Creamy Curry Chicken Pot Pie

Pies in Winter, oh yes please. We have been struck with a very surprising Wintry cold snap here in North Queensland. Which means, it's perfect weather for making and eating pies, and lots of them. I made this pie in Cairns, before the cold snap really set in even though it was cool, but now that we are all rugged up, I want to make it and eat it again and again. It is a really delicious and healthy chicken and vegetable pie, and the left overs taste even better. When I saw this recipe on Lorraine@Not Quite Nigella's instagram feed it was a cold wet day, and I just knew I had to make it. A Chicken pie makes a nice change to the iconic Meat Pie with Mushy Peas and Worcestershire sauce or Tomato sauce which is a Queensland tradition, and during this cold snap I assure you that a lot of those are being consumed by hungry workers for lunches and dinners. There are still a few Pie Carts to be found waiting for hungry customers on the suburban roadsides in Mackay, and at some workplaces, and for some strange reason a Meat pie bought from one of those Pie Carts has always tasted better than from the shop.

Temperatures plummeted down to 7 degrees, even in Cairns when it was raining. We arrived home yesterday, after driving  halfway in the rain to Home Hill, a sleepy little sugar cane  town just over halfway to Mackay and it was freezing there. The motel room was very cold, the reverse cycle air-conditioning wasn't working, so we were in bed very early. Thankfully though we were able to Chromecast to Netflix on their TV, and the motel owners were serving delicious hot pizza to our room. That was after a long phone call to France to wish our much loved 6 year old Grandson, Hugo, happy birthday and watch him very excitedly open our presents to him.  So special, and thank goodness for technology. 

Thankfully the sun was shining yesterday for the rest of the trip home, even though it was still down to 6 degrees when we left in the morning.  Our maximum at midday today is 21 degrees,  which for me is perfect Winter weather, with the sun shining. Thanks so much Lorraine Elliott for this recipe, I've changed it  slightly, but it is a cinch to make even though it takes a little time and can't be rushed, and it is now firmly embedded in my repertoire of favourite meals. I would love it if you could make this pie, and let me know of any variations you make and what you think of it.

LET'S COOK:

Ingredients:

Feeds 4 people

1 cup/150 g / 5 oz diced carrots 

2 cups /300g / 10 oz diced zucchini

4 tablespoons / 80 ml / 3 fl. ozs. vegetable oil

1 leek, white part finely diced

50 g /1.7 ozs butter

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced

2 teaspoons / 4g / curry powder

500 g /1.11 lbs. chicken meat, thighs, tenderloins, breasts cut into bite sized pieces

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup/250 ml milk (full cream)

1 cup / 150 g frozen peas

1 cup / 175 g / 6 ozs drained tinned corn or frozen corn

1/2 cup / 50 g grated parmesan cheese

2 sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped

Salt and pepper for seasoning

1 sheet / 180 g / 6 ozs butter puff pastry

2 tablespoons egg wash ( 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water)

Method:

(I generally prepare the filling the day before I plan to bake it, so that it is cold before adding the pastry, and it all saves time on the day of serving. However if the filling is made in the morning and kept in the refrigerator all day, it should be cold by the late afternoon when you want to bake the pie.)

Preheat your oven to 180 deg. C/350 deg. F prepare your baking tray for roasting the carrots and zucchinis. Line the tray with baking paper.

Tip the carrots and zucchinis onto the lined baking tray. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, and bake for 25 minutes. 

While the carrots and zucchinis are baking, start cooking the rest of the ingredients.

Saute the leeks in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan, and until they are soft and golden.

 Add the garlic, throw in about a quarter of the butter, until the butter softens and melts, add the curry powder and fry until fragrant, and then add the chicken.

 Continue until chicken is cooked but not browned.

Now it's time to make the white sauce, but in the same pan. Move the chicken to one half of the pan, then on a low heat add the rest of the butter, wait for it to melt, then add the flour to make a roux. 

Give it a stir, and add the milk and stir until it becomes thick and creamy. You are aiming for a creamy white sauce.

Add the peas and corn, the chopped parsley, and the cheese. 

Then add the cooked carrot and zucchini, give it a light stir, season to your taste, and allow this to all cool completely.

Your delicious chicken pie filling is complete.

Because the filling needs to be cold before adding the pastry to the top, the simplest idea is to add the chicken mixture to the baking dish, cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for the next day, when you  are ready to put the pastry on top. 

Prepare a sheet of puff pastry to fit the top of your baking dish.

Brush the surface of the pastry with egg wash, cut a small hole in the top, to allow the steam to escape,  decorate with small pieces of pastry cut into shapes if you wish, and then place the dish back in the frig until the oven heats up to 220C/440F. The uncooked pie needs to remain cold until it is placed in the oven, to ensure the pastry will rise beautifully.

