Chicken Pot Pie

 

Crispy, flaky crust chicken pot pie is our family's comfort food.

Ingredients:

Chicken Filling

1 chicken (around 1 kg, which yields 460g meat) or 4 chicken thighs)

2 medium size potatoes (320g)

1 carrot (140g)

half large onion

2 cloves garlic

Short Crust Pastry (for 9" pie)

270g plain flour 

150 cold butter

1 egg yolk (18g)

50ml cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

A. Chicken Filling

1. Debone chicken. Marinade with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and dashes of black pepper for 1 hour. Pan fry the chicken until it is cooked. Set aside to cool, then shred the meat.

2. Cut the potatoes and carrot into small cubes, boil in salted water until they are tender. Drain and set aside. Save the water for step 3 below.

3. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add chicken, potatoes and carrot, and mix in. Add 2 teaspoon herbs (thyme, oregano, parsley, basil), 1 teaspoon paprika, and dashes of black pepper. Stir fry until combined. Add 2 tablespoons plain flour and stir to mix in evenly. Add 250ml water (from boiling potatoes and carrot) and 20g butter, and mix in. Simmer for 5 minutes, and it is done!

B. Short Crust Pastry

1. Sieve flour into mixing bowl and add salt. Mix them up.

2. Add butter and use fingertips to rub into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use a dough cutter to cut the butter into the flour.

3. Combine egg yolk with cold water and pour into the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, using a fork to combine gently. Stop adding water when the mixture forms clusters. Use your hands to gather the mixture gently to form a ball. Divide the ball into 2/3 (for pie crust) and 1/3 (for pie lid) and wrap them up individually with plastic wrap. Once wrapped, gently pressed the dough to make a disc (2cm thick), and chill in the fridge for at least one hour. Dough weight: 486g.

4. Place a silicon mat on work surface, and lightly flour the mat. Remove the dough from fridge and place it on the mat. Place a piece of plastic on the dough and roll the dough to fit the pie/tart pan. Gently transfer the dough into the pie/tart pan. Press the dough into the pan and trim off the excess dough from the edge. Prick the base with a fork. Chill the dough in fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

5. Preheat oven to 170 deg celsius. Place pie weights into the dough. Bake the pie crust for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Roll out the remaining 1/3 dough to make pie lid. You can cut the dough into strips to create lattice pattern. Chill in fridge.

C. Assemble

1. Spoon filling into the pie. 

2. Remove the pie lid from the fridge and cover the pie. Use a fork to gently press the edge to make a good seal. Make some cuts on the surface of the lid to help release steam during baking. Brush the pie lid with egg wash.

3. Bake at 170 deg celsius for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

4. Transfer the pie to wire rack for a few minutes before serving.