LEMON AND TARRAGON CHICKEN PIE

LEMON AND TARRAGON CHICKEN PIE

We don't eat nearly enough pie - and considering my oldest and bestest friend in the world, Jane, is a pie addict (those geordies sure know how to eat a pie), I feel we need to explore the pie world a little more...
So, just to kick start my pie week (don't worry I won't post all of them)... I made the kids their favourite one, as Mike and I sadly had to be elsewhere.  Well, I say kids, but Hugo seems to be in Poland with 10 friends on the first of a 4 month holiday,  and Holly is leaving us for A MONTH tomorrow on a european adventure.. what did I do wrong? Poor Max has no escape from my watchful eye... so no doubt, the first chance he gets to do a runner, he shall.

Back to the pie...

INGREDIENTS (FOR 4)

Puff or shortcrust pastry (whatevever your choice) Handmade is obviously better, but no one will know!
A whole cooked chicken - or 5 cooked chicken breasts (This is great after a roast, as I generally roast a few chicks at the same time, then you've got the cold one to do as you wish)
Unsalted butter
Lemon juice
Single cream
Vegetable stock
Plain flour
Fresh tarragon

Break up the chicken in an ovenware pie dish... sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
To make the sauce, melt half a pack of butter in a saucepan, over medium heat. When it's melted add a few big spoons of flour, and use a whisk to mix it in.  You want to add enough flour to make a fairly thick paste.  Keep it on the heat, and once you have the right consistency, add some vegetable stock till it is a slightly thick soup consistency.  Keep whisking until the flour has stopped thickening it.  Add a bit more veg stock to taste, salt and pepper.  Then add a pot of single cream and lots of lemon juice, and keep tasting until it tastes lemony enough for you... Finally stir in the chopped tarragon (take it off the stalks  before you chop it up).  When it tastes delicious (you could add a bit of chicken stock and a splash of white wine if you fancy), then pour it over the chicken in the dish.

Roll out your pastry, and cover the dish, making sure it goes over the sides by at least a centremetre (get it to stick to the side of the dish with a little bit of beaten egg or milk.

Then, use the rest of the beaten egg/milk (I use them together) to brush over the top to make that golden pie look...

Put a whole in the middle of pastry to let the steam out, and cook in oven until the pastry looks cooked - generally about 40 minutes in a pre heated 180 deg oven.

SHEER DELIGHT - Vietnamese sticky chicken with crunchy salad

Nothing delights me more, than sitting in my kitchen with a cold glass of Pinot (after a not terribly stressful day), kicking back, talking to friends and kids (the one that actually decided to stay at home), and watching my husband cook.

God forbid I interfere.... in fact I did try - Jeez, I won't be doing that again.  Nobody actually told me he was qualifying for MasterChef.

Anyway, the result being the tastiest little number that I've had for quite some time.

Sticky Chicken (I don't know why I added the Vietnamese bit, but I'm sure you could find it somewhere there)... and the Crunchy slaw/salad - which actually he also made it for me the night before, but I can't get the hang of taking photos of food before I eat it, so now I have a feeling that everything will have to be cooked at least twice.

SAUCE FOR THE CHICKEN  - Written by the chef himself - just so there is no mistake

Make  a thin to medium caramel, mix finely chopped shallots, thumb sized bit of ginger, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, light soy sauce, dash of Chinese wine, fresh red chillis and good squeeze of lime (never lemons! !) When the caramel is ready CAREFULLY add the mixed up stuff (it can go crazy) to it - dont do it the other way round - (according to chef extraordinaire Mikey Hayes, it makes a HUGE difference, and I wouldn't be the perfect wife if I recounted it any differently)..

Skinless chicken thighs (bone in)

Marinade the thighs in the cooled sauce in the fridge for at least three hours (Not sure he did that - but then who am I to argue?)

Preheat wok small splash vegetable oil (rice bran oil if you can  get it) add chicken about five max or it will boil (This is where I came in and did it wrong and apparantley ruined the whole thing - woops - I still thought it tasted pretty good though.)  Leave alone, dont stir it- it will caramalise and get a bit sticky.

When you cant stand it (or me, annoying him) any more, turn them over and give them the same treatment. They should be dark and sticky. Add toasted sesame seeds, crispy fried shallots, handful of chopped coriander, squeeze of lime.

SALAD

Thinly sliced cabbage, carrots, cucumber, the long red pepper things, spring onions... and for the INCREDIBLE dressing - mix toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp honey, 3 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar.

This is wierdly good with bulgar wheat for that classic Ukrainian Vietnamese  vibe!

So.. there you have it.. It was specially tasty, with or without my input - 

And marital harmony is back in the room....