered, breathing room cut and ready for the oven!

15. Brush lightly with a little milk or egg and bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is crispy on top.

I have to apologise there is no picture of the inside cooked and ready to eat, I was somewhat too excited when this came out of the oven to take further pictures!

Suggestions:

I’m trying a new section of suggestions. If I wish I did something different or have variations, this is where to find them.

This truly is a throw together pie that is satisfying and easy so I wouldn’t change this recipe but I have made variations if you omit leeks or just feel like more veg inside the pie. You could add a cup of peas or carrots or even dice bacon and add when you are cooking the mushrooms. All these flavours love each other so be confident and go for it.

Spanish Chicken (with Chorizo and Potato)

Once again, Nigella Lawson has provided me with a simple yet delicious recipe to try. This is a little bit of a bastardisation of her original Spanish Chicken.

Basically I didn’t want to feed 6 or 12 people and forgot to buy red onion but the flavour is just amazing whatever your portion size.

My tummy is grumbling just looking at these pictures again

Depending on your crowd, adjust the serving size of this for how many you are feeding, I went for 1 thigh and 2 potatoes per person.

What you need:

3 chicken thighs, skin on
6 potatoes
2 chorizo sausages
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika and all spice
sea salt
1 cup uncooked rice
2 – 3 cups boiling water

What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 190C.
2. In a small bowl, mix oil, spices and salt and lightly toss each chicken thigh through.
3. Place on a large oven tray.
4. Peel and slice potatoes to your desired size. Add to the tray.
5. Slice chorizo thickly and dot across the tray.
   

   A happy group of flavours

6. Place in the oven for 60 minutes, basting 2 to 3 times.
7. After this time, remove the tray from the oven and spoon out as much juice as possible into a frypan.
8. Place the tray back in the oven.
   

   Chicken, potatoes and chorizo, oh my!

9. Add rice to the juices in the frypan and cook for 5 minutes on a medium high heat. Boil your water while this happens.
10. Initially add 2 cups of boiling water, stir thoroughly and reduce heat to a medium setting.
11. Keep an eye on the rice and when almost all the water is absorbed, add 1 more cup of water.
12. Continue to stir and monitor the rice to ensure it doesn’t dry out. It should take around 20 minutes to cook thoroughly. Serve and enjoy!
    

    The gravy of rices!

 

Fried Chicken and Southern Gravy

Cleary I have been watching too many American food shows (Man vs Food ftw!) and found myself with a hankering for fried chicken and gravy. Not just normal gravy that I love so much but the southern style creamy gravy I ALWAYS see that looks … AHmazeing.

Yum Yum Yum

Fried chicken is totally easy, just be aware it will get messy!  These chicken pieces are soft and tasty and the coating is light and delicious. Then the gravy… just.wow.

This serves 3 to 4 people.

What you need:

500g chicken, cut into strips
Oliver Oil
1 tablespoon of butter

For the coating:

1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp season all
1/4 cup parmesan
salt and pepper

For the gravy:

1 cup chicken broth (or 1 stock cube and 1 cup of boiling water)
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons of flour
Drippings from pan

What to do:

1. In a bowl beat milk and eggs lightly until the egg is combined.
2. In a second bowl, combined flour and seasonings.
3. Place the one chicken strip at a time in the flour, dip in the egg/milk wash then back in the flour. Set aside on a plate.
   

   Nothing crummy about this!

4. In a frypan, cover the bottom of the pan in olive oil and add 1 tablespoon of butter.
5. Place pieces of chicken in the frypan and cook for 3 – 4 minutes on each side (watch for blackening).
   

   Happy chicken in the pan

6. Repeat process until all the chicken is cooked.
7. Place cooked chicken on paper towel, cover in aluminum foil and set aside.
   

   Fresh fried chicken

8. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of oil out of the frypan leaving a small amount and as much of any chicken coating in the pan as you can.
9. Place 4 tablespoons of flour in the frypan and whisk into oil.
10. Pour in chicken stock, continue to whisk.
11. When reduced slightly add milk to frypan.
    

    Tasty tasty gravy

12. Continue to whisk on medium high heat for 5 minutes until thick and, well, gravy consistency. Whatever you like but I think quite thick works best!
13. Serve chicken and gravy together and serve alone or with whatever sides you like (may I suggest steamed vegetables and or some potatoes).