July 2009 - Creamy Chicken, Pea & Bacon Pies

Well coming to the end of July and I really struggled with what to make out of this issue. I was going to make the Beef Daube on the front cover but I just haven't had the time. I was then going to make the Creamy Pancetta, Brie & Mushroom Croissants. They sounded terrific and would make a good brunch. I even bought croissants to make it but they never made it that far, I just ate them heated with jam....yum!

Finally I decided to make the Creamy Chicken, Pea &  Bacon Pies. These were lovely looking and I thought that it would be something that would be great to have for a very busy night tomorrow night. I am decorating a birthday cake tomorrow after work and I also have to make a couple of dips. So in between making buttercream for the cake and dipping strawberries in dark chocolate I made the filling for these pies. The filling was a little salty but very tasty. So I placed it in one of my Corelle serving bowls and covered with glad wrap to place in the fridge. While doing this I managed to knock the bowl off the counter dumping the contents on the floor and smashing my bowl. So, unfortunately I will not be able to make my pies tomorrow night and since I will be spending Saturday at the party I will not get a chance to make anything else from this issue. I will definitely give this another go as I really liked the filling and it was really easy to do. 

Creamy Chicken, Pea & Bacon Pies 

Serves 4 

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 chicken breast fillets, cut into 2 cm cubes (I cut mine smaller) 
• 6 bacon rashers, chopped 
• 1 large onion, diced 
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
• 150 ml dry white wine 
• 4 bay leaves 
• 3 tsp thyme leaves 
• 60 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 c (35 g) plain flour
• 2 c (500 ml) chicken stock, heated
• 1/3 c (80 ml) thickened cream 
• 3 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream 
• 1 c (120 g) frozen peas 
• 375 g block puff pastry, thawed 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

• Heat oil in deep pan, cook chicken in batches until browned, set aside in a bowl. 
• Add bacon to pan and fry until slightly crispy. Add to bowl with chicken. 
• Add onion to pan and cook until soft without colouring, then add garlic. 
• Add wine and herbs to pan and reduce to approx 1 tbsp. The add to bowl with chicken & bacon. 
• Melt butter in pan add flour and cook for 2 minutes or until golden. 
• Slowly add stock, stirring, and cook until smooth and thickened. 
• Return chicken mixture to pan with cream and simmer until thickened. 
• Season to taste and the place in a bowl and cool completely. 
• Remove bay leaves. 
• Pre-heat oven to 200 C. 
• Mix the creme fraiche and peas into the chicken mixture. 
• Spoon into 4 individual pie dishes, or one 2 litre baking dish. 
• Roll out pastry to 5 mm thick. Cut out 4 rounds to use as lids. Cut a thin strip from the edge of each piece, brush with a little water and press onto the rim of each pie dish. 
• Brush once more with water, then cover each dish with pastry. Press pastry edges together to seal, then trim excess. 
• Brush the tops of the pies with a little egg. 
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until pastry is golden and the filling is heated through, then serve.