Chicken & vegetable pot pie

 






Amongst the recent summer heat, last week we were surprised with a bit of a cool snap for a couple of days.  It was actually a welcome relief from some of the heat and nice to get into the kitchen to cook something warming and take a break from all the summer salads of late.

I had some chicken breast and puff pastry in the freezer and together with a few vegies emerged this pot pie.  I've got to say that it looked impressive coming out of the oven all puffed up and perfectly golden.   The pastry was cooked to a perfect crispiness and the sauce inside was oozy and creamy,; neither too runny or too thick.

The only thing I would normally do differently is to use chicken thighs instead of breast but it's what I had on hand.  I also change around the vegetables depending on what's in season or what is left lurking in the vegetable crisper by the end of the week. 

 

The written recipe is below and you can also watch the embedded video to see how I make this recipe.

Chicken & vegetable pot pie

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
2 Tbs olive oil
1 diced onion
2 tsp garlic, minced
500gm chicken, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
1 large carrot, diced
200gm green beans, sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup light cream
1/4 cup plain flour
2 tsp mustard powder or Dijon mustard
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, lightly beaten
S&P

1.  Preheat oven to 200C
2.  In a hot pan add the oil.  Add onion and sauté for a few minutes. 
3.  Add the chicken and fry for a couple of minutes until the chicken pieces are sealed.
4.  Add the vegetables and fry for a few minutes.
5.  Add the mustard powder and flour and fry for a few minutes to ensure the flour is fried off.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Add the stock, water and cream.  Stir to combine and allow to come to a simmer.  Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is thickened.
7.  Pour the chicken mixture into a family sized casserole dish.
8.  Lay the pastry over the top and tuck the edges along the inner side of the casserole dish.  Make a slit in the centre with a knife to allow steam to escape.
9.  Brush the pastry with egg.
10.  Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the pastry is perfectly golden.
11.  Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Jerk spiced chicken

I must declare my love for the ever enduring slow cooker!  Apart from some browning of meat (which I've been known to forgo many a time), you simply throw your ingredients in, whack it on and leave it alone for hours to simmer away ever so slowly.  In fact, even lifting the lid to give said dish a stir is not recommended as this breaks the seal of the lid and cooking time needs to be increased.

I knew that anything requiring such little effort, that could produce such succulent and delicious results after a bit of neglect would be a staple in my kitchen.  And indeed the slow cooker comes out at The Shady Pine as soon as the cold weather announces itself.

I've had fun experimenting with slow cooker recipes for a while now.  However this recipe for Jerk spiced chicken drumsticks in a newly purchased slow cooker book won me over initially because of the name.  It continued to win me over because even though there is a long list of ingredients, everything except the chicken , is whizzed up into a paste in the processor so there is no lengthy prep.

You simply pour the paste over the chicken and let it cook away.  Ultimately, what really won me over was the fantastic taste.  The flavour from the paste is perfectly balanced.  The initial recipe called for 2 chillies, hower after tasting the chilli I had bought I decided to only use one.  This proved to be a good decision as one chilli was more than enough to impart some heat without taking over.  So I'd recommend checking the heat of the chilli to be used and adjust according to your heat tolerance.

I also decided to add the juice of a whole orange instead of the two tablespoons the recipe called for to make a larger quantity of sauce.  This also worked and I poured extra sauce over the steamed rice that I served with the chicken.  In fact, this sauce is so delicious, I'd be happy to eat it with steamed rice in its own right!

Jerk spiced chicken drumsticks

Adapted from recipe in Women’s Weekly Slow Cooker 2, pg54

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray

8 chicken drumsticks

4 spring onions, roughly chopped

2 inch piece of ginger, finely sliced

2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 fresh green chilli, chopped

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt flakes

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tsp mixed herbs (I used Italian brand, Ariosto mixed herbs for chicken.  This is a really lovely mixture of herbs including basil, marjoram, sage and more)

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 orange

A slow cooker and food processor are required for this recipe; I used a 4.5L capacity slow cooker.

1.       Heat a pan over high heat.  Spray pan with oil and brown the chicken drumstick in batches.

2.       Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.

3.       In a food processor place spring onions, ginger, garlic, spices, herbs, pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar and orange juice.  Process this to a fine paste.

4.       Pour the paste over the chicken in the slow cooker and mix well.  Place on the lid and cook on slow setting for 2.5 hours.  After this time, increase the heat setting to high and cook for another 1 hour.

5.       Serve chicken with rice and steamed vegetables with extra sauce if desired.