Today I will prepare with you a very nice recipe that got me a lot of great remarks. My very own version of chicken pie. It is a very forgiving recipe and it yields out a great dish. You can have it as lunch or dinner with a nice large salad or as breakfast with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Or cold coffee or tea as the weather is getting alarmingly hot. Let’s get going then.
You will need:
1 sheet of puff pastry
Half a glass of corn kernels
3-4 large mushrooms
1 onion
3-4 gloves of garlic
Butter
Mixed herbs
Salt
Pepper
A handful of diced salted mozzarella
A handful of diced parmesan
1 egg
3/4 of a glass of milk + 1 tablespoon for the egg wash
1/4 glass of cream
1 tablespoon of flour
1 large breast of chicken
Chicken stock
White wine
Cognac
Sesame seeds
Sage
Let’s make it.
In a pot place the chicken with the stock and boil it until it cooks through.
In the meantime in another pot prepare the béchamel. Place the milk, cream, the flour and a small chunk of butter. Add salt and pepper.
Place it on high heat stirring constantly until the flour has dissolved and it ends up a mildly firm cream. Set aside.
Once the chicken is done, add 3-4 tablespoons of the stock in the béchamel and mix it thoroughly to add more depth in the flavor of the cream.
Chop the onion, the chicken in bite size chunks, mince the garlic and slice the mushrooms.
Cut the cheeses in small pieces.
Mince the parsley.
In non stick pan melt a tablespoon of butter and add the chicken, mushrooms, garlic and onions. Add a pinch of dried herbs and double the amount in sage.
Sauté until they get a bit of color, and add half a glass of white wine.
When the wine evaporates (it will be very soon) add 3-4 tablespoons of cognac and wait still a bit until it evaporates as well.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of the hot chicken stock and add the corn. Cook for 3 minutes and add lots of pepper. Stir.
Add the béchamel, the cheeses and the parsley and mix well using a wooden spoon. Taste it to adjust the seasoning and set it aside.
Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius.
In a small bowl whisk together the egg with a tablespoon of milk.
Divide the puff pastry sheet in 3 equal pieces. In a baking tray lined with parchment paper place one piece on one side and brush it lightly with the egg wash.
Place the filling in the middle in half of the pastry, turn the other half on top and seal the edges around by pressing with your fingers. Brush the top with a bit of egg wash (not too much) and spread sesame seeds on top.
Place it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.
-You can prepare your own chicken stock using carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Or you can use a store bought one.
-You can make it spicy if you add a dash of pepperoncino while the mixture is simmering away in wine.
-I used Drambuie instead of regular cognac. It adds a special kind of flavor to the dish.
-Do not omit the sage. It is one of the key ingredients for this pie.
-Go easy on the salt as the cheeses are very salty on their own.
-Don’t throw away the stock that you boiled the chicken in. As you can see from the recipe, we use it almost all of it along the recipe.
Until next time,
The digital cook.
The Digital Cook 