As winter draws closer, we've been turning our minds to the sort of warm, comforting dishes which fill the home with warmth and wonderful smells in equal measure.
So we've spoken to Christian Turner, executive chef of the Colony Grill Room in The Beaumont Hotel in London, to get some delicious comfort food recipes for the long, dark nights. Today, he shares his recipe for chicken pot pie, kept blissfully straightforward thanks to the use of ready-to-roll puff pastry.
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the filling
- 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced into approx. 1.5 cm cubes
- 400 g baby onions
- 400 g button mushrooms, cleaned, quartered
- 1 heaped tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 heaped tbsp. tarragon, finely chopped
- 1 litre chicken stock
For the velouté
- 75g butter
- 75g plain flour
For the pastry
- 1 roll all-butter puff pastry (320g roll)
- 1 egg yolk
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160˚. Poach the chicken in the simmering stock until tender, which should take around eight minutes. Remove from the stock and put to one side. Reserve the liquid in the pan.
2. For the velouté, melt the butter, add the flour and cook on a low heat for approximately five minutes, stirring occasionally and ensuring there are no lumps. Do not allow it to brown. Whisk in the chicken stock gradually and heat until thick.
3. Melt butter in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms and the button onions until tender.
4. Add the poached chicken, the mushrooms, onions and herbs to the velouté and season well.
5. Spoon the filling into four single-sized, oven-proof serving bowls, or one large bowl, and cover with the pastry and brush with beaten egg yolk.
6. Bake at 160 degrees centigrade for 35 minutes.
Credit: Melanie Johnson
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