Baking Club Challenge 3-Dinner

So the third challenge for the baking club was... Pie! I was super excited, because pie is amazing. I was trying to think of a savoury pie Becca and I could make, because we decided that we'd do a dinner with one savoury pie and one sweet one. My favourite pie ever is potato top pie, but Ashleigh's not really a fan of shepherd's pie, so we weren't sure if she'd like it... Although she didn't end up coming!! :O Anyway, I thought the next best thing would be a chicken pot pie and I looked through many recipes to find the right one... This one turned out to be amazing, a creamy filling and a good savoury pastry top. Ours was a little runny, as you can probably see in the picture, so next time we thought it would be better to cook the vegetables first to evaporate some of the water before putting it all together. This recipe is from The Food Network.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

5 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

3T olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

5 cups chicken stock

175g butter

2 onions, chopped

3/4 cup plain flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups carrots, diced and blanched for 2 minutes

2 cups frozen peas

1 leek, chopped

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

3 cups plain flour

1 1/2t salt

1t baking powder

250g cold butter, diced

1/2 to 2/3 cup iced water

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the chicken breasts on a baking tray and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle then dice the chicken into large cubes. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken. In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock (if not using oxo/bouillon cubes). In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2t salt, 1/2t pepper, and heavy cream. Add the carrots, peas, parsley and leek and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Then add the chicken and mix well. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Either divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls or pour into one big dish. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Or whatever shape your big dish is. Brush the outside edges of each bowl (or the dish) with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the dough to 2cm larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Pastry:

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.