Wednesday 25 November 2015

Good Old Favourites #2

So we have a new series, people. It’s gotta be good – i.e. healthy and ingredients mostly good for you; it’s gotta be old – I must have cooked it a number of times, with success, in my kitchen; and it’s gotta be a favourite – with two teenagers and the dad, who have much higher culinary standards than I do.

This week’s is a no-brainer. When they ask for dinner and I smile at them, because I KNOW that no one will moan – because there are NO cooked tomatoes, because its NOT fish, because it DOESN’T even look like fish, because there’s NO broccoli, and so on – it has to be CHICKEN PIE.

I don’t think I’ve met anyone who doesn’t like chicken pie. In fact, chicken pie could be a friendship decider for me. I make a huge one, so that we can have leftovers, and they never last more than a few days. There are a few recipes that I love for chicken pie (Jamie Oliver’s Chicken and leek pie being one) but this is a conglomeration of my favourite ingredients.

Chicken Pie

Flaky pastry (Buy it, or find the recipe here, if you want to use a version with less salt) 


Cooked chicken, stripped off the bone and skinless. (Use the skin and bones to make chicken stock) (Either use a whole chicken, or 6-8 chicken breasts)

Mushrooms

2 Onions

2-3 Leeks

2-3 stalks of celery, sliced

Baby carrots and peas (optional)

250ml cream (or milk)

250ml cider (Savannah is cider), or 250ml chicken stock

30ml cake flour

30g butter, or olive oil (enough to fry onions with)

In a large, heavy based pan, fry the onions, and add leeks frying until translucent. Add celery. Add flour and stir in, and add milk/cream, stirring as it thickens. Add carrots and peas, then chicken stock/cider, and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Pour mixture into an oven dish, coated with Spray and cook, or other non stick option.. Roll out pastry, and cover the dish with the pastry, pressing it over the edges. Decorate it – use a fork, and leftover pastry to make little lattices, be creative. Brush with a little milk and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Optional sinful extra – as per Jamie – squeeze the mincemeat out of three pork bangers, and fry up into little meatballs and add to the sauce.

Serve with a salad or two, and some vegies, like spinach and butternut.

Checklist:

  • Good – yes, loads of vegies, and if you make your own pastry, even more healthy (lower sodium) 
  • Old – I didn’t need to consult a recipe for this – they are all in my head, made a zillion times 
  • Favourites – I would post a picture of my kids smiling, but this would be my last post. Ever.

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