Annie started her career as a chef, and is now an award-winning food writer who has written more than a dozen cookbooks. Her recipes are always as beautiful as they are delicious.
See more of Annie Bell’s recipes
Annie Bell
Annie started her career as a chef, and is now an award-winning food writer who has written more than a dozen cookbooks. Her recipes are always as beautiful as they are delicious.
See more of Annie Bell’s recipes
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Ingredients
For the filling
4 tbsp extra- virgin olive oil
1.6-1.8 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks*
500g leeks, trimmed and thinly sliced
150ml white wine
300ml chicken stock or water
50g unsalted butter
40g plain flour
50g full fat crème fraîche
2-3 tsp Dijon mustard, to taste
1 x 80g pack watercress, coarsely chopped
For the potato topping
1.1 kg medium or large waxy potatoes, eg Charlotte, peeled and halved or quartered as necessary
1 x 30g pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
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Get ahead
The filling can be made ahead and chilled, or frozen in the dish, with the potato added after defrosting. Leftovers reheat well
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large casserole over a medium-high heat, season the chicken pieces and colour them on both sides (you will probably need to do this in batches), then remove them to a bowl. Pour off the fat, turn the heat down a little, add another tablespoon of oil and fry the leeks for a few minutes until softened and lightly coloured, stirring frequently, then remove them to a large bowl.
Return the chicken pieces to the casserole, add the wine, stock or water and a little seasoning. Press the chicken pieces down (they won’t be completely covered), bring the liquid to the boil, then cover and simmer over a low heat for 35 minutes until the chicken is just tender, stirring halfway through. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate, reserving the cooking liquid (skim off any fat) and, once they are cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and shred the flesh, adding it to the bowl with the leeks.
Melt the butter in a medium nonstick saucepan over a medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute until it's a thick paste. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the cooking liquid and the crème fraîche until smooth. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently, and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes. Adjust the consistency if required and whisk in the mustard to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and leeks, and mix in the watercress. Transfer this to a shallow 2 litre ovenproof dish.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the potatoes and simmer until tender, then drain through a colander and leave for a few minutes for the surface moisture to evaporate. Return them to the pan and mash them very coarsely, partly chopping them with the side of the masher. Stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt, and then the parsley. Spoon the potato on top of the chicken – it should be loose and craggy.
Heat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6, and bake for 35-45 minutes until golden and crisp on top.
Tip
*It doesn’t really matter whether you use thighs, drumsticks or a mixture, however you happen to find them packaged.
Serve with
Tenderstem® broccoli with crispy pancetta and pine nuts
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Cover each pot pie with foil and freeze for up to 2 months. To bake from frozen, preheat oven to 400˚F (200˚C), and bake for 30 minutes with the foil on top. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown.
We suggest freezing your chicken pot pie filling unbaked. You can pre-cook it and then freeze and then re-bake to reheat, but if you do that, you may want to under-bake your pie crust just a little before you freeze.
To freeze, allow the sauce to cool completely before adding the chicken, peppers and mushrooms (You won't need to reheat the chicken before freezing, either). Place the pie filling in a freezer-to-oven safe dish or a foil tin. Roll the pastry out, place on the top of the pie and freeze before baking.
If you freeze pies after baking them, thaw them at room temperature for about three hours and then crisp them in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes.
When ready to bake pie, heat oven to 450°F. When oven is preheated, remove frozen pie from freezer; cut a few slits in top crust and place in oven. Do not thaw pie because no one wants a soggy pie. Bake 25 minutes.
Do not thaw the pie. Unwrap the pie and bake it at 425ºF (220ºC) for 15 minutes.Reduce the temperature to 375ºF (190ºC) and bake it for an additional 30 to 45 minutes or until the centre is bubbly.
You can make, bake, cool and freeze. Or you can make, assemble and freeze. Either way when you're ready to cook, there's no need to thaw; just add a good 15-20 minutes of extra baking time. Another way is to just make the filling, cool it and store in freezer-quality bags.
On the flip side, already-baked pies that are then frozen won't have the same crispy, flaky crust as pre-freeze, but in my experience they are still delicious, especially when reheated in the oven and/or served a la mode. Most cream, custard and meringue pies do not hold up well to freezing.
The pies can be covered and chilled for two days before re-heating. Alternatively, freeze them for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before re-heating.
Use cling film or baking paper to wrap each pie individually, then place into ziplock bags or freezer-safe containers. Label with date and type of pie. To reduce the risk of freezer burn and for best results once reheated, eat your frozen pies within two months.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Prep time: 1 hr
