Chicken Pie

This cooler weather just makes me so happy.  I know, I'm strange, but I loved autumn with it's crisp mornings and sunny days and the draw of winter not far away, and here we are 2 days in.  I love cosying up on the couch with a good book while the wind and rain play havoc outside.  Pass me the slow cooker or whack the oven on and I'm a goner~it's comfort food time.

I'm not sure why I forget to make pies as they are super easy and always a hit.  I was reading Kathy's post here  about her super cute looking chicken and leek individual pies and so I got inspired to whip out the pie dish.  I didn't have any leeks but I grabbed some spring onions that had been let go in there pot outside a bit long, just perfect.  I also had a couple of corn cobs that needed using up.  That's the thing with this recipe, it is so versitile.  It could be made with just all the vegies left in the crisper, sauted up in lots of butter and garlic for a vegetarian option.  As long as you stick to the principles of the veloute sauce, you can let your ingredients run riot.  A veloute sauce is a sauce made with stock, butter and flour and is extremely versitile and velvety delicious without the naughtiness of a full cream sauce.

I honestly shake my head in denial most nights at the dinner table.  As you are well aware I lurve food as does my husband but do you think I can get my 7 year old to eat anything other than potato, corn and sometimes pumpkin? Yes she'll have avocado and a mountain of fruit but try and convince her that broccoli or carrots are amazballs tasty, no way Jose. So here I sneak as much in as I dare by serving this scrummy pie with my 3 veg mash potato.

Chicken, spring onion and corn pie
500g chicken free range chicken thighs, or left over roast chicken
4-5 white ends of good sized spring onion or 2 leeks
1-2 corn cobs, corn kernels sliced off
50g butter and a glug of evoo
400ml chicken stock, from stock powder is fine if you don't have fresh
2 tbsps plain flour
1 sheet puff pastry

• slice up your chicken thigh into bite size pieces.  I like to use kitchen scissors for this. Finely slice your spring onions and get all of your ingredients out ready.

• heat the evoo in a fry pan and fry the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  You may want to do this in batches as you don't want to stew the pieces, you are looking to create a golden colour to seal in the juices on each piece.  Take chicken out and keep the oil and juices in the pan.
• In the same pan, add the butter and saute the spring onion and corn without adding any colour.  Season with salt and peper.  After 5 minutes add the flour and cook out for 1 minute, stirring all the time.  Gradually add the stock until you have the thickness you desire.  You don't want it too thick or too thin, it should coat the back of a spoon easily.  Test for seasoning.

• Add the chicken back into the sauce along with any juices.  Mix through the sauce.  

• In a 20cm pie dish (approximately), pour in the chicken mixture.  You can cool it at this stage if you don't need the pie straight away or freeze it also for another time.

• Defrost 1 sheet of puff pastry and top the pie dish, using egg wash or milk to coat the pastry to get it lovely and golden.  

• Place in a 200c oven for 30 minutes or until golden.

Serve with my 3 veg mash - potato, sweet potato and pumpkin and dive in.
Some of the variations I like to make are:

• chicken, bacon and mushroom
• tinned salmon tossed through the veloute (use fish stock in the veloute if you have it), asparagus and spinach (also great with mashed potato on top instead of the pastry
• chicken, thyme, spinach and potato ( blanch diced potato in boiling water for 4-5 minutes first)
• left over roasted vegetables, semi-dried tomatoes, rocket and fresh herb (thyme leaves, parsely, mint and oregano added to sauce at the last minute
• soft boiled egg with curry powder, parsley, potato and tuna

Be guided by whats in season and either growing in your garden or from the green grocers as to what you put in. This is going to be back on our weekly menu this winter.

It's week 23 of the 52 week money challenge, we are almost half way through the year! I must confess, I'm finding it a challenge keeping up as the numbers are getting bigger but I'm doing what I can :D

A bit of an update on my crochet.  I am very proud to show my first ever granny square!  I learnt from this granny square tutorial here that is very easy to follow for anyone who would like to give it a try. Now to practice and start my rug :D

Ciao, Jan.