French Style Creamy Chicken Pie & Dumplings with Salted Caramel

Main: French Style Creamy Chicken Pie
Taste Magazine July 2020

Dessert: Dumplings with Salted Caramel
Taste Magazine July 2020

Hi Everyone!

Well, I don’t know about you but I have definitely been drawn to all the magazines at the checkout with beautiful winter recipes on the front covers. YES, I bought another one. TASTE is another of my “go to” recipe saviours. The July issue has a beautiful looking Chicken and Leek pie on the front cover. They are calling it “French Style” I guess because of the crème frâiche used in the sauce rather than traditional cream.

I have cooked many versions of chicken and leek pie even the MAV does a nice one which we all enjoy from time to time. This recipe just caught my eye, firstly because of the different way of presenting the pastry and also because it is a “do ahead” family style recipe. Something new to me was adding the cooked baby potatoes to the actual pie filling. The dijon mustard and crème frâiche certainly give it a savoury hit. This pie is anything but bland. All the favourites are there with bacon, mushrooms, leek, garlic and wine. The recipe says to cook the filling, cool for an hour and then place in the fridge for two hours. This could be done the day before needed or even cooked and frozen for another day.

This is the pastry cooked on top of the filling.

This is the pastry topping cooked separately experiment. It worked really well.

Having said that, it is very quick to whip up so what if you wanted to do this after work? I think the reason the filling needs to be cold is so that the pastry doesn’t go soggy. So, if you do want to make it a post work meal just spoon the hot filling into your oven proof dish. Line an oven tray with baking paper and overlap your pastry squares. Brush the pastry squares with the egg yolk and cook until browned. Lift the sheet of pastry squares carefully onto the hot filling and present as if just cooked all together. Might be worth a try don’t you think? ( I experimented and include the photos).

The pie was absolutely delicious and I simply served it with honey carrots and beans. The boys went back for seconds and they gave it 9/10.

Dumplings!!!!!! Yum. Memories of my childhood with this one. I cooked these many times for my kids when they were little. The only difference was that I was used to doing them on the stove top whereas these were done in the slow cooker. It is certainly a time saver and the taste is equally as delicious, however, I found that the little dumplings didn’t puff up as much and were a little floury and dense. You can’t ever go wrong with caramel and ice-cream though. 7/10.

This menu is a warm and comforting family meal. Hope you try it soon.

Until next week.

From my table to yours with love. x

French Style Creamy Chicken Pie with Leek, Mushies & Bacon

6 baby coliban (chat) potatoes (unpeeled)
1 tbsp olive oil
600 g chicken thigh fillets (cut into 4cm pieces)
200 g bacon rashers (rind removed, coarsely chopped)
200 g button mushrooms, (halved)
1 leek (trimmed, cut into 2cm thick slices)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
125 ml white wine
50 g plain flour
375 ml chicken stock
4 large fresh thyme sprigs (plus extra sprigs to serve)
125 g crème frâiche
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 sheets puff pastry (just thawed)
1 egg yolk (lightly whisked, sieved)

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-12 minutes or until just tender. Drain then set aside to cool slightly. Peel and quarter the cooled potatoes.
Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Reheat pan then repeat with remaining oil and chicken.
Add the bacon, mushroom and leek to the frying pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the leek softens and the bacon is slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until combined. Pour in the wine and cook for 2-3 minutes or until reduced by half. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
Gradually stir stock into the bacon mixture until well combined. Return the chicken to the pan and add the potatoes and thyme. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Stir in the crème frâiche and mustard then remove from heat. Set aside for 1 hour to cool slightly. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 2 hours to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 220°c/200°c fan forced. Spoon the mixture into a 2L (8 cup) square or rectangular ovenproof dish.
Cut each pastry sheet into 9 squares (you will need 16, so reserve any leftover pastry squares for another use) and brush with the egg yolk. Arrange pastry squares on top of the chicken mixture, overlapping each square and the edges of the dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden. Sprinkle with extra thyme, season and serve.

Dumplings with Salted Caramel

150 g self-raising flour
2 tbsp chilled butter (chopped)
60 ml milk
large pinch of sea salt flakes
vanilla ice-cream and/or custard to serve

Caramel Syrup

185 ml golde syrup
100 g brown sugar (firmly packed)
50 g butter
185 ml thickened cream

Place the lid on the slow cooker and preheat on High while you prepare the dumplings. Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub in the butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre. Add the milk and use a flat-bladed knife to stir until mixture just comes together. Divide into 12 portions and roll gently into balls.
For the caramel syrup, combine the golden syrup, sugar, butter, cream and 125ml water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook stirring, until sugar dissolves and syrup is smooth. Bring to the boil and remove from heat.
Pour half the syrup into the preheated slow cooker. Gently place the dumplings in the syrup. Pour the remaining syrup over the top of the dumplings. Cook covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with ice-cream and/or custard.

French Style Creamy Chicken Pie & Dumplings with Salted Caramel