Chicken Pie Crisis

Yesterday I made a chicken pie.  It was not my first attempt at this classic dish - last year in my fresher enthusiasm I cooked for the house and presented them with a perfect specimen of poultry pie-ness.  The only problem was that it just wasn't what you might call 'tasty', due mainly to having made the sauce for the pie filling out of stock and not chicken soup - a rookie error, says my mum.

So this time, another year of uni under my belt and tin of condensed chicken soup at the ready, I was fully prepared for success and glowing culinary achievement. After all, who could possibly fail at the same dish twice.

Unfortunately I fell prey to probably my worst habit in the kitchen, my rather, haphazard, way of cooking shall we say.  Simply speaking, I ignored the recipe. You would think, as I did, that this would not be so obvious. That a little experimentation, a little blurring of measurements, or a little inventive 'je ne sais quoi', would make no difference whatsover.  But it turns out that a tin full of cold water, plus a splash of boiling for luck, is far, far too much liquid, and results in what can only be described as 'chicken soup with pastry on top'. 

Absolute nightmare, only made worse when to my humiliation and my housemates general amusement I had to resort to drinking it on a spoon.  Something clearly went seriously wrong here and I am writing this blog so no other unfortunate soul makes the same mistake.

Chicken Pie - the right way to do it

Fry some garlic, onion and leeks, chopped small, in , in a deep pan
Add chunks of chicken fillet, and stir until turns white
Add chunks of carrot
Add a tin of condensed chicken soup
Season with a combination of wine, salt, pepper, tarragon (whoever has that in their kitchen should go and find a more professional cooking blog to read...)
Add HALF A TIN OF WATER (no more than that please, it WILL end in tears)
Simmer for 15-20 mins

NB if you use normal, and not condensed, chicken soup, it is quite likely you will need even less water.  In this scenario, please consult a proper recipe as I can take no responsibility for the ensuing watery mess.

Meanwhile roll out ready-made, puff pastry onto (clean) floured surface
Move pie filling from pan to suitable pie dish
Place pastry over the top, make to slits in the top and brush with milk (no point wasting an egg)
Cook in pre-heated oven, at a normal temperature, until the pastry looks golden and flaky

Best of luck with this fail-safe, fool-proof recipe, which I'm hoping I will actually stick to next time...

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