Recipe & Video Chicken Pot Pie (CPP) with Puff Pastry

[FoodFighter]

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed eating this scrumptious dish.


INGREDIENTS
Serves: 4

Streaky bacon (cut into 2.5cm / 1" strips) x6
Garlic infused olive oil, 2 teaspoon or 30g
Chestnut mushrooms, 500 grams (sliced into 5mm/eighth inch pieces) x
Chicken thigh fillets (cut into 2.5cm/1 inch pieces) 500 grams
Plain flour,50 grams
Dried thyme, 2g or 1 teaspoon
Butter, 30g or 2 tablespoon
Chicken stock, 600 millilitres
Marsala, 2 tablespoon
Puff Pastry 750g (all-butter, ready-rolled sheets (23 x 40cm / 9 1/2 x 9½ inch)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/gas mark 7/425ºF.

Fry bacon, add mushrooms in pan.
Shake chicken, flour and thyme in bag.
Add butter to pan.
Add chicken to pan.
Brown chicken.
Add chicken stock.
Simmer 5 mins
Done

In a heavy-based frying pan, fry the streaky bacon strips in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the streaky bacon.

Turn the chicken strips in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag), and then melt the butter in the streaky bacon-and-mushroom pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir around with the streaky bacon and mushrooms until the chicken begins to color.

Pour in the hot stock and Marsala, stirring to form a sauce, and let this bubble away for about 5 minutes.

Take two 300ml / 1¼ cup pie-pots (if yours are deeper, don't worry, there will simply be more space between contents and puff pastry top) and make a pastry rim for each one - by this I mean an approx. 1cm / ½ inch strip curled around the top of each pot. Dampen the edges with a little water to make the pastry stick.

Cut a circle bigger than the top of each pie-pot for the lid, and then divide the chicken filling between the two pots.

Dampen the rim of the pastry again and then pop on the lid of each pie, sealing the edges with your fingers or the underneath of the prongs of a fork.

Cook the pies for about 20 minutes turning them around halfway through cooking. Once cooked, they should have puffed up magnificently.

 

[Yorky]

This looks as though there are no bases or sides to the pies.

I am currently in dispute with a moron* on another forum who purports that a pie without base and sides cannot be considered a pie. I disagree entirely, my mum (bless her) would cook many a pie without either; and consider shepherd's and cottage pies.

*in jest.

 

[garlichead]

Looks delicious. Mine are a little different in that I also use a bottom pastry. I also use onion and and peas and I generally deglaze with a wine before adding a liquid. Mushrooms are a good add and I'll do that in the future. Cheers.

 

[garlichead]

This looks as though there are no bases or sides to the pies.

I am currently in dispute with a moron* on another forum who purports that a pie without base and sides cannot be considered a pie. I disagree entirely, my mum (bless her) would cook many a pie without either; and consider shepherd's and cottage pies.

*in jest.

Yeah, agreed, it's not called chicken 'pot' pie for no reason. It was originally formulated to not have sides or bottoms and just the lid. Mind you many countries have a variation where that doesn't happen, this is basically a Canadian tradition I'm talking about and I believe in the US as well, while some people will call it a stew with a lid. Apple crumble I make without sides and bottom and it resembles a pie but isn't called one. Personally I believe it's a regional and cultural thing and there's no right answer. Cheers.

 

[garlichead]

I worked for a chef many years ago that actually lined a small tallish pot with pastry, and not puff, prebaked, then filled with a meat ragu, glued a lid on, made a hole and baked until golden, quite impressive actually. Apparently the recipe was centuries old.

 

[caseydog]

Yeah, agreed, it's not called chicken 'pot' pie for no reason. It was originally formulated to not have sides or bottoms and just the lid. Mind you many countries have a variation where that doesn't happen, this is basically a Canadian tradition I'm talking about and I believe in the US as well, while some people will call it a stew with a lid. Apple crumble I make without sides and bottom and it resembles a pie but isn't called one. Personally I believe it's a regional and cultural thing and there's no right answer. Cheers.

I have seen them both ways in the US. I like a bottom crust, because I like crust. But, I'm okay with a top crust only.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

I much prefer it with a bottom crust. That's the only way I make them at home, and when we're out, if I chance it and order a pie in a pub, I'll admit to being a little let down and somewhat sad the rest of the day if there's no bottom crust.

There's a guy on YT whose videos I watch from time to time. He cracks me up because he considers himself something of the last line of defense against the bastardization of "traditional" British cooking, especially where pies are concerned, and he can rant and rant over pies that don't have a bottom crust.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Yeah, agreed, it's not called chicken 'pot' pie for no reason. It was originally formulated to not have sides or bottoms and just the lid. Mind you many countries have a variation where that doesn't happen, this is basically a Canadian tradition I'm talking about and I believe in the US as well, while some people will call it a stew with a lid. Apple crumble I make without sides and bottom and it resembles a pie but isn't called one. Personally I believe it's a regional and cultural thing and there's no right answer. Cheers.

I would probably prefer my chicken pot pie to be without crusted sides or bottoms, personally. Just a covering on top.

Less soggy starches that way!

 

[garlichead]

I would probably prefer my chicken pot pie to be without crusted sides or bottoms, personally. Just a covering on top.

Less soggy starches that way!

Yeah for sure. I've made these in ceramic pots like for example a French onion soup bowl then take a 3/8th thick square of puff pastry roll it thinner a bit and glue on the bowl with water and brush egg wash over the top. You can decorate the puff with an indented pattern as well, looks nice too.

 

[FoodFighter]

This looks as though there are no bases or sides to the pies.

I am currently in dispute with a moron* on another forum who purports that a pie without base and sides cannot be considered a pie. I disagree entirely, my mum (bless her) would cook many a pie without either; and consider shepherd's and cottage pies.

*in jest.

Hey Yorky, glad you brought it up, it's a good point. I had plenty of puff to hand, and I could have blind baked with beads, but I prefer to put the filling in a pie container and then cook a second entire sheet of puff seperately. It's how a lot of carvery shops get it out in Dublin.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

FoodFighter I hadn't seen one of your YouTube videos in a while, good to see you're still doing it!

 

[FoodFighter]

FoodFighter I hadn't seen one of your YouTube videos in a while, good to see you're still doing it!

Cheers mate! got a bit disillusioned with YT, so my enthusiasm waned. But I'm back now!

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yeah, agreed, it's not called chicken 'pot' pie for no reason. It was originally formulated to not have sides or bottoms and just the lid. Mind you many countries have a variation where that doesn't happen, this is basically a Canadian tradition I'm talking about and I believe in the US as well, while some people will call it a stew with a lid. Apple crumble I make without sides and bottom and it resembles a pie but isn't called one. Personally I believe it's a regional and cultural thing and there's no right answer. Cheers.

No hon, it's a pot pie here in the US even if it doesn't have a bottom/sides crust. Although if it's a deep pie, I do love a bottom crust. A stew (to me) has no crust! And a crumble, yes, you make it how I would, no sides or bottom, just the crumble topping.