Tom Parker Bowles is back with a classicly British winter warmer - tasty chicken and mushroom pie!
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
75g/3 oz butter
50g/1 1/3 oz plain flour, sifted, plus extra for rolling pastry
600ml/20ml/20 fl oz hot chicken stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
Tabasco
1 large onion, finely chopped
225g/8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
150ml/5 fl oz dry white wine
1 cold roasted chicken (the best you can afford), flesh stripped and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon
1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 egg, beaten, to glaze
500g / 1 lb 2 oz all-butter puff pastry
Method
1. Melt 50g/ 1 3/4 oz of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Don't let it colour. Slowly add the hot stock until you have a thick sauce. Season, then add the mustard, lemon juice and a few dashes of Tabasco and leave to simmer for two minutes.
2. Saute the onion and the mushrooms in the remaining butter until soft. Add the wine, bring to the boil to cook off the alcohol, then add the mixture to the sauce, stirring over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken and herbs, then allow to cool.
3.Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Put the chicken mixture into a 2 litre/3 1/2 pint pie dish and brush the edge with a little beaten egg. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and lift onto the pie dish. Cut a couple of small vents in the pastry and press around the edges to seal well. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.