Chicken Pie

Actually, now that I think of it, my house does have quite a number of specialty dishes. It was just that we didn't have time to make them during our last barbecue. Our house chicken pie is not the wimpy bite-sized "pies" that you sometimes get during weddings and various functions. Our pie is big, with loads and loads of juicy chicken filling, even with cheese, all locked in a delicious shortcrust pastry! Here's what you need to do:

What you need:
Crust:
Plain flour (225g)
Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
Butter, chilled and diced (115g)
Iced water (3-4 tablespoon)
Filling:
Chicken - any piece
French fries, unfried
Chicken stock
Cornflour

Salt and Pepper, for seasoning

What you do:

1. To make the filling, first boil the chicken until cooked. If using chicken with bones, boil until the meat falls off. Collect the chicken meat and drain, reserve the boiling water. Mince the chicken, either shredding finely by hand, or with a electrical grinder. Or, you can just be lazy and use pre-minced chicken, but the results are not as nice (in my humble opinion, anyway)
2. Return the minced chicken into the pot, add chopped uncooked french fries and more water, if necassary. Add seasonings - chicken stock, salt and black pepper. Simmer until very water is left. Add in cornflour mixed in with a little water to thicken it. Make sure its still moist, or your filling will be too dry.
3. To make the crust, rub the butter, flour and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle some water into it. Combine gently with your fingers. If its too dry, add some more water. Don't make it too moist either.
4. Shape the dough into an oval and wrap in cling wrap. Chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes before using.
5. To assemble the pie, roll out the pie crust dough with a rolling pin, and place it in a pie tin. Bake it empty at 190 C for 5 - 10 minutes (weighed down with an oven proof dish or baking beans. Remove weights and bake for another 10 minutes.
6. Fill the dish with the chicken filling. Place slices of cheese over the filling before covering the pie with more crust dough. Bake for another 20 minutes at 190 C. Alternatively, you can also cover with foil and store in the fridge for not more than a week.

That was quite hard to write out -_-;; It may sound a bit complicated, but its really quite easy. I can't quite make the shortcrust pastry myself though. Ibu usually handles that, and she doesn't usually use specific amounts. So the recipe I gave to you up there is from a book. I've never tried it though, sorry :P Should be fine, though... I think... :P

Anyway, if you want, you can season the pastry dough with other things, other than salt. Feel free to add in things like pepper, garlic powder, various herbs, maybe even Parmesan cheese? Should be quite yummy, I think. :D

But even without those additions, a well-made pastry is delicious. I would not be exaggerating when I say that the quality of the pastry of the pie would determine at least half of its yumminess factor. I can't quite make it all that well yet, but apparently, the pastry I made last time in UK was way better than the one that I had bought ready-made. So stay clear of those. Though I don't really know whether you can find them in Brunei.

Our pie tin is big enough so that you can cut yourself a nice big slice, as you can see from the picture. (No, I have no idea why the filling looks pink. Must be the light). But, we also have a pie maker (which is years and years old) which is quite funky, hehe. You just place the pastry in it, fill it up with filling and cover it, and you'll get a nicely shaped pie, like so. The first round is fine, but once the machine gets hot, its quite fiddly to use. Oh well, I still like it anyway :P