Wednesday 21 November 2007

Chicken Pie

Made this chicken pie for lunch today. This is my very first attempt at making a pie. I have never thought I would be able to make a savoury pie, as I can't really cook I always stay away from any bakes that require some form of cooking.

Just last week, my cyberfriend, VB, sent me photos of her lovely chicken pie. She followed the recipe posted by Baking Mum. Instead of making into small individual pies, she made it into a big one. The pie crust was a beautiful golden brown..and it looked very flaky and yummy! I was so inspired with her beautiful pie that I wanted to make one right away :D
I followed the recipe posted by Peony of My Culinary Journal, who has adapted the same recipe from Baking Mum. Like VB, I made mine into big ones...since I do not have a big enough pie pan, I made mine into two medium sized pies...using a 20cm and a 18cm tart pan. I didn't brush on any egg wash on the crust as I do not like the glossy effect after baking.



From the many cookbooks that I have borrowed, I have seen beautiful photos of pies decorated with pretty trimmings and decorative edges. Since I do not have any experience to come up with those intricate trimmings, I simply pressed a fork around the edge of the crust to make it more presentable. With a small piece of dough, I cut out the 'leaves" with a knife since I do not have any nice cookie cutters to do the job. The veins are marked using the back of the knife. I simply place them on top of the crust and cut a few slits on the top before baking. As the dough was rather soft to work with, the leaves were not of the same size and thickness :'(


I was quite surprised that the 'veins' of the leaves were still visible after baking.


As my pie pans do not come with a loose bottom, I lined two stripes of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. When the pie was done, I tried lifting it out from the pan with the stripes of paper. However, the crust started to crack. In the end, I had to invert the pie onto a plate, and then invert it again onto a serving plate.


My niece came over for to our place today, and so the four of us each had a quarter of the pie. We liked the buttery, crisp crust very much. It is not overly flaky like a puff pastry, but tasted just right for a short-crust pastry. We have varied opinions about the fillings though. Thanks to my lousy cooking skills, my elder boy and my niece felt that the potatoes were too mushy for their liking...but they like the other stuff in the fillings. Whereas my younger boy and I find the soft and mushy potatoes tasty. The kids had fun trading away the stuff in the fillings among one another!



Upon the request by the kids, I had removed all the green peas from the mixed vegetables...all the 3 of them hate peas! So there is not a single green in the pie!


This is the other smaller pie I reserved for my better half. Since there were no extra dough, I didn't manage to decorate the top of this pie. I was glad that he liked it. He ate 3/4 of the pie right after dinner...and he liked the mushy potatoes fillings too :D

31 comments:

Aimei said...

Hi Happy Homebaker! It looks very yummy! And pretty also...:) Makes me hungry at this late hour when I'm about to sleep ..Haha..;)

Anonymous said...

I love chicken pies and yours look really good especially the way you tok abt the crust! I am looking forward to try many of the recipes you have share! I'm so behind :(

Anonymous said...

Yummy, the pie looks great! :)

Anh said...

What a great chicken pie! You can win anyone's heart with this.

Anne said...

What a gorgeous pie! The leaves added a wonderful touch...love the color of the crust :)

InspiredMumof2 said...

The pie looks really good and beautiful. Great for kids too.

Anonymous said...

Hi, wonderful blog, so inspiring that I started to try some of your creations, thanks for sharing. Made the Peach and Mango Charlotte, haven't tried yet. I have a question abt Holicks Cookies. I used Milo instead and cookie turned out a little "hard" wonder what went wrong :(

Small Small Baker said...

Looks so great! Your bakes always excite me!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hmmm, Aimei, you should try to go to bed earlier, why were you still up at this kind of hours? ;)
but I do think it's kind of 'shiok' to have a pipping hot chicken pie for late nite supper!!

Elyn, thanks! Your recent bakes were so professional! I love those xmas cookies you made!

Thanks, Hazel!

Anh, thanks!!

Anne, I was just playing around with the dough! The crust recipe is a keeper :)

InspiredMumof2, yes the kids like them. Initially my elder one didn't like the idea I was making them a chicken pie! He once ate a very awful chicken pie from some bakery shop...but fortunately, this pie didn't disappoint him too much :)

Adeline, hope you like the charlotte cake! I used Milo for the Horlicks cookies too. I didn't really find them hard...just that even though I prefer Milo as a drink, I think these cookies made with Horlicks really tasted better.

Small small baker, thanks for your kind words =)

Anonymous said...

The pie looks great! I like the veined leaves ;) My parents are big fans of pies, and I always make the buttery sort of crust as well, vis-a-vis the flaky puff pastry sort. I think the buttery crust complements savoury fillings very well.

Cuisine Paradise said...

Wow..this chicken pie realli look great!!!! Look at the filling.....wow..hungry le.... :) I must find sometime to try these out too..... :p

Anonymous said...

Hey, tried the Charlotte cake last nite, my sis in law loves it. Was thinking, may be should put a layer of biscuit fingers at the base to hold up the yogurt layer. Mine looked like almond jelly. Didn't have a good bake week ...

Baking Fiend said...

Love the pie u baked! and now one more item to my forever expanding todo list. LOL....

the fillings looks delish leh... i love mushy potatoes too!

