Chicken Pot Pie

For our wedding we chose to do things a little differently. Bob and I had both lived out of home for a few years and in that time, had collected almost everything we needed to start our own home so a gift registry just seemed superfluous and would most likely result in the unnecessary accumulation of stuff and the replacement of appliances that were working perfectly fine. Instead of a gift registry, we asked each guest to bring a copy of their all-time favourite book for our home library. To be well-read and have a rich and diverse library has always been a dream of mine and to have 110 of our closest friends contribute a book that influenced their life sounded like a rare opportunity to good to pass. As a result, we had such a diverse mix of books that had particular significance to each person around the table. Mrs Keefe, as previously featured, bought us a cookbook which had a few simple beauties in it, including this one, Chicken Pot Pie.

Ingredients:
55g/4 tbsp butter
1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
450g skinless, boneless chicken breast
8 fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
3 tbsp continental parsley
150g/1 cup mixed frozen peas and corn
250mL/1 cup creme fraiche/double cream
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with salt
s+p

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan and add the leek and carrots and cook for 10 minutes or until soft and cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, cook chicken breasts in another frypan until almost cooked through. Remove from frypan and shred with forks (or shred in sections with Thermomix 2 sec/speed 5)
4. Add the chicken, tarragon and parsley, followed by frozen peas + corn and creme fraiche.
5. Bring to the boil and remove from heat.
6. Cut a large circle in the thawed puff pastry 2-3cm larger than the dish you are using.
7. Brush the edges of the dish with the lightly beaten egg yolk.
8. Spoon the chicken filling evenly into the circular deep dish and top with puff pastry.
9. Brush the entire surface with lightly beaten egg yolk.
10. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown and the pie is bubbling hot inside.
11. Serve!

*Excerpt from the Couples Kitchen by Ryland Peters, pg 96*