Two for one chicken dinners

My thanks to the Hungry Squidz Choice group for this award.

Picking out a good chicken to start with is paramount. The breasts and thighs should be plump with large pads of fat. A 2.5 - 3 kg chicken is generally a good size to feed a family of four plus give some leftovers for the rest of the week.


I've discussed in detail how to cook a roast chicken dinner here.

Once you have roasted your chicken, drain off all of the fat and any liquid from the roasting tin into a glass container. When cool, that can be kept in the refrigerator, covered or uncovered. You can either keep that as pure chicken drippings, or the drippings from any roast can be added, except roasted ham as that is too salty.

The resultant fat will form the basis for roasted root vegetables in future.
The jelly underneath can be fed to your cat or dog.

If the jelly is kept separate, the fat and jelly underneath can be used to make a gravy for a pie later in the week.

Making a stock

Pull off as much remaining meat as you can from the chicken. Save that in a covered bowl. Put the carcass and skin into a stockpot and cover with water. Add a large pinch of salt, a few peppercorns, a quartered onion, and a crushed clove of garlic.

Bring it up to a boil, turn down the heat and cover. Let that simmer at a slow boil for 3-4 hours, topping up the water if needed.

Once cooled, remove the bones and strain the liquid into a large container. Cover and keep in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use it.

While a roast can be nice, sometimes you want something a bit simpler. In our house, that means fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a vegetable on the side.

Save money buy getting a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself. If you have access to an old-fashioned butcher like I do, you can ask him to quarter the chicken for you.

The absolute best coating I have found for chicken, and pork loins, is matzo meal. It's a consistent size, sticks to the chicken easily, and browns nicely.

You'll need
an egg
matzo meal

Whisk up 1 egg in a shallow dish.

Pour a 1/4 inch layer of matzo meal on a piece of greaseproof paper.

Dip the chicken pieces into the egg then roll in the matzo meal.

Let each piece sit for a few minutes so the coating can dry.

Heat enough fat in a large skillet to make a 1/2 inch layer. For the best flavour, I prefer to use lard, but a good vegetable oil will work as well.

Heat that until a small amount of the matzo and egg coating dropped in the oil starts to brown immediately.

Add your chicken pieces in a single layer to the hot fat. Cover and leave to cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Check the pieces and if browned, turn over. Leave to cook for another 10 minutes or so.

Remove the chicken and place on kitchen paper to drain. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Dice the cooked chicken and place into a bowl.
Chop 1 onion
Seed and chop 1 green pepper
Seed and chop 1 red chili
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Add the chopped vegetables and cook until soft.
Add 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Add 1 teapoon ground turmeric
Add 1/4 teaspoon, more or less to taste, dried chilli
Add 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour.
Stir constantly for 1 - 2 minutes over a low heat.
Gradually add enough milk to make a medium white sauce. (No, it won't be white)
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the sauce is made you can either -

Roll the chicken up in tortillas with a bit of sauce and a small amount of cheddar cheese.
Place them in a casserole dish or deep baking dish, cover over with any remaining sauce, more cheese, and a few chopped chillies.

OR
Make what I like to call a chicken enchilada lasagne.

Butter the bottom of a casserole dish. Put a layer of tortillas, a large handful of chopped chicken, a layer of sauce, and a bit of cheese. Repeat the layers, finishing with the cheese. Add a few green chillies to the top if you want.

Both will bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes in a moderately-hot oven. Gas mark 5/375F. The sauce and cheese should be browned and bubbling on top.

Make the filling

Dice 1 cup cooked chicken
Chop 1 onion
Peel and dice 1 large carrot
Mince 1 clove garlic
1 cup frozen peas

Saute the onion, carrot, garlic, and peas until the onions and carrots are softened.

Add the diced chicken.

Add 1 teaspoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.

I will also add in any leftover cooked vegetable, sausage, and stuffing from the roast dinner.

Season to taste.

Make a Gravy

Use the saved chicken fat and jelly from the roast and 1 pint of the pre-made chicken stock.

Melt the chicken fat in a deep pan, add butter or lard if you need more fat to equal about 2 tablespoons total.
Add 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
Stir that over heat for 2 - 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Add the jelly.

Stir until that is fully incorporated.

Gradually add 1 pint chicken stock

Stir each time until the liquid is incorporated.

Return to the heat. Stir continuously until it has thickened. Add more stock if needed to thin it down. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Add enough of the gravy to the filling to make a wet mixture. Save the rest to pour over your pie when you serve it.

Pour the mix into your casserole dish

The Topping

There are three choice for topping a chicken pie.

Mashed potatoes
Shortcrust pastry
Puff pastry

Mashed potatoes
Peel and dice 1 kg (about 2 pounds) potatoes.
Boil until just soft.
Drain and mash.
Add 1 tablespoon butter
Season to taste.

This should be a dry mash.

Cover the pie with the potatoes, sealing it around the edges.
Run a fork over the top to make a grid pattern.
Dot the top with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Shortcrust pastry

Frankly, I buy my pastry any more, but you can make it, if you are so inclined, easily enough.

Our British friend, Delia, has shown how to make shortcrust pastry here.

Roll the dough out large enough to cover the top and sides of the dish.

Whisk 1 egg

Using a pastry brush, cover the rim of the casserole dish with the beaten egg.

Lay the pastry over the dish and press into the sides of the dish. Trim off any excess.

Use the excess pastry to create shapes to decorate the top if desired.

Or, using the back of a knife gently run diagonal lines across the top of the pie to make a cross-hatch pattern.

Use the tip of the knife to make a hole in the center of the pastry to let any steam release.

Use more of the egg to paint the top of the pie.

Puff pastry

You're definitely better off buying this pre-made. You can get it in a block, or pre-rolled. It is found in the refrigerator section with the butter and fats .

Take it out of the fridge and let it sit for 20 minutes to come up to room temperature.

Roll out the block to a size slightly larger than the casserole dish.

As with the shortcrust pastry, paint a layer of egg around the rim of the dish then place the pastry and press the edges into the rim. Trim off the excess. Make a cross-hatch pattern across the top using the back of a knife.

Paint more of the egg over the top and make a hole in the center to release any steam.

Cooking

Put the pie in a pre-heated oven.

Temperature gas mark 6/400F/200C/moderately hot.

Cook for 25 - 35 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the filling is hot and bubbling.

Freezing

This pie can be frozen once the topping has been placed. Just cover it and place in the freezer.

Thaw throughly before baking as directed above.

This is a good way to use up those uncooked chicken carcasses from your freezer.

Put all of the carcasses into a pot of water along with
1 quartered onion,
1 crushed clove of garlic,
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cover and let that simmer for 2 -3 hours. Top up the water if necessary.

When done. Let it cool slightly then remove the carcasses from the water.

Remove all the meat from the bones and save to one side.
Strain the fluid, discarding the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and any remaining bones. Keep any large pieces of meat.

Return the stock to the pan.
Wash and slice 3 large leeks.
Peel and dice 2 large carrots

Add the leeks, carrots and chicken to the stock.

Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

Just before serving. Check the seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Mix 1 tablespoon cornflour with 2 tablespoons cold water to make a smooth paste.

Bring the soup back up to a full boil.

Gradually add the cornflour paste, stirring constantly until the broth thickens slightly.

Serve in deep bowls with thick slices of buttered crusty bread.