Anonymous said...

Comfort food at its finest. This is one beautiful chicken pie!

Anonymous said...

hi.. can i ask if i can use set yoghurt for the crust? cuz i hav some left and looking for some delicious recipes like tis one! but i am afraid the set yoghurt will not blend in well rith the mixture and will hav the lumpy effect. hope u can help me. thks alot!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cheryl, pardon my ignorant, I do not know what is set yoghurt? I used plain yoghurt. Since this is the first time I have tried making a pie crust, I am afraid I am not able to give any comments on this. Sorry, I am of not much help in this area, hope you understand.

Anonymous said...

hi.. pls dont say that. realli appreciate ur reply. i am a regular visitor of ur blog. thks so much for sharing i hav tried some of ur recipes.. yummy! haha..

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cheryl, thanks for being so understanding! My knowledge in the area of baking is very limited...I am still a novice :) I'm glad to hear that you have tried and likes those recipes :)

Anonymous said...

HI HHB

it is me again...would like to consult u on how to cut the dough to fit the pie tin. Do you need some special equipment to do that? what about individual pie? have u made them before ? if yes, can share how you cut the dough?
wanted to make pies tomorrow but may have to change plans if i can't figure out the above....

thks
octopusmum

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Octopusmum, I didn't exactly cut the dough, I just divide it into two portions, and roll out into a round about 1.5" bigger than the pie tin for the bottom later. As for the top, I just roll it to the same size of the tin. You can alwasy use a knife to cut it, no special tools is required. I am sorry, I have not tried making them into small individual ones....I am too lazy!

Anonymous said...

Hi hhb

did u follow Poeny's recipe exactly and it yield 2 pies (one 20 cm and the other 18cm)? sorry, one more question, what type of pie tin are u using? i only have a small oven which can bake one pie at a time...

thks for your reply

octopusmum

Happy Homebaker said...

hi Octopusmum, yes I followed the recipe exactly, I managed to make two pies. For the 20cm one, I used a disposable foil pan. Whereas the 18cm pie pan, I got it from Daiso. It is actually quite small, as in the height...it is not very deep, it suppose to be meant for making tarts. My oven can only bake one at a time too. You can time it so that, once you placed the first one in the oven, you can start making the second one. Hope this helps. Do give it a try, I am very sure you will like it! I hope I can pop by your home to taste it! I wont be baking very much as I need to coach my kids with their exams next week :'(

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB

thks for sharing how u overcame the problem of a small oven...in the end, i didn't make the pies. i think i would need more time to prepare them and because of exam period, think i better spend more time coaching the kids (juz like u) so have to settle for sth that can be done in a shorter time...
well, for a first timer, i don't think i have the courage to show the shifu my masterpiece but, if it turns out okay, don't mind sharing with u if there is a chance to..haha...
octopusmum

Anonymous said...

hi hhb

managed to make the pie yesterday. but my fillings were too much (i used 400g potatoes and the 2 chicken breasts were also quite big). managed to make 7 individual pies and now, have 1 tub of fillings in the freezer.btw, is it okay to freeze the fillings? the dough was v soft and sticky despite putting it in the fridge overnight. It was impossible to roll using a rolling pin and in the end, i just used my palms to flatten it. overall, the pie is okay but i found the skin to be sourish, could be due to the yoghurt. need to find time to use up the rest of the fillings. do u have other dough recipes to recommend?
thks
octopusmum

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Octopusmum, I have not freezed the fillings before, so I am really not sure whether it is ok. but I would think as long as you use it up fast, it shouldnt be a problem? I'm sorry I am not able to recommend any other recipe as this is the only chicken pie recipe I have tried making.

Jackie said...

I m thinking of baking a chicken pie since last week, bot the Pampas pie crust at Phoon Huat, but was held up cos my girl asks for choc chip cookies, and i m a bit of worried on how to make the chicken paste.

thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I make the pie using peony recipie. i use 140gm butter. i think if we use 125gm butter also can bcos the proportion is 1:2 butter to flour for short crust party.

I make 5 small pies and one big pie. Filling I use 3 russet potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 chic breast, 1 hard boil egg and 1 small tin AYam peas. DH says wow here u get this recipie. He ate 2 big pcs for dinner. Gal ate 3 small pies.

A lot of work. Takes me 2 hrs to chop all the stuff.

One more thing, I have to turn the pie over to bake the other side which is hidden by the pie tin ELSE not cooked. For the big pie I put aluminium foil n turn it and it sticks to ot. maybe hv to use greaseproof paper better. I use 180 deg C to bake.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi White orchid, I didn't have to flip the pie over to bake...is your oven's heating element located at the top? Maybe you can bake it at a higher oven rack position?

Leen said...

Hi happy homebaker,
I've tried and they are really good, especaily the pastry. Worth trying. I've used a can of cream of mushroom to replace manual seasoning and they are excellent! Thanks for sharing!

Kit said...

Hi!
I have some trouble choosing which part of the chicken should I use for baking a pie/wellington. Which do you think is a better choice? Breast or thighs??

Anonymous said...

Hi Happy Home Baker,
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe. All my loved ones, friends and even my mum-in-law like this chicken pie.
Cheers :) Valerie