Wednesday Night Recipe

Traditional Chicken Pie
Recipe courtesy Carole Clements’ “Cook’s Companion”

For the pastry
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening or butter
2-3 tbls ice cold water
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk

For the filling
Ingredients
2 tbls. Butter or margarine
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine or stock
¾ cup half and half
1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 leftover chicken breast from Monday, cut in small pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

1) For the pastry, mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the fat until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork until the dough forms a ball. Dust with flour, wrap and refrigerate until required. I am sure you can use pre-made, store-bought pastry dough for the top to save time. I have never used that before, so I’m not sure if it would change the cooking time at all.
2) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat half the butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the stock and white wine. Bring the sauce to a boil, and continue boiling for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the half and half, peas and carrots, chicken, thyme, and parsley to the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer 1 minute, stirring.
3) Transfer the mixture to a 3 ½ pt. (2 litre) shallow baking dish. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to ½ inch thickness. Lay the pastry over the baking dish and trim off the excess. Dampen the rim of the dish. With a fork, press the pastry to the rim to seal. Cut decorative shapes if desired.
4) Lightly whisk the egg and milk. Brush the pastry all over with the egg wash. Arrange pastry shapes in a design on top. Brush again with egg wash. Make 2 holes in the crust so the steam can escape during baking.
5) Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.