Chicken and Asparagus Pot Pie

A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (30 grams) butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, chopped into small cubes

1 stick of celery, chopped into small cubes

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 cup sliced mushrooms

500 grams chicken breast, cut into small cubes

1 bunch asparagus, woody ends snapped off and the remainder cut into 2cm lengths

1 cup frozen peas

2 handfuls baby spinach leaves

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons milk or cream

1 egg

1 sheet shortcrust or puff pastry (1/2 a sheet of Carême brand sour cream shortcrust, or a single sheet of Pampas or other supermarket brand)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion, carrot and celery, as well as some salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.

Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they have cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the chicken pieces, turn the heat up and cook until they have lost all pink colour.

Stir in the asparagus pieces, peas and baby spinach leaves, followed by the flour. Stir the flour in so it's combined evenly with the liquid in the pan, and cook for a few minutes to remove any raw taste.

Add in the stock, tarragon and thyme. Bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook until the liquid is thickened and the chicken pieces are cooked through. (Approx. 5-10 minutes).

Stir through the milk or cream and turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tip the hot mixture into a pie dish (mine is a 24x16x9cm oblong enamel dish), or into individual ramekins for the echt Pot Pie experience. 

Brush the rim(s) of the pie dish(es) with beaten egg, and cover with pastry, pressing along the edges to seal and trimming off any excess. Brush the tops with beaten egg, cut a few slits for air venting purposes, and put straight into the oven. (If the filling is hot, the pastry will start to melt so you'll need to move quickly).  If you want to assemble the pie in advance - let the filling cool completely before topping with the pastry, and keep it in the fridge until you want to bake it.

Bake the assembled pies for 30-45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is piping hot.

Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 1 large or 4 small pies, feeds 4

Potato and Raclette Tart
Recipe by Sarah Cooks, Pastry from Joy the Baker

Ingredients
For the pastry
160 grams plain flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
115 grams cold unsalted butter
¼ cup cold buttermilk, plus a few tablespoons extra if required
For the filling
4 medium kipfler potatoes
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tablespoon butter
100 grams ham, roughly chopped
125 grams raclette cheese, grated
2 sprigs thyme
1½ cups cream
3 eggs

Method
To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Chop or grate the cold butter into small pieces. Add to the flour and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles damp sand and the butter is evenly distributed. Make a well in the centre and pour in the 1/4 cup buttermilk, stirring with a fork to combine. Once it comes together in a shaggy dough, knead together, and form into a disc. Wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour (or up to overnight). Roll the rested pastry out into a large circle, approximately 5 millimetres thick. Line a 24cm loose-bottomed flan tin with the pastry and trim the edges. Refrigerate for a further 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C. Line the pastry case with foil and fill with baking beans or dried pulses. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Set aside while you make the filling.
To make the filling, peel the potatoes and cut into 1-cm slices. Cook in boiling salted water for 5-10 minutes, or until just tender when poked with a skewer. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan. Add the onion slices and cook on a low heat until completely soft and dark brown. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Turn the oven down to 180C. Place the onions, potato slices, ham, and grated cheese into the pastry case. Sprinkle the thyme leaves over.
Whisk together the cream and eggs and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the flan tin. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and just set. Allow to cool slightly for the filling to set before slicing.
Serve with cornichons and green salad.
Makes 1 x 24cm tart

Pastry Case ready for baking

Blind baked pastry case

Pastry case, ready to be filled

Rhubarb Custard Tart, ready to be baked

Slices of tart!

Rhubarb Custard Tart

Rhubarb Custard Tart
Pastry recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat, Custard recipe adapted from Woman and Home, all else Sarah's own

Ingredients
For the pastry
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon sour cream / orange juice / lemon juice
1 pinch salt
120 grams plain flour
60 grams cold butter
1 extra egg, for glazing the pastry
For the rhubarb
7 sticks rhubarb, to give approx. 450 grams when trimmed
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons orange or mandarin juice
2 tablespoons water
For the custard
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
175 grams caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The zest and juice of 1/2 a mandarin
450 millilitres double cream

Method
For the pastry
Whisk together the egg yolk, sour cream / orange juice or lemon juice and the pinch of salt. Set aside. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Chop or grate the cold butter into small pieces. Add to the flour and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles damp sand and the butter is evenly distributed. Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg yolk mixture, stirring with a fork to combine. If required, add 1-2 tablespoons of cold water to help the dough come together. Once it comes together in a shaggy dough, knead together gently, then form into a squat disc. Wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes (or longer).
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a large thin disk (approx. 5 millimetres thick), and line a 24cm loose bottomed flan tin. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Line with foil or baking paper, fill with baking beans (or dried pulses or rice or sugar) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and baking beans.
Beat the extra egg, and brush the inside of the pastry all over with beaten egg. Bake for a further 10 minutes. Set aside.
For the rhubarb
Wash and trim the rhubarb. Cut into 2cm chunks. Place into a saucepan with the sugar, orange juice and water. Cook over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft. Transfer the rhubarb to a cold bowl and allow to cool.
For the custard
Whisk together the egg yolks, whole eggs and caster sugar until just thick and creamy. Whisk in the corn flour, followed by the vanilla extract, mandarin juice and zest, and the cream.
To assemble and bake
Turn the oven down to 160C.
Place the rhubarb into the pie shell and spread out evenly. (If a lot of liquid has come off, discard it, you want mainly just the pulp). Pour the custard mixture over. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until mostly set with just a hint of wobble underneath but no obvious liquid. Cover with foil halfway through if it's browning too quickly.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before de-moulding and transferring to a serving plate. Refrigerate until completely cold. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Makes one x 24cm tart, serves 8