Claire's Cake Bake & Other Foodiness

Tonights dinner wasn’t something I’d normally make when trying to eat more healthily, but I am participating in a forum monthly challenge and this months recipe certainly made Anthony smile. In fact, anything with sausages makes Anthony happy. The recipe is taken from Jamie’s Dinners – I halved everything to make dinner for two but even they were extremely generous portions.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• Olive Oil
• 2 knobs butter
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (Mr Oliver uses 1kg/2lb 3oz boned and skinned chicken legs, cut into pieces)
• 2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced into 1cm pieces
• 2 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 sticks of celery finely sliced
• A small handful of thyme, leaves picked
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 wineglass of white wine
• ½ pint milk
• s&p
• 225g good pork sausages
• 1 x 500g pack of all butter puff pastry
• 1 egg

Carry on reading & leave a comment…

I’ve been wanting to make a pie for so long now, but as I don’t cook much meat I’ve kind of put it off and my new Nigella pie dish has been patiently waiting in the cupboard.

Well last night we where in Tesco & I picked up Olive magazine and some corn fed chicken breasts. And it just so happened Olive contained the kind of pie recipe I’ve been craving.

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts
• 8 shallots – 6 whole, 2 sliced
• 100g creme fraiche
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar – I’d probably use a touch less next time
• 75 ml white wine
• Small bunch chopped tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1/2 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Ready rolled puff pastry

How to Do It

1. Heat oil in pan
2. Cut chicken into chunks & brown in heated oil
3. Once brown remove chicken & add all the shallots and cook for 8 minutes
4. Add vinegar & cook until reduced by half
5. Add chicken, wine, creme fraiche, tarragon & cornflour mixture – cook for 5 minutes
6. Add mixture to pie dish & cover with puff pastry (cut to just larger than the pie dish)
7. Cook for 25-30 minutes on 180°c
8. Let pie cool for 5 minutes before serving

Enjoy!