recipe: chicken onion & olive pie

Beginning stage, when the dish takes form, a gathering of ideas, stream of consciousness:

Ok, if I relax & let my thoughts roam with the idea of,,,home. An overgrown garden>fruit trees full of yellow plums yellow honey flavoured apricots quince apples figs lemons>yellow flowers>bees>sun>long grass>hot muggy days & warm nights>the beach>the surf>sand between toes>pohutakawas>cold beers...

Focus on the food! The food! ...crisp fresh simple hearty is what I want.

Starting point then, the veg: yellow & red & green are the colours of summer>carrot ribbons, curly corn on the cob, broccoli spears, asparagus discs...butter lemon salt & black pepper, blanched & tossed>shape flavour colour texture contrasts>veg sorted.

Hero of the dish: chicken. Slow cooked, initially covered & cooked as a braise, then finished uncovered to brown>caramelised onions>saltiness from olives...with...hmmm the Marabella the other week was pretty tasty...on a bed of onions with prunes & capers, olives, & a glass of white wine, bay & pepper, a splash of pomegranate molasses if you have it, & I'm adding a spoonful of quince paste, just cause I can.

So then, a chicken braised in its marinade, finished uncovered to caramelise>chicken sorted.

Pastry. Now I come to think of it, yes: absolutely.

A pastry lid over  proper pie dish>crimped whole>lattice cut>cooked with a pastry base>possible to finish cooking in oven at home say 15mins>think dishes>think bother factor>pie in a dish better>oven 5-10 mins o heat thru enough>chicken pie sorted.

Salad to start/finish/combine: something green & crisp>spinach, baby spinach, whole leaves>alfa sprouts>zest & segments of tangelo>juice to dress & olive oil>almonds toasted>salad sorted,

....

yea, that works for me.

For cookery of the chicken, refer to my earlier fridaynightdinnerbox recipe for Chicken Marbella, as I took the Marbella idea & cooked a very similar chicken this time around too.

Ingredients: the chicken

1 whole chicken, quartered, on the bone

2 onions/a carrot/3 or 4 garlic cloves

1 lemon, cut in half/handful of olives/capers/prunes

dollop of quince paste & a drizzle of pomegranate molasses

a glass of white wine & a pinch of salt

method:

*put all in a casserole dish, marinate for 2 hours/overnight

*set oven to 220°

*cover with foil & braise the chicken for 30 minutes

*lower oven to 180°

*uncover (discard foil), sit the casserole on a lower oven shelf , cook another 20-30 minutes

keeping an eye on the chicken to see it doesn't burn or dry out

*eat as is, Marbella style, or allow to cool before ripping the chicken from the bone, discarding the bones & the lemon

* what remains is mixed together & ready to be used as pie filling.

Ingredients: the pastry: rough puff

500g flour/500g cold butter/350ml iced water/pinch salt

Method:

*chop the butter in small cubes & place in a large mixing bowl with the flour & pinch of salt

*rub in for a moment or so, just to take the corners off really

*make a well in the middle, add the water, combine gently, without kneading

*roll out to a rectangle shape, roughly - it will be chunky & lumpy still, thats fine

*fold pastry rectangle into three, turn 90 clockwise, roll out again

*repeat twice more & rest the pastry for 1/2 an hour

*then repeat that stage another 2 times 

*rolled, folded & turned x3 in all, with a rest between each time

*this is called 3x3 book turns & creates layers of pastry which rise in the cooking stage.

*check out the link for more detail on making puff pastry, slightly different (mines a cheat)

Ingredients: assembling the pie

pastry/chicken filling

eggwash- 1egg & splash milk beaten in a cup with a fork

Method:

*roll out the pastry, not too thin, for the lids

*I experimented with different sizes & pastry lid types, whatever works for you is best, for me I chose  large round ramekin type dish & a flat lid, which I decorated with pastry bird cutout

*brush pasty disc cutouts with eggwash & the underside edge, then lay over pie dish (filled already)

*crimp or pinch the edges, the eggwash is like glue & creates a seal when baking

*bake at 200° for 15-20 minutes, pastry should be golden

In a bowl, steamed summer vegetables, crunchy, bursting & with flavour. Rip off the flakey pie lid & all the sweet wet loveliness of the chicken onions prunes & olives comes wafting out...was that.the sound of a cold beer being opened somewhere in the background??