![[WhatsApp Image 2025-05-29 at 19.56.54.jpeg]] ## Description A constantly requested recipe of mine, this spectacularly tasty pie recipe uses multiple stages of frying vegetables and chicken to create a rich, creamy pie that's worth every minute it takes to make it. This recipe is _the_ recipe I love to bring out when someone says they don't like British cuisine (or they only eat British food). The reason this dish is just so tasty is because we're using multiple different techniques to bring out the flavours. We'll fry the ingredients, then use a sauce to distribute and homogenise the flavour, and then bake the sauce to enhance it. Serve with [[Broccoli, all ways]] and [[The Best Roast Potatoes]]. >[!Tip] >Use pre-bought shortcrust or puff pastry dough to cut down on the cooking time and stress. >[!Tip] >Don't have enough pastry for a full pie? Cook it in a casserole dish or a small Pyrex dish and add just the top lid of pastry (commonly known as a pot pie). Alternatively, make a tart by not adding the top to the pie. ##### Prep time: 10 minutes ###### Cook time: 90 minutes ## Ingredients Makes six large servings, or eight small servings - [[Crème fraiche ]], or in a pinch Greek yoghurt, 150g or three heaped tablespoons - [[Mustard]], Dijon, a heaped teaspoon - [[Dill]], one heaped tablespoon (4g), dried - [[Parsley]], two heaped tablespoons (3g), dried - [[Chives]], one heaped tablespoon (2g), dried - [[Leeks]], two large - [[Onions]], two large - [[Mushrooms]], optional, 2-300g - [[Chicken]], thighs, 600g with bones/skin, otherwise 500g (1 1/2 lb or around 1 1/4 lb deboned) - [[Garlic Powder]] and [[Garlic]], two heaped tablespoons (10g), 5 large cloves - [[Chicken Stock]], 300ml or one cup - [[White Wine]], 100ml or a small glass - [[Pastry]], shortcrust or puff, 500g if doing a full pie, or 250g if doing a pot pie ### Recommended tools None ## Method 1. Begin by preparing the onions and leeks by dicing the onions, washing the leeks thoroughly and cutting the leeks into semi-circles. Put both in a large frying pan, pot or wok with olive oil or butter, and start to fry on a medium-high heat until wilted and thoroughly cooked, around 30 minutes. Add a lid to speed up the process. 2. While frying, prepare chicken by deboning and removing any skin, and cutting the chicken into bite-size pieces. Try to cut the chicken against the grain (i.e. to cut long muscle fibres into shorter ones) in order to increase the tenderness. 3. Prepare the garlic by mincing or finely grating it. 4. Add the garlic, chicken, a splash of vinegar, salt and pepper to the leeks & onions. Return the lid and cook for another 25 or so minutes, until there's no liquid in the pan and the chicken is gaining some browning on the edges. 5. While frying the mixture, chop your mushrooms in whichever way you'd prefer. If you have a picky eater that doesn't like mushrooms I would suggest large disks, otherwise I prefer to take the time to dice them. 6. Add the mushrooms and turn the hob to medium-high and cook until the mushrooms are fried, around 10 minutes. Keep stirring once a minute or so to make sure nothing burns. 7. When the mushrooms are almost fried, add the dill, parsley, chives, and garlic powder and let them sit on top of the mixture between stirs, to absorb the steam. 8. Once complete, add the crème fraiche, chicken stock, white wine and mustard. Simmer on a medium-low until the liquid ingredients get a thicker than sauce-like consistency, around 15 minutes. Taste and adjust to taste. 9. While the mixture is simmering, turn the oven on to 200 degrees Celsius and rub a small amount of butter into the sides of your pie or casserole dish. Add the pastry, lining the sides of the dish. Work out what size top you'll need and cut that out too. 10. Add your pie mixture, pie top and cut a cross in the top, to let steam out. If there's any pie mixture left, let it cool and eat it out the pan like the neanderthal you are, you deserve it. 11. Insert into oven for 20-25 minutes, until your pie is browning nicely. 12. Remove and let the pie sit for 15 minutes. 13. Serve with dry white wine.