In the Kitchen with Jamie Oliver’s Delicious Chicken Pot Pie

I’ve always wanted to make a chicken pot pie. I found a delicious recipe on a bunch of blogs but couldn’t find it anywhere on JamieOliver.com. So I’m hoping it’s actually a Jamie Oliver recipe. I also found two other recipes from Nigella (which you know will be tasty) and the another from Barefoot Contessa, which I wasn’t too sure about. But for rustic British grub, Jamie Oliver is always someone I can count on. His food is so homely and delicious – it was exactly what I was looking for. This recipe has a twist, it also includes sausages! You don’t have to add it but it’s oh so good! I’ve also made adjustments to the recipe, not a lot, but a tiny bit. Sorry for the lack of pics on this one! I was a bit preoccupied 😉

In the Kitchen with Quiche Lorraines

I’m not the best chef by any means. I got Chinese cooking down and I can cook it with my eyes closed. For me, it’s not about following a recipe, but more about executing flavours and seasoning. It’s a very organic process to me. Now, why can’t I cook that way when it comes to other cuisines? I’ve tried a few things here and there, many that I haven’t blogged about. But yesterday, I tried my hand at making a quiche Lorraine – from scratch! Oh yeah…

One of my girlfriends got me a killer cookbook – Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This book is hardcore! It’s quite thorough and is accompanied with illustrations. But it makes me wonder if I cook something more advanced, if the final product will look the way it’s supposed to, given that there aren’t any colour photos. I need encouragement you know! But the illustrations came in handy when I was making the dough! On that note, I made my first quiche. And I should mention Ms. Julia taught me a few terms I didn’t know prior such as scant, cut crosswise, mass and fraisage. Thanks Julia!

N.B. If you want to read about how Julia Child’s cookbook came to be, read it here.

Quiche Lorraine

4-6 servings

Ingredients

Pastry Shell:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) chilled butter, cut into ½ inch bits
4 tablespoons chilled shortening
A scant ½ cup of iced water, plus droplets more as needed

Filling:
3-4 ounces lean bacon
8-inch partially cooked pastry shell
3 eggs or 2eggs and 2 yolks
1 ½ – 2 cups whipping cream or half cream and half milk
½ teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1-2 tablespoons butter cut into pea-sized dots

Preparation

Preparing the Dough:
Quarter the chilled sticks of butter lengthwise and cut crosswire. In a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, salt and butter. Pulse 5 to 6 times in 1/2-second bursts to break up the butter. Add the shortening, then immediately add the ice water while pulsing 2 or 3 times. The dough should resemble a mass of small lumps that hold together when pressed. If the dough is too dry, pulse in additional water, a few droplets at a time. When the dough is ready, transfer it to the counter.

With the heel of your hand, rapidly and roughly push egg-size blobs out in front of you in 6-inch smears. This constitutes the final blending of fat and flour, or fraisage. Gather the dough into a mass, knead it briefly into a fairly smooth round ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Rolling Out the Dough:
When ready to bake, use butter to coat a 9-inch tart pan. Cut the chilled dough in half and reserve one piece, refrigerated, for another use. On a lightly floured counter, rapidly roll the remaining piece of dough into a circular shape about 1/8-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches larger than the tart pan. Because of its high butter contest, roll out the dough as quickly as possible, so that it will not soften and become difficult to handle.

Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll onto the pan. Lightly press the dough into place. To make sturdy sides, fold the excess dough into the pan against the sides, smoothing the top edge as you go. Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork to prevent from bubbling.

Partially Baking the Pastry Shell:
To prevent the bottom from rising and the sides from falling, fill the shell with beans, rice or pie weights. (I actually didn’t do this, b/c who has extra beans lying around to bake?)

Preheat oven to 400F. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes until pastry is set. Remove the beans, prick the bottom again with a fork, then bake for another 2 minutes. Remove the tart shell from the oven and set aside. Unless the shell is delicate, leave in tart shell. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees in prep to bake to the quiche.

Baking the Quiche:
Preheat oven to 375F. Brown bacon in a skillet. Drain on paper towels and press pieces into bottom of pastry shell. You can also use ham instead of bacon.

Beat the eggs, cream, and seasonings in a mixing bowl until blended. Check seasonings. Pour into pastry shell and distribute butter pieces on top.

Set in upper third of preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the quiche has puffed and browned. Slide quiche on a hot platter and serve.

Review

This was probably one of the easiest things to make. Waiting for the dough to chill was probably the worst part, which isn’t even a bad thing.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t add beans to the pastry shell when I baked it. Yes, it did bubble, but puncturing holes solves it.

I added green onions to my filling to give it a little bit more flavour. It was delish!