Helen's Chicken Pie
Another recipe that is a long-standing family favourite. This one is from a 1970’s Reader’s Digest cookbook. We ended up with the cookbook because Dad did some packaging for them and they gave us an entire box of books including our all time favourite “Reader’s Digest Book of Strange Stories & Amazing Facts” - the terror of spontaneous combustion as a child was real thanks to this to excelent tome. Anyway I digress. This chicken pie is excellent. Delcious and creamy (although in reality very little cream in it). I’ve adjusted to make it metric - you’re welcome!
Ingredients
70g butter
5 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
500ml chicken stock
Salt & pepper
2 drops lemon juice
500g cooked chicken diced
100g mushrooms
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons cream
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour, cook stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add the white wine, mix well and add the hot chicken stock a little at a time stirring constantly to make. a smooth sauce. Cook gently for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon juice, chicken and sliced mushrooms. Reheat. Remove from heat. Mix egg yolk and cream together and stir into the sauce.
Cut pastry sheets into four. Decorate with leaves, paint with the egg white or milk or whatever to give a shine (stick leaves down with this). Put in the oven at 220c for 8- 10 minutes - just keep an eye on them - done when golden. Set the timer for 5 minutes and look then.
If you are making the day before or earlier in the day, put the chicken mixture in the oven for an hour to reheat to boiling before adding the cream and egg mixture and then leave on the bench while you cook the pastry.
Helen poaches her chicken as it makes it tender. She boils the water, throws in some fresh thyme (dried works too), half a sliced lemon, a handful of peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves plus salt. Put in the chicken and bring back to the boil. Then turn off and leave the lid on until cooked.
The original recipe which inexplicably Helen cut out of the book and gave to me.