Chicken Pie - A One Hundred And Ten Year Old Recipe!

I'm an art fan as many of you would know, and I was reading a book about Australian artist Margaret Preston the other day: Margaret Preston Recipes for Food and Art by Lesley Harding.  Margaret married in 1919, and made use of a cookbook by Amie Monro called The Practical Australian Cookery.  This book came out around 1911-12, and is fairly light on with the measurements and instructions.  Typical of old cookbooks indeed!  

As I read through it, I found this recipe for Chicken Pie.  I believe we would call this a pot pie these days since it only has a pastry layer on top, and no bottom.  I was sceptical of this recipe I have to say, but Amie came up trumps.  It is dead easy, and so delicious.  I did tweak it ever so slightly, and add a few more details for clarity, though Lesley Harding tells us she has 'standardised and metricated' the original recipes.

golden brown, crispy on top and succulent filling within

Serves 6:

ingredients:

3 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and sliced

500g./18 oz chicken breasts, chopped into large, bite-sized pieces

enough plain flour - about 1/3-1/2 cup? - to toss the chicken pieces

salt and black pepper to season the flour - say 1 tsp sea salt and lots of black pepper (but you do you)

125g./4.5 oz mild ham, roughly chopped

250g./9 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 heaped Tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped (or roughly, as you please)

1 cup chicken stock

6 large tsp cornflour, to thicken the stock

extra black pepper 

1-2 tsp dried oregano

1 Tbs chives, finely chopped

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed

2-3 Tbs milk or cream to glaze the top

2-3 Tbs white and black sesame seeds to scatter over the top (optional)

Method:

First do the egg thing - boil 'em, peel 'em and slice 'em

Take your chopped-up pieces of chicken and throw 'em into a medium bowl with the seasoned flour; give 'em a good tossing

Make sure you've now chopped and/or sliced the ham, mushrooms and parsley

Make up 1 cup (250 mL/8 fl oz) of stock by boiling water and stirring in 1-2 heaped tsp chicken stock powder - or use that liquid in the carton or your own real stock if you have any

Then thicken it with 6 heaped tsp of cornflour; stir it in and let cool to just warm

Grab a pie dish and start layering - alternate layers of chicken, ham, mushrooms, parsley and eggs.  You will have a heaped dome of filling which you will squish down with the flat of your hand(s)

Gently pour the thickened stock into the dish, making sure it doesn't reach the very top as you don't want it wetting the pastry

Now sprinkle on the pepper and herbs; place the pastry over the top and seal/crimp around the edges of the dish with your fingers

Glaze the top with beaten egg, or milk or cream, and cut a couple of slashes in the top so air can escape

Sprinkle on the sesame seeds if using

Place the pie into a hot oven - 220C/430F for 20 minutes, then turn it down to 180C/360F for an hour.  Yes really, an hour, but make sure you have covered the top so it doesn't burn in that last hour - I swamped it in alfoil for an hour, then gave it 5 minutes at the end without the foil to finish off the top

Notes:

The stock will still just look like liquid when you add the cornflour, but that's okay - it will thicken in the oven during the bake time

I only used 3/4 cup of the stock, as that came close enough to the top

Amie suggests using an egg for the glaze, but I find milk or cream work just as well (I used evaporated milk)

I used a 23cm/9" diameter pie plate (across the top)

My oven is a poor, sad sap of a thing so everything takes a bit longer to cook, so the pie needed that last 5 minutes

gather your ingredients

layer upon layer ... (remember that ad?)

ready for the oven

after 20 mins. @ 220C

and another hour @180C

about to hoe in

we were going to have mash, but Mr P. forgot so peas it was :-) 

a revised edition

the book

(Joining up with Marg from The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking.)

© Sherry M.