Chicken & Mushroom Puff Pastry
It’s a little overwhelming to make a Pie from scratch. Breaking it up into three parts, The Chicken, The Mushrooms and The Puff Pastry helps. Cooking the Chicken the day before also helps. I’ve included a video for making Béchamel Sauce below too. As with every meal, let the kids get involved.
Organic Ingredients: Serves 6
For Chicken
1 Whole Pastured Chicken
1 Onion
1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Sea Salt
6 Cups Water
For Mushrooms
Approx. 24 Cremini, White or Brown Mushrooms
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for cooking
Sea Salt, to taste
For Bechamel
3 Cups Milk, A2 preferable for digestion
3 Tbsp. Pastured Butter
3 Tbsp. Flour
1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 Tsp. Ground Onion Powder
Sea Salt, to taste
For Puff Pastry
2 Boxes frozen Puff Pastry (14oz. each), left in the fridge overnight to defrost
1 Pastured Egg, for Egg Wash
Flour, for work surface
Begin by cooking the Chicken; I do this the day before whilst also refrigerating the frozen Puff Pastry overnight. Place whole Chicken in a large pot with 1 Onion, Salt, 1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar and enough Water to cover the Chicken 3/4’s of the way up. Place on the stove on high heat and bring to a boil. Remove any scum that rises to the top and discard. Cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 3 hours. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove Chicken from pot and plate. Remove and discard skin. Separate the Meat from the Bones with your fingers, discard bones. Reserve broth and either use for another recipe, or freeze. Place the Chicken in a sealed tupperware and refrigerate until ready to use.
Season Chicken with Salt to taste. Chop Chicken and plate.
Wash Mushrooms in cold water and pat dry. Remove stem from mushroom head and discard. Slice mushrooms thin. Saute in Olive Oil on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes. Season with Salt. Plate Mushrooms.
Mushroom Jus
Using the pan you cooked the Mushrooms in, plus whatever Oil and flavor is left over, make the Béchamel Sauce. Here is a video on how to…If after watching this video your Béchamel is still lumpy, fear not, use a sifter and sift out the lumps.
How to make a Béchamel…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsxbuh1s-g0
Plate your Béchamel.
Bechamel, Mushrooms & Chicken plated.
Mix the Mushrooms and Chicken in with the Béchamel. Taste, add Salt & Pepper if desired. Let your pie filling cool while you roll out your pastry.
Next, for Pastry. Pastry should’ve been defrosted overnight in the fridge, and ready to use. Remove from packaging, and place onto a well floured work surface. Roll out - up to down, and left to right. Cut down the middle, one half will be your bottom crust, and the other your top. Roll out more to ensure that the entire surface of the pan will be covered. I’m using 9” x 10” disposable Pie Pans x 2.
Place bottom crust over the pan. Place some dried Beans in your pie and bake in the oven for 8. Remove from oven, discard beans and cook for 5 minutes more. Discard Beans. Fill Pie with Filling. Cover with upper Crust and crimp the edges. Heres a video on how to crimp…
Before baking, lacquer your pie. Beat a chilled Egg with a fork to make Egg Wash and use a brush to spread evenly across Pastry. Using a sharp knife, make a few slits in the Crust.
Place your pie on a rimmed baking dish (to catch any overflow), and on the bottom rack of a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.
The perfect end to this snowy day