Chicken Pot Pie

Here's a recipe for my son Brendan--who loves chicken pie so much that I just had to learn how to cook one properly. Based on a recipe by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin from their original "Cooking at Home" segment. Their method calls for a rough pastry using shortening and a lot of messing about. Today, we have frozen sheets of pastry that make this recipe a hell of a lot simpler. Traditionally, a pot pie doesn't have a base... but I added the instructions for it here in step 2. Feel free to skip that step if you like.

Ingredients

• 6 tblspns Unsalted Butter
• 4 sheets Puff Pastry, thawed
• 1 cup Carrot, chopped, 15mm chunks (1/2inch)
• 1 cup Celery, chopped, 15mm chunks (1/2inch)
• 1 cup Leeks, thinly sliced
• 1 tblspn Tarragon, fresh, chopped
• 1 cup Green Peas, frozen
• 4 tblspns Flour (all-purpose)
• 2.5 cups Chicken Stock (Recipe HERE)
• 1 cup Thickened Cream
• Salt and freshly ground Pepper
• 3 cups leftover Roast Chicken, 15mm chunks (1/2inch)
• 1 Egg, whisked

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 230degC.
2. Grab a 20cm x 5cm (8-inch x 2-inch) pie dish and smother it with a lump of butter. Line the bottom and sides of the dish using 2 sheets of pastry and trim the edges. Prick the bottom of the pastry all over with a fork and blind bake for 20 minutes (use pastry weights if you wish) then remove from oven and allow to cool, reduce oven to 200degC.
3. Let's do the veggies: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large deep-dish frying pan over medium-high heat. Add carrot, celery, leeks and tarragon, and cook, stirring just until slightly softened but not browned (reduce the heat if necessary to prevent browning), about 3 minutes. Transfer cooked vegetables to a bowl, wipe out the pan, and place it back on the stove.
4. Now, let's make the sauce: Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and melt over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking until the mixture bubbles and smells cooked (but don't let it brown).
5. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in cream, and cook 2 or 3 minutes, just until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in remaining stock.
6. Add your cooked vegetables, peas, chicken and the sauce to your pastry-lined pie dish. Mix very gently and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Lay the remaining 2 sheets of pastry on top and trim the edges with a knife. Use a fork to press down along the entire edge to seal the pie. Tear the leftover pastry into shreds and scatter it all over the top if you'd like a more robust crust. Poke tip of knife through crust to create 3 steam holes near the center. Brush the egg over the top of the pie.
8. Place on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake 20 minutes at 200degC. Reduce temperature to 180degC and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling through steam vents.
9. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.