Bake the pie for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Bon appetit,

Pauline

Cooking with my little Grandson, Grandmothering and Discovering the Rhythm and Music of the Kitchen

Happy Father's Day tomorrow to all the great Dads in the world. We are home and almost recovered from what I am calling the Western Australian Super Virus which I came down with in the second week after I arrived in Perth four weeks ago, and which Mr. HRK succumbed to after he arrived, a week later than me. The house was already infected with the nasty bug when I arrived and Myrtille was struggling with it by that stage. However there wasn't much time to rest as they were just settling into a new townhouse in Perth, unpacking needed to be done, and I was to be helping to look after little Hugo, our adorable 13 month old Grandson over the next three weeks. Of course his Mum and Dad did the parenting through the night.




Grandma to the rescue. The first week was great as I felt really well and so was Hugo, and then after that we all just coped as we could as Hugo also was below par at times. When he slept during the day, I rested as well. It didn't help though that most days were really cold for me, and often wet at times. However I have some wonderful memories to sustain me until I see him again. We laughed together, we walked the streets of Victoria Park together  (he was in his pram), we napped during the day sometimes together, we shopped together, we played together, we explored together, and we cooked and chatted together.


 

A truck is always great entertainment for children, and there were plenty of them out working on this particular day in Temple Street cleaning the streets.

 Temple Street in Victoria Park is lined with beautiful, red flowering trees. I haven't been able to find out the name of them so if you know their name, can you please let me know. It was my favourite street to explore.

Temple Street

I tried to include Hugo in one cooking session most days when I was preparing for dinner that night and tried to coincide it with his morning or afternoon tea time, generally after a nap, when he was happy to sit in his high chair beside me whilst I chopped and  grated vegetables and chatted to him about what I was doing. Of course he nibbled on little bits of cheese and vegetables or fruit at the same time but what absolutely delighted me was how he made some of the activities into a game and found the rhythm and music in the simplest of tasks. At 13 1/2 months, he loves to move and dance to music as a lot of little ones do. When I was grating zucchini one day by hand to make
Zucchini and Bacon Slice a family favourite, Hugo started to move his shoulders and bob his head in time to the sound of the vegetables being grated on the metal grater. We both started laughing, it was fabulous. Such a spontaneous and musical response to such a simple activity. He also ate two  pieces of the Zucchini Slice that night for his dinner so it was a winner all round.

Then a couple of  times I was stirring a sauce or a mince dish  in a pot on the stove with Hugo on my hip and telling him what I was doing step by step and he loved it, and was totally engaged and rapt in the activity, saying Yes in his toddler way at the end of each sentence. I kid you not, we were having a very important conversation about cooking and ingredients. They were very memorable moments for me and reminded me how young children love to be involved in everything you  are doing if it is safe, clean, interesting and fun.

The whole experience reminded me again though how time consuming and tiring good parenting can be and how young parents need support, understanding and encouragement.

At home I try to cook most meals from scratch, however in a busy working family with a small child to be looked after, I think that some shortcuts need to be made with cooking. I found a good Australian Women's Weekly recipe book in a newsagent over there called the Clever Kids cookbook.

It's never too early to start cooking with kids

I bought it not only because the recipes looked delicious but they included taking some sensible shortcuts as well. Matthew does all of the cooking at home, I taught him well (ha, ha), although realistically I think I taught him more about the love of food and when he went away to University he really needed to start cooking to survive.  I thought this book could be useful for him as well. And who knows, maybe in eight years or so Hugo might enjoy cooking with his Daddy. I made a few dishes from this book, and the Broccoli Chicken Pasta Bake, and a self saucing Banana and Butterscotch Pudding were particularly delicious. I left the copy over there for Matthew,  and for next time I visit, however I will try and buy another copy here although it seems to be out of print now.  Perhaps the recipes are available on line somewhere. Of course I also cooked a lot of my favourite recipes from my blog.

Having fun with Granddad in the courtyard

A week before we left, Hugo decided to take off and walk on his own from the lounge room to the kitchen, with no warning. This is always exciting for parents, and we were thrilled that this important milestone happened while we were still there. He was so cute and excited about it as well and after that he was pushing chairs around and walking everywhere with a lot of encouragement from the adults.

It's great to be back home now to enjoy the warmth and beauty of Spring in the Queensland subtropics, and to hopefully completely recover from the highly infectious and debilitating W.A. virus. We flew back from Perth last Saturday, stayed a few days in beautiful Cairns with our daughter for some much needed R&R and then drove home last Wednesday.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and try to do something nice for someone.

Best wishes

Pauline

xxx