French Chicken, Shallot and Tarragon Pie. Divine.

I completely adore recipes that combine chicken, tarragon, cream and mustard.  There is something provincially French about the union.

This is my French puff pastry chicken pie, a complete delectable joy.  However, feel free to omit the pastry and cook the sauce for longer on the hob, or until the chicken is cooked through, and then serve on some tagliatelle with a good sprinkling of parsley.  Scrummy.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

3 skinless, free-range chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized cubes
300 g shallots, halved
100 g mushrooms, a mixture would be fine
 olive oil and butter for pan frying
3 garlic cloves
170 g creme fraiche
2 tbsp cream
100 ml white wine
4 tsp dried tarragon
4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 dessertspoons lemon juice
salt and black pepper
100 ml vegetable stock
250 g all butter puff pastry (from the freezer section of good supermarkets)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Heat some oil and butter in a saucepan and seal the chicken on all sides, then place in a bowl.  In the same saucepan add a little more oil and butter then fry the mushrooms and garlic over a moderate heat.
3. In a small saucepan melt a little butter and oil then add the shallots, cook with the lid on over a low heat, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until the layers come apart easily.

4. Once the mushrooms have softened, remove from the heat and add the chicken and shallots to the pan.

5. Deglaze the shallot pan by pouring in the white wine, scrapping the base of the pan with a wooden spoon and cooking over a high heat for a few moments, or until the wine has greatly reduced.  Then add the creme fraiche, cream, tarragon, mustard, lemon juice, seasoning and vegetable stock.  Bring to the boil and then cook over a gentle heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
6. Stir the sauce over the chicken mixture then pour into a pie dish.

7. Press a strip of puff pastry around the rim of the pie dish then top with the remaining pastry.

Crimp the edges.  There is no real point in trimming the excess, rather just pile it on top around the edge.

Brush with the beaten egg and cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Delicious with mash and peas.