MBE v tigs78 chicken and leek pie challenge

jobbingmusician

mrbadexample wrote:

So, the butterbeans are just to hold it all in place then? What alternatives could I use? I've got some gravel.

You could use gravel, tbh, if it's

- sterilised

- guaranteed not to leave any dust behind.

You can buy 'blind baking beans' which are ceramic, but bb are more MSE. You can't eat them afterwards but you can save them to use next time!

Yes, they are to hold it in place so it doesn't bubble up off the bottom of the piedish.

newleaf

Bravo jobbingmusician! :T I've been following this thread with interest and mounting anxiety as no-one seemed bold enough to attempt the necessary blokey style instructions. Can't wait to see the finished pie mr be, this recipe sounds great.

jessicamb

Mr BE

The idea of the beans is to keep the base flat while you are baking it. If you dont want to get any you should be able to get away with stabbing the base loads with a fork before you bake it. Works for me.

mrbadexample

jobbingmusician wrote:

If you are using the ceramic container you will also need a ceramic eggcup or similar. You are going to put this in the middle of the pie to hold the lid up, so you need to find something NOW or abandon the idea of the ceramic dish.

Oh heck. :eek: These are my eggcups:



I think they're a bit big. I'll find something...thanks for the tip. :T

jobbingmusician wrote:

Best thing is to treat yourself to a roast chicken the day before. If you cook this on a rack, you will have lots of juices and fat in the bottom of the pan - save these in the fridge. You can do it with chicken breasts, yes, but it won't be as nice as this recipe!!!

It's gonna have to be breasts. No rack, no pan and haven't learnt roasting chickens yet. Won't have much time the day before, either.

jobbingmusician wrote:

Wash and slice the leeks. Take your chicken juices out of the fridge and you'll find there's a layer of fat on the top. Use this, with some additional olive oil if neccessary, to soften the sliced leeks. (This means fry them GENTLY so they get floppy).

So, fry in oil / butter or sommat then?

jobbingmusician wrote:

Now for the exciting bit. Once the leeks are nice and floppy, make sure your chicken juices (which have probably solidfied into a lump), milk/cream are within reach. Stir in 2 (4 if using the big dish) heaped tablespoons of flour and keep stirring for about 2 mins. Throw in the lump of chicken juices and keep stirring while it melts. The sauce will thicken up as the flour cooks. If it looks a bit thick, add milk/cream.

And in the absence of chicken juices?

jobbingmusician wrote:

Return to oven for 15-20 minutes or until it looks cooked. (Difficult to say exactly as we can't quite see how big your ceramic dish is!)

But I put a ruler in the picture?

I can sort of see this coming together.....but I'm still a bit confused about the sauce. Is is just flour and milk / cream added to whatever the leeks are fried in? What about seasoning?

Cheers for this, you're a star!

mrbadexample

newleaf wrote:

Bravo jobbingmusician! :T I've been following this thread with interest and mounting anxiety as no-one seemed bold enough to attempt the necessary blokey style instructions. Can't wait to see the finished pie mr be, this recipe sounds great.

Cheers, I've burgled yer smiley.

Sunny_Angel

Excellent instructions jobbing musician, the only thing i would add is..

In order to stop the contents of the pie from bubbling out you will need to seal the edges of the pastry case. Personally i find that just using a fork to press the edges together dosent work but if they are moistened first you get a far better seal! (You can do this just by dipping your finger in water and running it along the pastry edge.)

Hope that helps, if not, i'll just keep my nose out!

Addiscomber

I do love this cooking by committee just so long as I am an observer or offering (less than) helpful advice. Kudos to Mr Badexample for being brave enough to go through this, and also to tigs78 for joining in.

It really makes me appreciate the equipment that I have acquired from various sources over the years. I really love your egg cups Mr B, but you are right, pie funnels they aren't.

mrbadexample

Addiscomber wrote:

I do love this cooking by committee just so long as I am an observer or offering (less than) helpful advice. Kudos to Mr Badexample for being brave enough to go through this, and also to tigs78 for joining in.

This is the scariest one yet. It could go horribly wrong, and I'll get beaten by a girl. :rolleyes: :rotfl:

Murtle

ah, but so long as all the bits are cooked you can still eat it....I'm chuckling to myself as I've hurt my neck I've tasked OH to making the pies....he started this evening, I'm hoping they may be ready before yours MBE!!! He's not enjoying it and doens't think homemade pies are worth it....he hasn't got to the filling yet......heaven help!!!!

jobbingmusician

mrbadexample wrote:

It's gonna have to be breasts. No rack, no pan and haven't learnt roasting chickens yet. Won't have much time the day before, either.

OK, breasts it is, then. Cut them into pieces (as before, aim for the size of piece that YOU would like to find in a pie. Or maybe a bit bigger in case they shrink...cheap breasts have water added :eek: ) Fry these in olive oil with the leeks.

mrbadexample wrote:

And in the absence of chicken juices?

In the absence of chicken juices I'm afraid it won't taste quite as chickeny. Some people might use crumbled up chicken stock cubes in the sauce (add with the milk/cream if you must). I don't think this is very OS, and it wouldn't suit me as I am allergic to MSG - stock cubes are LOADED with it. A better and higher-class alternative would be either to buy fresh chicken stock from the supermarket, or classy vegetable bouillion (which DOESN'T have artificial ingredients). Someone else might have a better idea. But it will be quite tasty even without the chicken juices or any of these additional ingredients - after all, that's why the leeks are there!

mrbadexample wrote:

But I put a ruler in the picture?

Yes, but I can't work out from this how DEEP the dish is, very easily. And if you have ever done the thing which 3-year olds love, of pouring water from one vessel to another, you'll know that it's almost impossible to judge cubic capacity by looking at the vessel!!!

mrbadexample wrote:

I can sort of see this coming together.....but I'm still a bit confused about the sauce. Is is just flour and milk / cream added to whatever the leeks are fried in? What about seasoning?

Yes, you've really got the idea of the sauce. This is the starter for any sort of vegetable soup, by the way - you just dilute this basic thing down! Add seasoning to taste - I cook without ANY salt in this house (very good for you once you're used to it!) but tend to add lots of fresh ground pepper afterwards. But pepper is very good, ground into the sauce. Just be careful if you used gravel for your blind baking. If you use gravel but not pepper you can pick out all the black bits, but if you use both you may mistake the gravel for pepper.....