Chicken Pie

Ingredients

• 2 fowls or chickens
• 0.5 onion
• 1 sprig parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 0.5 tbsp salt
• 0.125 tsp pepper
• 0.33 cup flour
• as needed cold water
• pie crust

Method

Poach the dressed and jointed chickens in a stewpan with the halved onion, parsley sprig, and bay leaf, covered with boiling water. The liquid should simmer, not boil hard — you want a gentle poaching that keeps the meat tender and the broth clear. After 25 minutes, when the thickest thigh pieces are half-cooked through, add the salt and pepper. Continue simmering until the meat falls easily from the bone, roughly another 20–30 minutes depending on the age of the birds. You'll know they're done when the thigh meat yields completely to a fork and the skin has lost its grip on the flesh.

Lift the chicken pieces onto a plate and strain the cooking liquid through muslin or fine sieve. Skim the fat carefully — save a tablespoon of it for the thickening agent. Pour the stock back into the pan and reduce it by rapid simmer to 1 litre (about 4 cups). This concentration intensifies the chicken flavour and means less thickener is needed. Make a beurre manié by rubbing the flour with the reserved chicken fat until it forms a paste, then whisk it into the simmering stock in small pinches. The fat protects the flour from clumping; the suspension thickens through starch gelatinisation. Stir until no rawness remains and the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Strip the larger bones from the chicken pieces — leave the smaller ones for texture — and fold the meat into the gravy. Cool completely.

Set a small cup upside down in the centre of a pie dish (this creates a steam vent and supports the pastry dome). Arrange the chicken pieces around it and pour the cooled gravy over. Lay your pastry over the top, pressing the edges down to seal. Cut three or four slits in the crown to allow steam to escape — these should be decisive cuts, not timid scratches. Brush the pastry rim with water and apply a thin rope of leftover pastry around the edge, pressing it to adhere. Bake in a preheated 200°C oven until the crust is deep golden and risen, about 35–40 minutes. The pastry should be biscuit-crisp and the filling hot enough that steam rises from the vents.

Any leftover pastry can be cut into diamonds and baked separately at the same temperature until golden, then served alongside when the pie is reheated.