I love this recipe because so many different
combinations can be used. I originally used
the filling recipe to go with pasta and then altered it to use for pastries
when a vegetarian friend came round for supper unexpectedly one day. I had already made a chicken pie so there was
left over pastry in the fridge.
Sometime afterwards we were having a Summer
party and I wanted something other than the regular snacks, dips, chicken pieces
and tarts, so I had the idea to make these in large batches.
Once you've done it once, it's very easy to
scale up for large amounts of people.
Try this with pork and sage and use the white
part of leeks for the vegetable. The
stock should be made of half vegetable stock and dry cider.
Alternatively, try with salt cod and using
smoked paprika and thyme and using sweet
red and orange peppers as the vegetable.
To the stock add three crushed cardamom pods.
For the pure veggies amongst you, use chestnut
mushrooms or, if in season, puff balls and use the same ingredients (bar the
meat of course) as the recipe below.
***
-
50 grams of fresh tarragon
-
200 grams of chicken breasts
-
150 grams of asparagus or artichoke hearts
-
100 grams of single cream
-
Plain flour
-
Olive oil
-
1oz of salted butter
-
Pepper
-
1 medium sized onion
-
Two pints of vegetable stock
-
Pre-bought short crust pastry (500 grams)
-
A large egg, beaten and a pastry brush.
First poach the chicken in the vegetable stock and allow to cool in the stock.
To make the cream sauce, first melt the butter
in the olive oil, add finely chopped onion and ground black pepper on a medium
heat until the onion has softened. Then
add two heaped teaspoons of plain sifted flour and combine thoroughly until the
mixture becomes "sticky".
Add approximately a third of the remaining
vegetable stock and keep stirring until the mixture has started to thicken. Turn the heat down to low and add the single
cream a little at time whilst continually stirring and maintaining the
thickness of the sauce. Then remove
from the heat.
Cut the asparagus into 3 cm lengths, including
an additional top 3 cm of stalk if early in the season and/or artichoke hearts
into slices of approximately the same dimensions. Blanch in salted water that has been brought
to a rolling boil for about 3 minutes.
Drain, and allow to cool
Chop the chicken, the cooled vegetables and
tarragon and mix into the sauce mixture well.
Set aside to steep and marinade.
Creating the parcels:
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a
2-3 mm thickness. Using a tea plate as a
template, cut out a number of circles of pastry. Bring together the remaining pastry and
re-roll out for further rounds.
With a buttered baking tray ready, take your
first round of pastry and add a desert spoon of the chicken mixture to its
centre. Depending on the size of the
round you may get a little more filing onto it whilst still leaving one and a half
cm around the edge. Using the a little
of the beaten egg mixture on the edges for "glue" and taking bringing
the folding furthest edge over towards you and pressing into a half moon. Crimp the edges between thumb and forefinger
and place on baking tray. This should
make up to eight good sized parcels.
Use either the remaining egg or rub olive oil
over the top of each pocket before placing in 200c pre-heated oven for 30-35
minutes, or until golden brown.
Once cooked leave on the side to cool. Freezes well.
Defrost completely and then reheat gradually on a baking sheet with
paper underneath in a medium oven (160/170c).
