Frankie's Nuptial Chicken Pie.

One of my closest friends Frankie got married to Ali on Saturday.  They are a wonderful couple.  One of the best.  I couldn't fly to Guernsey for the big day and so had to console myself with regular wedding planning email updates from the bride, a couple of texts on the day and toasting the bride and groom on Saturday over a chicken pie, the recipe of which Frankster gave to me years ago.  It is one of the most delicious chicken pie recipes and is, like all great recipes, easier that it tastes.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, skin removed and chopped into bite-sized chunks
olive oil
250 g shallots, peeled and chopped
2 leeks, sliced
25 g unsalted butter
300 ml creme fraiche (the low fat option works pretty well)
150 ml chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Puff pastry, usually found in the fridge or freezer section in big supermarkets
1 egg, beaten

From experience - I bought ready rolled pastry from the freezer section in the supermarket.  As you can see from the pictures, post defrosting it cracked as I unwrapped it and left crevices on my pie so I didn't get the smooth professional looking pie.  So in hindsight, I would use the non-frozen, not pre-rolled pastry option.

Method

1. Preheat over to 220C.
2. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a deep frying pan with an ovenproof handle and add the chicken, cook until it has sealed (turned white all over) then remove from the heat and tip into a large bowl.
3. In the frying pan that housed the chicken add some more oil and fry the shallots for 5 minutes over a medium heat.  Place the pan with the shallots in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove and add the shallots to the chicken in the bowl.

4. Melt the butter in the same frying pan used for the chicken and shallots (this allows the flavours to mingle nicely) and add the leeks, fry until soft then remove and add the leeks to the chicken/shallot bowl.
5. Heat the creme fraiche and stock together in a large saucepan.  Season generously with freshly ground pepper and a large pinch of salt.
6. When the creme fraiche and stock comes to the boil add the chicken and simmer for 2 minutes before adding the shallots and leeks to the saucepan.

7. Tip the contents of the saucepan into an adequately sized pie dish (so that the filling comes almost to the rim).
8. Roll out the puff pastry (defrosted if frozen) on a lightly floured work surface, cut a strip to go around the edge of the dish and place it on the rim.

9. Top the pie with the remaining pastry then use a sharp knife to cut the lid to size, using a fork to seal the lid with the rim.

10. Brush with the beaten egg and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

I served this with creamy mash and peas with minted butter.  It was delicious, and while perhaps not the actual fare of Frankie's wedding, I think it would be a winter wedding competitor.

To Frankie and Ali, we hope you have a lifetime of happiness together xxx