Ingredients:
- 1 Good quality whole chicken
3 Laurel leaves (Bay leaves)
2 Tablespoons White or Brown Vinegar
5 Cloves
5-6 Black Pepper corns
5 Allspice berries
5-6 Coriander grains
4 Fresh thyme leaves
3 Carrots chopped in large portions
1 Large onion that has to be peeled and cut in quarters
Salt
1 Ready made puff pastry roll
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
Method:
Thaw the pastry roll at room temperature 1 hour before going to the oven.
1 Medium oven dish.
Remember to remove anything that has been put inside the saw chicken.
Place the chicken in a heavy saucepan
Add all the above ingredients and add 2 cups of water.
Cover the saucepan.
Bring it to boil then turn to very low heat and let it simmer until the chicken practically falls of the bone.
Remove the chicken from the saucepan and place it on a wooden working board and let it cool slightly.
Sift the remaining sauce over a bowl, add the cooked vegetables in a greased oven dish
Heat the Oven 210 degrees (or according to what is recommended on package of the pasty)
You now need to pull the chicken apart from the bone, shredding the meat and cut the skin , if you like having it in the pie, in small pieces. Add this to the vegetable in die bowl. Make sure there all the small chicken bones are removed.
Sauce:
In the same saucepan you used, heat the butter, add the flour and mix it until it has a smooth texture. Add slowly 2 ½ cups of the sauce you sifted and let it simmer for at least 3 minutes or until you don’t taste the flour. If you feel you want a little more sauce, make it accordingly, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon flour and then add more of the sauce. Remember please, do not put too much sauce in.
Pour the sauce over the shredded chicken
Whisk egg with water to make an egg wash. Brush edges of dish with egg wash, Place a lid over dish (Puff pastry)l, cutting off access dough, pressing gently to adhere it to the outer sides of the dish. Brush the lid with egg wash. Make patterns on top with left over dough, make holes with a fork to let steam through. Bake until crust is slightly bronzed for 11 minutes, and then lower the heat to 150 degrees for another 11 minutes for meat to warm up.
Hope you enjoy making this as much as I did, it really is a old fashion recipe that has the best flavors I have ever had in a chicken pie.