Last Sunday I treated my mum for Mother’s Day with a bunch of beautiful flowers and a home cooked lunch. As I love cooking, this really wasn’t a chore for me and after a busy week my mum was over the moon with the idea.
I opted to make a traditional chicken and mushroom pie with fresh vegetables, goose fat roast potatoes, stuffing, gravy and homemade apple sauce. I must admit I left the pastry to Jus-roll, as I wanted to make it as simple as possible and I do think that their’s is pretty good.
Overall, the meal turned out just how I had planned; the pie was creamy and full of flavour (the nutmeg really is distinctive), the potatoes were crispy and the Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc complimented it perfectly.
To make my pie:
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts
- 150g button mushrooms
- 1 small chopped onion
- 1 finely chopped garlic clove
- 50g butter
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 300ml milk
- 200ml chicken stock (fresh or packet)
- freshly grated nutmeg to taste
- pinch ground white pepper
- pinch salt
- small handul fresh chopped parsley
- 2oz ready-made shortcrust pastry
- 1 beaten egg
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chicken and bacon and fry until the chicken begins to turn white.
- Add the mushrooms and continue to fry until the chicken is golden-brown.
- Remove the chicken and mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
- Add the onion and garlic to the same pan and fry for 2-3 minutes or until softened.
- Remove from the heat and set aside with the chicken and mushrooms.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for about three minutes, stirring constantly until it has formed a roux.
- Mix the milk and stock together, then add the nutmeg, white pepper and salt.
- Pour the liquid slowly into the flour mixture, whisking all the time until smooth. Simmer over a gentle heat, stirring constantly, for about five minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Stir in the chopped parsley and pour the sauce over the chicken and mushroom mixture. Mix well, then spoon into a pie dish and leave until completely cool.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Lay the pastry on top, press down the edges and trim. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and decorate the top of the pie how you would like.
- Make three slits in the top of the pie and then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden-brown on top.
If you, like me, would like to make your own apple sauce, simply cut up 2-3 cooking apples, add a tbsp of caster sugar and microwave until the apples have turned mushy – don’t let them overcook as this will leave you with a watery, sloppy mess, there should still be a few chunks of apple visible.
PS. I apologise about the quality of my photos, not sure why they turned out so blurry, maybe it was the G&T I had whilst cooking…whoops!
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